How have energy investments performed vis-à-vis other real assets?
Evaluating energy investments versus other real assets is difficult because performance has varied significantly by subsector. The most well-known energy investments — oil itself, traditional big oil stocks, and oilfield services stocks — finished down on the year and underperformed both the broader market and other real asset categories such as listed real estate and listed infrastructure. However, energy investments focused on natural gas, most notably midstream and natural gas producers, have notably outperformed, with the Alerian Midstream Energy Index up more than 43 percent in 2024 and natural gas producer Equitable, as an example, up more than 19 percent during the same time period.
Would you favor investments in fossil fuels or renewables at this stage?
The sentiment around the clean-energy transition over the past five years has been fascinating. Th