Tim Quinson and Peyton Forte/Bloomberg

NEW YORK
EnergiesNet.com 01 14 2022

What You Need To Know

Despite the recent slump, clean-energy stocks have delivered billions of dollars of trading profits to investors across the globe during the past several years and led to the creation of dozens of funds designed to prosper from the surge in prices. Whether it’s electric-vehicle makers like Tesla Inc. and its lesser-known rivals, or companies such as QuantumScape Corp. that are developing next-generation lithium-ion batteries, or solar companies like Enphase Energy Inc., these stocks have mostly gone in one direction over time, and that’s higher.

Until recent months, the gains have been absurd, with many clean-energy stocks still up more than 100% since the start of 2020. Bloomberg Green’s Carbon Bubble series seeks to capture how investors are navigating the markets. While there’s no doubt climate-tech is a growing asset class, there’s also little question that some investors are going to get burned by chasing companies with excessive market valuations and questionable product offerings.

Key Coverage

• Investors Flee Solar ETF on Shaky Subsidies and Rate Hike Danger
• Why Green Stocks Are Slumping During an ESG Boom
• Cliff Asness’s AQR Adds Short-Selling Twist to ESG Investing

By The Numbers

• 73%
  The advance of the S&P Global Clean Energy Index since the start of 2020, including reinvested dividends
  
• More Than $1 Trillion
  Wind and solar asset financing since 2016
  
• $75 Million
  This year’s net outflow from the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF

Why It Matters

Governments, companies and other organizations have raised more than $740 billion since the start of 2020 selling bonds where proceeds are earmarked for “green” projects; investors have plowed more than $20 billion into U.S. exchange-traded funds that track the clean-energy markets; a venture fund led by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates (in which Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg News, also invests) has committed billions of dollars to the sector; and funding for battery companies and electric-vehicle companies has skyrocketed. These are just some of the financial factors.

The deluge of money flows has raised questions about whether it’s a market bubble. Some say the high valuations are a clear sign of overpricing, while others say the markets are bound to bounce around, but the underlying clean-energy technology is improving all the time and is here to stay.

Timeline

• Investors Flee Solar ETF on Shaky Subsidies and Rate Hike DangerJanuary 12, 2022, 3:04 PM EST
• Not Everyone Likes ESGJanuary 12, 2022, 1:22 PM EST
• Why Green Stocks Are Slumping During an ESG BoomDecember 22, 2021, 6:17 AM EST
• Cliff Asness’s AQR Adds Short-Selling Twist to ESG InvestingDecember 14, 2021, 4:34 PM EST
• The ESG Market Is Controlled by a Few Big InvestorsDecember 1, 2021, 6:00 AM EST
• Day Traders Pile Into EV Stocks Even as Tesla Sells OffNovember 16, 2021, 4:27 PM EST
• Wall Street’s Deluge of ESG-Fund Launches Risks Breaking PointNovember 12, 2021, 8:05 AM EST
• Retail Traders Flock to EV Stocks With an Eye on U.S. CarmakersNovember 10, 2021, 9:54 AM EST
• What Tesla Effect? Investors Reluctant on EV IPOs in EuropeNovember 4, 2021, 6:05 AM EDT
• Trillion-Dollar ESG Boom Rings Bubble-Trouble Alarm in New StudyOctober 28, 2021, 9:03 AM EDT
• Fund Managers With $935 Billion See ESG-Fueled Custom Index BoomOctober 20, 2021, 1:10 PM EDT
• Trillion-Dollar ESG Boom Is Punishing Old-School Energy StocksOctober 13, 2021, 9:00 AM EDT
• Clean-Energy Stocks Are Being Diluted by Huge Cash InflowsOctober 11, 2021, 6:00 AM EDT
• Al Gore’s $36 Billion Fund Sees New Urgency to Cut Off Oil MoneyOctober 6, 2021, 10:00 AM EDT
• HITE Hedge Fund Bets Oil Just Saw ‘Biggest Dead-Cat Bounce’September 24, 2021, 8:54 AM EDT
• Shipping ETF Up 275% Gets a Sibling Looking to Clean Up Its MessSeptember 21, 2021, 12:01 AM EDT
• Green Investment Frenzy Runs Risk of Becoming a Bubble, BIS SaysSeptember 20, 2021, 7:00 AM EDT
• Cliff Asness Urges Investors ‘Short Your Way’ to Greener FutureSeptember 8, 2021, 8:35 AM EDT
• Traders Sour on Clean Energy as Bets Against Invesco ETF SurgeAugust 30, 2021, 11:32 AM EDT
• Bitcoin ETF Pledges to Reduce Carbon Footprint by Planting TreesAugust 27, 2021, 9:22 AM EDT
• Carbon Fund Turns One With $540 Million Assets and Zero OutflowsJuly 30, 2021, 8:44 AM EDT
• New Female-Led ETFs Are Bringing ‘Do More Good’ Mantra to U.S.July 21, 2021, 8:54 AM EDT
• Goldman Money Managers Like New ESG Fund So Much They’re BuyersJuly 15, 2021, 8:45 AM EDT
• Firms Scrub Dirty Bonds Off Books to Boost ESG CredentialsJuly 1, 2021, 6:39 AM EDT
• Exxon Activist Investor Shakes Up $6.5 Trillion ETF MarketJune 22, 2021, 8:09 AM EDT
• Goldman to RBC See a Slow-But-Sure European Green Stocks RevivalJune 20, 2021, 12:01 AM
• EDT8 months agoExxon-Beating Activist Engine No. 1 Plans ETF to Prod BoardroomsJune 1, 2021, 1:29 PM EDT
• Ethereum Closes In on Long-Sought Fix to Cut Energy Use Over 99%May 23, 2021, 9:00 AM EDT
• Rob Arnott’s ‘Big Market Delusion’ in Electric Cars Starts to FadeMay 18, 2021, 7:00 AM EDT
• Hot Corner of ESG Investing Is Cooling Fast and Losing CashMay 12, 2021, 7:00 AM EDT
• Clean Energy’s $18 Billion Boom Spawns Double-Leveraged ETFsMay 6, 2021, 7:00 AM EDT
• Big Oil Is Boosting ETF Returns and ESG Funds Are No ExceptionApril 30, 2021, 7:41 AM EDT
• Covid Shock and Ark Effect to Spur $1 Trillion Boom in ESG ETFsApril 21, 2021, 7:19 AM EDT
• BlackRock’s Record-Breaking ESG Fund Looks Just Like a Big Tech ETFApril 14, 2021, 6:00 AM EDT
• Wall Street Math Shows ESG Funds Can Ride the Value Stock BoomApril 8, 2021, 11:56 AM EDT
• ‘Green Tidal Wave’ Lifts Clean Energy Stocks With Biden PlanMarch 31, 2021, 10:42 AM EDT
• Cathie Wood Has Billions in Tesla. ARKK Still Struggles With ESGMarch 23, 2021, 8:14 AM EDT
• Big Money Joins Rush for Carbon, Fueling Bets Prices Will SoarMarch 19, 2021, 1:00 AM EDT
• Everything Hot Is ‘Unwinding’ in $21 Billion of Clean-Power ETFsMarch 12, 2021, 9:19 AM EST
• Rob Arnott Warns of ‘Big Market Delusion’ in Electric VehiclesMarch 10, 2021, 9:05 AM EST
• Traders Plowed Billions Into Electric-Car Stocks Before SlumpMarch 5, 2021, 5:00 AM EST

Contributors: Tim Quinson and Peyton Forte from Bloomberg
Updated on January 12, 3:28 PM ES

bloomberg.com 01 13 2022