ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon discussed the ETF of the Week: iShares Global Clean Energy (ICLN) on this week’s “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe on the MoneyLife Show.

This fund offers a way to invest in the global clean energy index, including both domestic and international stocks in its portfolio. Given the narrow focus, ICLN likely doesn't deserve a huge weighting in a long-term portfolio, but can be useful as a satellite holding to cover a corner of the market that is often overlooked by broad-based funds. For investors who maintain a long-term bullish outlook on the alternative energy space, this fund can be a nice way to achieve broad-based exposure; ICLN includes companies engaged in various sub-sectors, such as wind power, solar power, and other renewable sources. Those seeking more targeted exposure within the clean energy space have multiple options available for betting on solar power (such as TAN or KWT), nuclear power (URA or NLR), or wind power (FAN or PWND). The portfolio maintained by ICLN is somewhat limited; it has only a few dozen holdings, and some of the components account for big chunks of assets. But that is to be expected given the asset class represented; the number of public alternative energy companies is somewhat limited. Other options providing similar exposure include PBW, PBD, and GEX; a comparison of the expenses, allocation to emerging markets, depth of holdings, and breakdown by sub-sector will help to determine which fund is right for their objectives and risk tolerance.