Do you consider yourself to be a green individual? Do you foresee a green future for renewable energy and want to get a piece of the fiscal returns?

Well, you have several paths to green investments. Not only do you have your choice of investment vehicle (Stocks, ETF’s, Mutual Funds), you also have a choice of green focus. By green focus I am referring to two different categories:

Environmentally Proactive Companies: A company, regardless of industry, that focuses on performing their daily business with green practices. This includes companies like Apple and Google, which strive to reduce their carbon footprint and are environmentally friendly.

Green Energy Companies: A company that is directly involved in the generation of green energy or helping the environment as their core business strategy.

If you are an investing veteran and have considerable confidence in your ability, you could invest in individual company stocks. Usually, investing in individual stocks carries more risk and requires a large amount of time and research. To avoid this burden, many average investors prefer to invest via ETF’s or Mutual Funds. For those who aren’t familiar, an ETF, exchange traded fund, is a security that is tied to an index, holds a basket of stocks like a mutual fund, and trades like a stock on the exchanges. To save you some legwork we list several green ETF’s and mutual funds below.

ETF’s

Alternative Energy ETF’s (companies and products that use renewable sources of energy):

First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy QCLN
iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index ICLN
Market Vectors Glb Alternative Energy ETF GEX
PowerShares Global Clean Energy PBD
PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy PBW 

Two solar ETFs:
Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy TAN
Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF KWT

Two wind ETFs:
First Trust Global Wind Energy FAN
PowerShares Global Wind Energy PWND

Mutual Funds:

MF invest in both energy generating and environmentally proactive companies:
Alger Green SPEGX
Portfolio 21 PORTX

MF Invest directly in green energy production:
Calvert Global Alternative Energy CGAEX

Additionally, you could directly invest in renewable energy for your home. Here at Moonworks, we install solar hot water systems for homeowners across the North East through our sister company, Repower Home. The relatively modest cost and high energy savings make solar hot water a great longterm investment. Once you deduct many of the federal and state incentives, the solar hot water system cost is generally around $6000. A typical two-panel system generates enough power to save you $800 a year in utility costs. Our system has an average life of 25 years. So if you look at the system from an investment perspective, that’s over 13% per year ($800/$6000) for 25 years – a lot more than you’d get at the bank if you were to take that same $6000 and invest in a CD.

Whatever route you take, it is important to do your research and feel comfortable with your ultimate investment decision.

*Moonworks is not an investment advisor. The above article is strictly for entertainment.

Source: CNBC