First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund
First Trust · $550.9m in assets, October 8, 2026
Owns US-listed clean energy companies of all sizes, such as solar and wind power firms, electric vehicle and battery makers, following the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index.
QCLN, the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund, is a $551 million ETF whose main story is the values trade. Over the past year it returned +16.3%, against +16.8% for broad US ETFs. Figures to October 2, 2026; past performance, not a recommendation.
QCLN · the ETFFRI OCT 2Market price total return
+5.3% a yearTotal return since launch, February 2007
Share is each ETF’s slice of the capital carrying this narrative. 1 year is market price total return; cost is the expense ratio. See all 127 ETFs on the narrative page →
1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualised. A dash means the ETF has not traded for the whole period. Since it started trading on February 14, 2007: +5.3% a year.
Total return in each calendar year; this year is year to date. A year appears only if QCLN traded for all of it.
Total return on the market price, with each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. Not the NAV return the issuer publishes; the two differ when the ETF trades above or below the value of its holdings. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it. The market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN
How closely it moves
With the market0.65
−1 opposite0 unrelated+1 in step
QCLN moves partly with the market. When the market has moved 1%, QCLN has tended to move 1.48%.
With The values trade0.67
−1 opposite0 unrelated+1 in step
QCLN moves partly with the values trade. When the values trade has moved 1%, QCLN has tended to move 1.72%.
Weekly returns over 157 weeks. The narrative is measured without QCLN in it, so it is not compared with itself.
Correlation of weekly returns over the last 3 years, among unlevered ETFs StoryVector covers.
Where it sits in The values trade
Each dot is one of 117 unlevered ETFs whose main narrative is the values trade, placed by its return (up) and how much it swung (right) over the last year.
Risk
41.4%Volatility, last year
−32.1%Largest fall, last year
−42.0%Below its high now
0.59%Expense ratio, a year · 27th cheapest of 41
0.10%Payout yield, last 12 months
$8.4mTraded each day, 3-month average
$550.9mAssets
Issued by First Trust · launched February 8, 2007
Cost against its peers
QCLN is the 27th cheapest of 41 ETFs in the values trade. The dashed line is the middle of the group, 0.40% a year.
How it is built
An unlevered long ETF that owns its holdings directly. It counts toward Share of Narrative.
Leverage1xMoves one for one with what it holds
OptionsNoneNo options on top of what it holds
ExposureOwns its holdingsHolds the securities or the asset directly
QCLN’s main story is the values trade, which covers ESG, climate and faith-based ETFs, and the anti-ESG ETFs built against them. Its second is the power constraint.
Which ETFs compete with QCLN?
The ETFs whose weekly returns move most like QCLN’s over the past 3 years are PBW (0.92), ACES (0.92) and CTEC (0.87).
How has QCLN performed against its story?
Over the past year QCLN returned +16.3%, the ETFs carrying the values trade +14.9% and broad US ETFs +16.8%, to October 2, 2026. Its weekly returns have a correlation of 0.67 with the story. Past performance only.
Run an ETF in the values trade? StoryVector shows issuers where their ETFs stand against the closest rivals, every week.
Narrative figures are from the weekly board. Performance is market price total return as of October 2, 2026. Assets are StoryVector’s weekly figure. Classification and measurement. Not investment advice. How the measurement works →