When Trump was pushing for oil drilling, this investment manager instead bought clean energy stocks. Now, he has proven his doubters wrong.

Last year, Trump returned to the White House and vigorously promoted the energy agenda of "Drill, baby, drill". At that time, betting on Clean Energy Fuels Corp. stock seemed no different than a moth to a flame. However, for Helen Jewell, Chief Investment Officer of Fundamental Equities at BlackRock, Inc., this was an extremely insightful and accurate judgment, solidifying her reputation as a "precise contrarian investor". Convincing clients to accept this viewpoint was not easy. They had doubts about the prospects of CECEP Solar Energy and wind power, and these doubts were not unfounded. In the US, approved projects were stalled, renewable energy subsidies were cut, and federal funds flowed to fossil fuel projects. Globally, although other countries were still investing, green energy had become a "sensitive topic". At that time, the global renewable energy index had fallen by 65% from its peak in 2021. "Most of the voices we heard from clients were: 'We are concerned about policy regulation, and we have suffered losses in this area before. What makes this time different?'" Jewell recalled in an interview. But the turnaround came faster than imagined. As of Thursday's closing, the S&P Global, Inc. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. transformation index had surged by 60% in the past year, far exceeding the S&P 500 index's 20% increase. This performance even surpassed the "Fab Seven" of US stocks, and was nearly twice the increase in oil stocks driven by oil prices breaking through $100 per barrel due to the situation in Iran. In Jewell's view, the upward trend of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is far from over. The US-led conflicts in the Middle East were cruelly reminding the world of how deeply the global dependence on oil and gas resources in that region was. "The strike against Iran highlighted the strategic importance of energy independence, grid resilience, and local secure power supply," Jewell pointed out, "Given the urgent need for rapid and secure expansion of national power grids, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is expected to continue to benefit." Looking back now, Jewell's initial logic of judgment was actually traceable - the huge energy demand for computing power brought about by artificial intelligence (AI) would benefit all forms of energy production. She believed that whether it was public utility companies, power equipment manufacturers, or CECEP Solar Energy battery panel manufacturers, all would benefit. Her core logic was that countries around the world would invest massive amounts of money in upgrading grids and energy transformation infrastructure to support AI development. "We were very clear at the time that for AI to be successful, it needed massive energy. The core of this story is no longer 'replacing traditional energy', but 'running parallel with traditional energy'," Jewell explained, "When we broke down this logic into production, efficiency, and transmission, people began to realize that Europe actually had an advantage in these areas." About a month after she issued the bullish call, the global Clean Energy Fuels Corp. index, which had been falling for four years, bottomed out and rebounded. Since then, the stock price of German Siemens Energy has doubled, Danish Vestas Wind and UK National Grid Company (NGG.US) have risen by 80% and 35% respectively. Contrarian decisions: Precise predictions more than once The victory of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. was not Jewell's first contrarian move. Four years ago, as the European banking industry suffered from long-term performance under negative interest rates, her team was one of the few steadfastly bullish investors. Since the end of 2021, with rising interest rates, the Stoxx 600 Banks index doubled, making it the best-performing sector in Europe last year. "I remember some clients' reactions at the time were, 'European banks? Are you sure?'" Jewell recalled, "That skeptical attitude was very similar to how they viewed Clean Energy Fuels Corp. later on." Now, market skepticism about AI has reappeared - investors are selling stocks that are believed to be potentially impacted by AI, from software, wealth management to logistics sectors, and even the US tech giants, which have been rising for three consecutive years, saw a correction in February. But Jewell said that this has nothing to do with her judgment on Clean Energy Fuels Corp., and she continues to be bullish on Siemens Energy, cable manufacturer Prysmian, and power supplier SSE, among others. "Unless you think AI will disappear tomorrow, investment in data centers will not stop," she emphasized, "Regardless of where AI is heading, as long as it exists, it cannot do without electricity."