iShares ESG Optimized MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF
$31.02−0.07 (−0.21%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.18%
- Fund size
- $8M
- 1Y return
- +9.3%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 1.40%
- Holdings
- 158
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $31.16
- 52W range
The ETF.net ESMV Grade
Score 50 of 100 sits in the C 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 60Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.BScore 64Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.CScore 53Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.FScore 7Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 55Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.DScore 39Category rank
Our read on ESMV
CMinimum volatility with an ESG conscience. ESMV runs MSCI's low-vol optimizer across US large and mid caps, then pushes the result toward better ESG characteristics and lower carbon than the parent index, for 0.18% a year.
The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S. large- and mid-capitalization equities designed to have lower volatility, reduced carbon exposure, and improved environmental, social, and governance characteristics relative to the parent index.
Why people hold it
- 0.18% a year, which undercuts what the typical US factor fund in its peer group charges.
- Two mandates in one ticker: MSCI's minimum volatility optimization plus ESG and reduced-carbon constraints measured against the MSCI USA parent index.ishares.com
- Roughly 160 US large and mid caps, chosen by published index rules rather than a manager's hunch, with cash paid out quarterly.
- Lands in the upper half of the US factor funds we grade, on the strength of its cheap fee and broad, diversified book.
Worth knowing
- One of the lighter-traded names in its factor cohort, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than at the category's household-name funds.
- Minimum volatility aims to dampen swings, not to prevent losses, and stacking an ESG and carbon screen on top pulls the portfolio further from plain US beta.
- Launched in 2021, so its live record covers a shorter stretch than the older min-vol funds it competes with.
ESMV Holdings
- Stocks
- 158
- 15%
- NOW
Geography
- United States93.56%
- Ireland2.58%
- Switzerland1.25%
- Uruguay1.24%
- United Kingdom0.63%
- Netherlands0.30%
- Bermuda0.23%
- Singapore0.12%
- 0.08%
ESMV 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 | ESMV |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +8.9% |
| 1 month | −2.2% |
| 3 months | +4.4% |
| 1 year | +9.3% |
| 3 years | +12.0% |
| 5 years | — |
| 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 | ESMV |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +8.9% | |
| 2025 | +5.3% | |
| 2024 | +13.0% | |
| 2023 | +12.2% | |
| 2022 | −11.1% | |
| 2021 | +3.2% |
ESMV in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on ESMV yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
ESMV Dividends
- 1.40%
- $0.44
- $0.11 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | Sep 18, 2026 | $0.11 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | Jun 18, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Mar 17, 2026 | Mar 20, 2026 | $0.12 |
| Dec 16, 2025 | Dec 19, 2025 | $0.13 |
| Sep 16, 2025 | Sep 19, 2025 | $0.13 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | Jun 20, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Mar 18, 2025 | Mar 21, 2025 | $0.09 |
| Dec 17, 2024 | Dec 20, 2024 | $0.15 |
| Sep 25, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.12 |
| Jun 11, 2024 | Jun 17, 2024 | $0.10 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 27, 2024 | $0.11 |
| Dec 20, 2023 | Dec 27, 2023 | $0.13 |
ESMV Risk
- 10.3%
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.
- 0.72
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.
- −19.8%
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.
- 0.61
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
ESMV Cost
- The middle half of US Low Volatility Index funds
- Median 0.20%
6 of the 16 US Low Volatility Index funds charge less.