Guidelines and further details about WilderHill Hydrogen Economy Index (H2X) are here, and here.

The Hydrogen Economy Index is comprised of global companies whose innovative technologies focus on advancing use of hydrogen (H₂), fuel cells and the potential hydrogen economy.

These are companies involved in renewable green hydrogen activities, including improvements in hydrogen generation, storage, conversion, uses in transportation, innovation, and advancement of fuel cells. Hydrogen can help enable energy transition and this Index seeks to capture the elements of this trend. H2X rebalances Quarterly, and is global in geographic scope.

Index Universe Requirements

The INDEX UNIVERSE is comprised of all financial instruments which fulfill the below requirements:

To be eligible for potential Index inclusion, each financial instrument must have:

1. a primary listing in one of the countries that are part of the Developed Markets as defined by the Solactive Country Classification (see https://www.solactive.com/documents/ ), plus South Korea, Taiwan and China. China A-shares are eligible for inclusion provided they are available through the Stock Connect program and WilderHill has the relevant license in place with the exchange.

The determination of the INDEX UNIVERSE is fully rule-based and WilderHill cannot make any discretionary decisions.

Based on the Index Universe, the initial composition of the Index as well as any selection for an ordinary rebalance is determined on the Selection Day in accordance with the following rules (the “Index Component Requirements“):

• Average Total Market Capitalization in the 3 months prior to and including the Selection Day is larger than USD 100mn.
• Average Daily Value Traded over the last 3 months prior to the Selection Day is larger than USD 1 million for new index components.
• Average Daily Value Traded over the last 3 months prior to the Selection Day is larger than USD 750K for existing index components.

The Stock Selection Committee^[1] of WilderHill determines securities as in 1 of 6 sectors. Companies may be assessed by this Advisory Committee / WilderHill based on their work furthering a hydrogen economy. Affiliation of company to a sector is estimated by WilderHill, with respect to the below sector definitions^[2]. All Companies assigned to one of 6 sectors below, are selected as Index Components:

• Fuel Cells

Eligible companies for this Sector are low and high temperature fuel cell manufacturers utilising a hydrogen-rich fuel to produce power. Additional companies considered are software or hardware solution providers that can help improve outputs or facilitate fuel cell applications for personal use, or use in vehicles, aircraft, ships, micro grids, smart grids, ports, cities, etc. Companies in this Sector may be working towards improving fuel cell efficiency, or energy generation, distribution systems, as well as improving fuel cell operations or designs. Fuel cells using hydrogen, methanol, ethanol, hydrides and others are all considered.

• Green Hydrogen

Eligible companies for this Sector are those that produce low carbon-footprint green hydrogen from renewable sources. This Sector includes developers, engineering firms, utilities and other companies engaged in activities supporting the expansion of renewable clean energy worldwide, with the specific aim of being applied in the production of green hydrogen. Manufacturers of electrolyzers that are capable of handling the intermittent nature of renewable energy are also included. Companies that are providing the infrastructure for storage and transmission of green hydrogen and green-derived fuels like ammonia, methanol, ethanol and other related low-carbon fuels are also considered.

• Hydrogen Generation

Eligible companies for this Sector include those that develop solutions to  reduce the carbon content of non-green hydrogen generation such as agricultural waste, captured methane and biofuels. Additionally, companies which develop solutions to reduce the carbon content of blue (from fossil natural gas but with sequestration), pink (from nuclear) or turquoise (from heat) hydrogen, or those involving fossil fuels which may include electrolyzers (that can handle a mixture of energy inputs) are also considered.

• Hydrogen Storage

Eligible companies for this Sector that are involved in developing techniques, methods and technologies to store hydrogen as an energy carrier. This includes new ways to design, site, construct, and operate systems to hold hydrogen (which is difficult to hold by conventional means being a gas that embrittles steel and resists storage).

• Hydrogen in Transportation

Companies that use hydrogen or fuel cells in a wide range of transportation means, facilitating a transition away from conventional oils-based transportation. This includes but is not limited to hydrogen-fueled cars, trucks, buses, ships, trains and aircraft.

• Hydrogen Innovation

Companies that are involved in the research and/or development of industrial scale green hydrogen production, low carbon and carbon free hydrogen generation and companies developing hydrogen and fuel cell application to heavy vehicle, commercial vehicle and personal use means of transportation. Projects producing clean hydrogen, large-scale hydrogen production and its application are also considered.

The assignment of a company to a sector by WilderHill is based on meaningful exposure to the hydrogen economy, with a company having relevant business activities in new energy innovation as described in the Sector definitions. Companies eligible for inclusion in Index must have at least 10% of their activities in clean energy, with a meaningful exposure to the hydrogen economy (as determined by WilderHill) and without significant fossil fuel exposure other than described in the Sector definitions. Whilst considering affiliation of a company to a sector, WilderHill also assesses the sustainability credentials of each company to ensure that all components are considered to be sustainable. To that end, companies are assessed based on whether they are deemed to help the world decarbonize and reduce climate risk generally, while there are additional wider considerations on whether companies help to prevent pollution and contribute to a more circular economy. Indicators of sustainability for the above assessment include but are not limited to having: low Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, low or no exposure to the fossil fuel sector, small or no exposure to non-renewable/or nuclear energy production and consumption, no association to activities that negatively affect biodiversity-sensitive areas, low pollution and low or no emissions into water/seas, and a low hazardous waste ratio. 

The Index Administrator has outsourced the selection of the Index Components to WilderHill. Such outsourcing has been made in accordance with the requirements of the BMR (Article 10 BMR). Any discretionary decision of WilderHill will be made in accordance with specifications regarding the exercise of discretion or expert judgement established by the Index Administrator.

Furthermore, the following steps are applied by the Index Administrator:

• Exclude companies breaching the UNGC principles (non-compliant per Sustainalytics’ global standards screening research).
• Exclude companies with Severe controversies (as per Sustainalytics’ controversy research) as well as companies with involvement in harmful business activities (as per Sustainalytics’ business involvement research).
• Exclude companies with Severe ESG Risk Rating (as per Sustainalytics’ ESG risk research)

[1] The Stock Selection Committee consists of prominent individuals from the spheres of the hydrogen economy & clean/ new energy, finance, climate science, technology, politics and communications. The profile of current Committee members is available at https://wildershares.com

[2] Detailed Sector descriptions also available and maintained for all Indexes, at https://wildershares.com   

Companies not covered by Sustainalytics research under any of the above categories will be ineligible for index selection. For more details on the actual fields as well as the thresholds applied for the exclusion, please refer to the table below:

WEIGHTING OF THE INDEX COMPONENTS

On each Selection Day each Index Component is assigned an equal weight.

Index Selection  

On each SELECTION DAY, WilderHill will revise the composition of the H2X INDEX. In a first step, WilderHill determines INDEX UNIVERSE. The INDEX UNIVERSE comprises all those financial instruments which fulfill the INDEX UNIVERSE REQUIREMENTS and will constitute a starting pool from which the components of INDEX will be selected. Based on this INDEX UNIVERSE, new composition of INDEX is determined; each new INDEX COMPONENT is assigned a weight. 

Ordinary Rebalance

In order to reflect the new selection of the Index Components determined on the Selection Day, the Index is adjusted on the Rebalance Day after Close of Business.

This is carried out by implementing the weights as determined on the Selection Day

For more information on the rebalance procedure please refer to the Equity Index Methodology, which is incorporated by reference and available on the Solactive website: https://www.solactive.com/documents/equity-index-methodology/.

Solactive will publish any changes made to the Index Components with sufficient notice before the Rebalance Day on the Solactive website, which is available at https://www.solactive.com/news/announcements/

Extraordinary Rebalance

The Index is not rebalanced extraordinarily.

Identifiers and Publication

The Index is published under the following identifiers:

*PR, NTR, GTR means that the Index is calculated as price return, net total return, gross total return Index as described in the Equity Index Methodology, which is available on the SOLACTIVE website: https://www.solactive.com/documents/equity-index-methodology/ 

The Index is published on the website of the Index Administrator (www.solactive.com) and is, in addition, available via the price marketing services of Boerse Stuttgart GmbH and may be distributed to all of its affiliated vendors. Each vendor decides on an individual basis as to whether it will distribute or display the Index via its information systems.

Any publication in relation to the Index (e.g. notices, amendments to the Guideline) will be available at the website of the Index Administrator: https://www.solactive.com/news/announcements/.

Initial Level of the Index

The initial level of the Index on the 30/11/2020, the Start Date, is 100. Historical values from the 17/06/2022, the Live Date, will be recorded in accordance with Article 8 of the BMR. Levels of the Index published for a period prior to the Live Date have been back-tested.

Prices and calculation frequency

The level of the Index is calculated on each Calculation Day from 01:00 a.m. to 10:50 p.m. CET based on the Trading Prices on the Exchanges on which the Index Components are listed. Trading Prices of Index Components not listed in the Index Currency are converted using the current Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) spot foreign exchange rate. Should there be no current Trading Price for an Index Component, the later of: (i) the most recent Closing Price; or (ii) the last available Trading Price for the preceding Trading Day is used in the calculation.

In addition to the intraday calculation a closing level of the INDEX for each CALCULATION DAY is also calculated. This closing level is based on the CLOSING PRICES for the INDEX COMPONENTS on the respective EXCHANGES on which the INDEX COMPONENTS are listed. The CLOSING PRICES of INDEX COMPONENTS not listed in the INDEX CURRENCY are converted using the 04:00 p.m. London time WM Fixing quoted by Reuters. 

[1] The Stock Selection Committee consists of prominent individuals from the spheres of wind energy & clean/new energy, finance, climate science, technology, politics and communications. The profile of current Committee members is available at https://wildershares.com

[2] Detailed Sector descriptions also available and maintained for all Indexes, at https://wildershares.com   

[i] See the latest Solactive List of Developed Countries, https://www.solactive.com/documents

[ii] For details on fields and thresholds applied for exclusion, please refer to individual Index at, Methodology

The ECO Index® is owned by WilderShares. NEX, H2X, WNX Indexes are owned by WilderHill New Energy Finance.

ECO Index is calculated by the NYSE. The NEX, H2X, WNX are calculated by Solactive AG in Germany. (March 2023)