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Renewable energy stocks will not suffer if there is a correction in the price of oil, thanks to support from the regulatory environment and improving efficiency, Pictet Funds has claimed.

Philipe de Weck, manager of Pictet's £485m Clean Energy fund, said while traditional energy stocks had seen their p/e rise on the back of inflation, renewable energy companies were seeing a downwards trend as they became more efficient and developed economies of scale.

He said: "Since we launched the fund about a year ago, the p/e ratio of the portfolio has gone down. While the fund is up about 20 per cent since launch, the forward p/e ratio is now about 17 times - it was about 20 times when we went live.

"Earnings estimates have been upgraded constantly," he added. "The industry is growing earnings at about 30 per cent – that is clearly leading to the forward p/e ratio going down."

While stocks have been buoyed by the knock-on effect of the rising oil price, Mr de Weck claimed renewable energy companies correlated less than traditional energy firms, and would therefore suffer less if there was a correction in the commodity.

"The fact that oil prices have doubled is helpful, because a lot of other energy is priced on oil as it is used for transportation – whereas solar power and wind are just used for electricity – but natural gas and coal stocks have gone up almost in tandem," explained the manager.

"But renewable stocks haven't kept up with price of oil, so if it comes back down, they won't suffer," he added. "Having said that, if the price of oil stays high, these stocks will start to incorporate that into their price."

But there were more important drivers than the price of oil, Mr de Weck said. "In the future, the drivers will be in terms of producing energy without carbon – that is the long-term reason for these stocks' existence."

Changes to the regulatory environment, and the debate over whether climate change was being caused by people "had led to the industry growing very quickly," he added.

"Renewable stocks were, until recently, more expensive than traditional energy. But solar stocks have seen 40-50 per cent growth rate in last few years, and wind roughly 20 per cent. This has created very interesting investment opportunities."

For example, Vestas, which has been the top holding for nearly the entire life of the fund, has returned 12 per cent so far this year the manager said, despite the poor market conditions.

"It has indicated strong growth in terms of this year, next year and 2010, being already booked up until 2010," said Mr de Weck.