FTSE Sizes Up Environmental Technologies Sector

New index tracks alternative energy, water, waste-management businesses 

By Dennis Schaal

Institutional and retail investors tracking the performance of the global environmental technologies market can access a new tool to benchmark that sector.

FTSE Group introduced its Environmental Opportunities All-Share Index, which includes 450 companies involved in alternative energy, water and waste-management businesses.

To get into the index, the companies must be part of the FTSE Global Equity Index Series and garner at least 20 percent of their revenue from environmental markets or technologies.

The FTSE Environmental Opportunities All-Share Index is available through data distributors including, Bloomberg.com, Thomson Reuters and FactSet, a FTSE spokeswoman said.

Of the top 10 companies in the index, the largest is Siemens AG, followed by Suez, Iberdrola, ABB, United Technologies, 3M Company, ENEL, Emerson Electric, Honeywell International and Koninklijke Philips Electronic.

“The FTSE Environmental Opportunities All-Share Index will appeal to institutional and retail investors who want to gain exposure to and track the performance of those companies who are transforming their businesses to increasingly source revenues from global environmental markets,” said Will Oulton, FTSE’s head of responsible investment.

The index tracks the performance of the environmental technologies sector as a whole, and not that of individual companies in the sector

FTSE stated that Russell Investments has licensed the new index for a multi-manager fund in environmental technologies.