Green Daily

Want to invest in a portfolio that focuses on clean and renewable energy providers? Take a look at the ETF, PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (AMEX: PBW) based on the WilderHill Clean Energy Index, which has signifcant holdings in solar power companies, as well as other renewable energy products. An ETF is a basket of stocks that is traded on a stock exchange as one entity. You can buy and sell this basket of stocks just as you would a company's stock using the symbol PBW.

The Wilderhill Clean Energy Index includes companies that seek to benefit from a transition toward the use of cleaner energy. Stocks chosen for this index include companies that focus on clean energy technology and pollution prevention.

Companies held by the fund are primarily small-cap companies with an average market cap of $3.4 billion. So this ETF is not for the faint of heart. Expect returns to be volatile. While year-to-date returns according to Morningstar are 25.64%, you must expect wild swings because the benchmark for this ETF has only 42 stocks.

The fund is managed by PowerShares Capital Management, which was founded in 2002. It's lead portfolio manager is John Southard Jr., who worked at Chicago Investment Analytics (bought by Charles Schwab) before joining PowerShares Capital. The five largest stock holdings in the fund include: SunPower Corporation, American Superconductor Corporation, Suntech Power Holdings Co., First Solar, and Yingli Green Energy Holdings Company.