Dr. Robert Wilder, managing director of WilderShares, LLC, said, "As smart energy alternatives including wind, solar, and hydrogen fuel cells have reached billion dollar markets and gain increasing demand, we believe the WilderHill Clean Energy Index is the right product at the right time. We're delighted to partner with the Amex for launching this product, which proves to have a low correlation to other indexes."
Dr Wilder added, "Given that the price for this energy depends mainly on costs of technology and these costs are only dropping, clean energy contrasts sharply with the trends in fossil fuels. Compare clean energy against fossil fuel price fluctuations, environmental impacts, and supply vulnerability, and I believe that the WilderHill Clean Energy Index will only grow in significance."
Cliff Weber, senior vice president of the Amex ETF Marketplace, said, "We are pleased to be collaborating with WilderHill in calculating and publishing this important new index. We look forward to listing an exchange traded fund and other products based on the index in the future."
PowerShares Capital Management filed a registration statement on July 19, 2004 that included an exchange traded index fund tracking the WilderHill Clean Energy Index along with 25 other new exchange traded funds.
The WilderHill Clean Energy Index is a modified equal weighted index comprised of companies whose businesses stand to benefit substantially from the societal transition toward the use of cleaner energy and conservation. The index is rebalanced each March, June, September and December. The index divisor was initially determined to yield a benchmark value of 100.00 at the close of trading December 30, 2002. The index was created by, and is a trademark of, WilderShares, LLC.
