In an extremely crowded field of exchange-traded funds, issuers are looking for any reason to stand out, including changing a name and ticker symbol.

On July 9, VanEck changed the name of its 12-year-old VanEck Vectors Global Alternative Energy ETF (GEX) to VanEck Vectors Low Carbon Energy ETF (SMOG), saying the rebranded name and ticker more fully reflect new terminology in the industry.

Brandon Rakszawski, director of ETF product development at VanEck, says with the global discussion around climate change and low-carbon footprints, terms like alternative energy have evolved to renewable, clean or green energy.

“There is more focus on the space from both a political and economic perspective, as well as an investing perspective,” he says.

The fund’s underlying index, Ardour Global Index Extra Liquid, remains unchanged. The index lists companies involved in environmentally friendly, renewable power production such as wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and bio-fuels as well as the related technologies used to support this power production.

VanEck isn’t the only issuer of late to change ETF names and tickers. State Street Global Advisors recently tweaked the names and created new ticker symbols for six SPDR ETFs to reflect S&P Global’s acquisition of Kensho Technologies. For example, the SPDR Kensho Final Frontiers ETF (XKFF) is now the SPDR S&P Kensho Final Frontiers ETF (ROKT).

A new name and a catchy new ticker symbol may spur renewed attention for an older fund, but whether that helps attract new fund flows is iffy.

A few years ago, EventShares shuttered its political policy-themed ETFs, the Democratic Policies Fund (DEMS) and Republican Policies Fund (GOP). It then took an existing ETF, the U.S. Tax Reform Fund (TAXR), rolled together the themes from GOP, DEMS and TAXR and rechristened it the EventShares U.S. Policy Alpha ETF (PLCY). PLCY is an actively managed, total-market fund that looks for changes in U.S. government regulations, trade policies and fiscal spending as a basis for the companies it invests in.

It debuted in October 2017 and has $19 million in assets and a net expense ratio of 0.85 percent. Its one-year annualized return is 2 percent and year to date it is up 17.3 percent, which trails by roughly four basis points the year-to-date return on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

But that change in fund name and focus had only a mild impact on attracting assets. According to data from Ycharts, as of June 30 PLCY saw an increase of $2.8 million in flows over a one-year period.

Regarding SMOG, Rakszawski says he hopes the new name and ticker aligns better with the increased focus on climate change.

“Our hope is that aligning our fund name and making a memorable ticker will help an ETF that has been in the market for some time, within a sub-segment of the market that has been around for some time. We hope it will get some attention with those that may not have been aware that it existed,” he says.

The fund has $95 million in assets under management and an expense ratio of 0.63 percent. Ycharts notes the former GEX had suffered from outflows. On a six-month basis prior to the name change, GEX lost $3.3 million in flows, and on a 10-year basis it lost $87.3 million. Rakszawski says flows in the space in general have been weak, although just before the name change he noted a pick up in flows. He couldn’t say why that occurred.

The GEX/SMOG fund launched in 2007 at the height of interest in green energy, when crude-oil prices peaked at $140 a barrel. Since then petroleum prices cratered and are trading around $60 a barrel. The lower oil prices have muted the previously strong interest in green energy.

Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA, says he doesn’t know if name changes in general help with attracting assets, but it can help increase investor awareness. More thematic ETFs are coming out with tickers that lend themselves to being connected to what the product is trying to accomplish.

“An ESG or clean energy-oriented product that has ‘smog’ in its name is certainly an appropriate way of doing it,” he says. “The changing of a ‘final frontiers’ ETF to have the ticker ROKT, which certainly gives me an image of a rocket for a space-related ETF, certainly fits into that.”

SMOG may benefit from an increase in interest in ESG-oriented products, Rosenbluth notes, and the environmental aspect of ESG is probably the easiest of the three pillars for investors to understand.

“Clean energy is increasingly in focus for investors. By directly connecting the dots to smog, the new ticker SMOG should hopefully help VanEck Vectors be on the radar for investors,” he says.

It probably helps that the firms that recently changed product names and tickers were from well-known fund providers such as State Street and VanEck. A small, independent shop like EventShares has a harder time commanding attention and is still working to educate people on what makes the product unique, Rosenbluth explains.

“This is a great example that an appealing ticker is not enough to gather investor interest,” he says.