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Which clean energy sectors are attractive? A portfolio diversification perspective

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  • Kuang, Wei

Abstract

Clean energy assets have opened up new investment opportunities for market participants. How to construct an efficient clean energy stock portfolio and how it would perform in comparison to traditional assets remain unclear. To fill this gap, this paper investigates optimal allocation within the clean energy stock market. Specifically, the risk and return characteristics of individual clean energy stock sub-sectors are examined. Optimization techniques are used to generate the desired clean energy stock allocation. The performance is compared to the equity market benchmark and dirty energy stocks. The results show that the risk and return on clean energy stock sub-sectors vary significantly. Clean energy stocks generally underperform the overall equity market but outperform dirty stocks. For investors looking to decarbonize their portfolios, the minimum-tail risk strategy is superior to the minimum-variance strategy. The index that tracks developers and operators of renewable energy projects provides the best risk-adjusted returns for investors with moderate risk tolerance and is effective at mitigating the volatility risk of dirty assets. The wind and energy storage indices, however, are the preferred options for reducing the tail risks of dirty assets. The findings shed light on the efficacy of clean energy portfolio optimization strategies and the heterogeneous diversification benefits across clean energy stock sub-sectors, which has important implications for investors constructing clean energy portfolios to meet investment objectives.

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  • Kuang, Wei, 2021. "Which clean energy sectors are attractive? A portfolio diversification perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:104:y:2021:i:c:s0140988321005028
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105644
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ahmed, Walid M.A. & Sleem, Mohamed A.E., 2023. "Short- and long-run determinants of the price behavior of US clean energy stocks: A dynamic ARDL simulations approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    3. Peng, Qiao & Liu, Weilong & Zhang, Yong & Zeng, Shihong & Graham, Byron, 2023. "Generation planning for power companies with hybrid production technologies under multiple renewable energy policies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    4. Erdoğan, Seyfettin & Gedikli, Ayfer & Çevik, Emrah İsmail & Erdoğan, Fatma & Çevik, Emre, 2022. "Precious metals as safe-haven for clean energy stock investment: Evidence from nonparametric Granger causality in distribution test," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Anupam Dutta & Kakali Kanjilal & Sajal Ghosh & Donghyun Park & Gazi Salah Uddin, 2023. "Impact of crude oil volatility jumps on sustainable investments: Evidence from India," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(10), pages 1450-1468, October.
    6. Ma, Yilin & Wang, Yudong & Wang, Weizhong & Zhang, Chong, 2023. "Portfolios with return and volatility prediction for the energy stock market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    7. Akhtaruzzaman, Md & Banerjee, Ameet Kumar & Boubaker, Sabri & Moussa, Faten, 2023. "Does green improve portfolio optimisation?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    8. Guorong Chen & Shiyi Fang & Qibo Chen & Yun Zhang, 2023. "Risk Spillovers and Network Connectedness between Clean Energy Stocks, Green Bonds, and Other Financial Assets: Evidence from China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-21, October.
    9. Kuang, Wei, 2023. "The equity-oil hedge: A comparison between volatility and alternative risk frameworks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    10. Zhuang, Xiaoyang & Wei, Dan, 2022. "Asymmetric multifractality, comparative efficiency analysis of green finance markets: A dynamic study by index-based model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 604(C).
    11. Karkowska, Renata & Urjasz, Szczepan, 2023. "How does the Russian-Ukrainian war change connectedness and hedging opportunities? Comparison between dirty and clean energy markets versus global stock indices," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Clean energy sectors; Clean energy stocks; Portfolio optimization; Diversification benefits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling
    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy

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