Best No Load Alternative Energy Mutual Funds and ETFs

While researching I found an article on the best no load alternative energy mutual funds on www.top-no-load-mutual-funds.com. I like what they have to say about the funds but I would like to delve into each individual fund a little deeper. Over the next week or so I will be reviewing these funds and adding in a few of my own.

So here goes:

#1: Calvert Global Alternative Energy Fund (CGAEX): This is a nice clean, green socially responsible alternative energy mutual fund, but I am not sure that I would consider this the absolute best no-load alternative energy mutual fund.

The investment objective of the Calvert Global Alternative Energy Fund is to gain long-term growth of capital by investing in equity securities of businesses that are engaged in alternative energy and meet the social criteria of the fund. The fund invests in companies both inside and outside of the United States.

The alternative energy sources that the mutual funds invest in include renewable sources such as wind, solar, biofuel and geothermal, technologies that allow us to tap these resources, and services and technologies that enable greater efficiency in the use of energy.

The no-load alternative energy mutual fund is subject to the risk that stocks in the energy sector are subjected to and has the possibility of declining in value. The companies involved in alternative energy are typically more volatile than companies involved in other business sectors and as a result alternative energy mutual funds may be more volatile than the market as a whole. This can result in increased gains or losses.

The largest alternative energy sector that the mutual fund invests in is wind energy (36.4%), followed by Solar (21.7%) and Alternative Energy Utilities (14.0%). The top ten holdings within the fund are Iberdrola Renovabl (7.38%), EDP Renovaveis SA (6.68%), FPL Group Inc (5.39%), Scot + Southern EN (5.24%), Gamesa Corp Tecno (5.22%), Vestas Wind Systems (4.05%), Kyocera Corp (3.81), Johnson Matthey (3.76%), Renewable Energy (3.73%) and First Solar Inc (3.70%). There are currently 60 issues within the portfolio.

The minimum Initial Investment in the fund is $2,000 ($1,000 within an IRA) with subsequent minimum investments of $250. The expense ratio of the fund is 1.85%.

The fund has lagged slightly behind the Lipper Global Natural Resources Index, but that may be attributable to the funds lack of diversification and volatility. Basically, when the market as a whole is doing well the fund should exceed the indexes and during bad times the fund will experience greater losses. As the market turns around I would expect to see better than average returns for the Calvert Global Alternative Energy Fund. It is one of the better managed no-load alternative energy mutual funds.

Next we'll look at the Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund, GAAEX.