iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Small-Cap ETF
$53.09−0.33 (−0.61%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.17%
- Fund size
- $2.8B
- 1Y return
- +18.8%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 0.94%
- Holdings
- 909
- Volume · 30D
- 0.2M sh
- NAV per share
- $53.21
- 52W range
The ETF.net ESML Grade
Score 67 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.BScore 62Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 95Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.DScore 29Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 57Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 86Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 80Category rank
Our read on ESML
BMost ESG funds stop at the S&P 500. ESML takes the same iShares screen down the cap ladder: roughly 900 smaller US companies, ranked on ESG profile, at a price below the category median.
The fund seeks to track an index of small-cap U.S. companies with favorable ESG profiles, aiming to provide ESG-focused core equity exposure.
Why people hold it
- Small-cap ESG is a thin shelf. The other top-graded names in the category (SNPE, EFIV, XVV) are S&P 500 builds; ESML fishes in the part of the market they skip.
- 0.17% a year, under the 0.25% category median, for an index that holds roughly 900 names rather than a short list of screen survivors.
- Live since 2018, now a multi-billion-dollar fund paying quarterly, and one of the stronger implementations in its ESG peer group.
Worth knowing
- These are small companies, so the ride is bumpier than the S&P 500-based ESG funds sitting next to it in the category.
- MSCI does the judging. The Extended ESG Focus index scores and re-weights companies rather than simply banning industries, so the holdings may not match your own definition.
- Volume is moderate, not the constant flow of the big large-cap ESG names, which matters more on large or hurried orders.
ESML Holdings
- Stocks
- 909
- 5%
- MRNA
Sectors
- Technology17.7%
- Health Care15.4%
- Industrials15.1%
- Financials14.4%
- Consumer Discr.10.6%
- Real Estate6.9%
- Energy5.8%
- Materials5.3%
- Cons. Staples3.9%
- Utilities2.8%
- Communication2.1%
Geography
- United States96.18%
- Bermuda0.76%
- Ireland0.76%
- United Kingdom0.72%
- Puerto Rico0.50%
- Canada0.39%
- Switzerland0.25%
- France0.13%
- 0.30%
ESML Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | ESML |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +17.0% |
| 1 month | −4.1% |
| 3 months | −2.0% |
| 1 year | +18.8% |
| 3 years | +18.1% |
| 5 years | +7.6% |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | ESML |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +17.0% | |
| 2025 | +10.6% | |
| 2024 | +12.0% | |
| 2023 | +17.3% | |
| 2022 | −17.3% | |
| 2021 | +19.3% | |
| 2020 | +19.6% |
ESML in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on ESML yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
ESML Dividends
- 0.94%
- $0.50
- $0.15 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | Sep 18, 2026 | $0.15 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | Jun 18, 2026 | $0.11 |
| Mar 17, 2026 | Mar 20, 2026 | $0.11 |
| Dec 16, 2025 | Dec 19, 2025 | $0.13 |
| Sep 16, 2025 | Sep 19, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | Jun 20, 2025 | $0.12 |
| Mar 18, 2025 | Mar 21, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Dec 17, 2024 | Dec 20, 2024 | $0.18 |
| Sep 25, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.14 |
| Jun 11, 2024 | Jun 17, 2024 | $0.09 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 27, 2024 | $0.11 |
| Dec 20, 2023 | Dec 27, 2023 | $0.14 |
ESML Risk
- 18.2%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.69
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −28.6%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 1.06
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
ESML Cost
- The middle half of US ESG & Values Index funds
- Median 0.23%
18 of the 48 US ESG & Values Index funds charge less.