Category Review
Municipal bond funds are down for the year after a third-quarter selloff erased the first-half gain
iShares ESG Advanced Universal USD Bond ETF
$41.67+0.06 (+0.14%)
- 0.12%
- $694M
- −1.6%
- 4.13%
- 0.1M sh
- $41.58
- low $41.30high $44.47
The ETF.net EUSB Grade
A
Score 74 out of 100
- 21 of 117
Score 74 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A79 out of 100Rank 24 of 117Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 101Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C50 out of 100Rank 39 of 116Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.C50 out of 100Rank 59 of 117Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A78 out of 100Rank 16 of 116Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.B65 out of 100Rank 43 of 117
Our read on EUSB
AA total-bond-market build with a conscience clause: thousands of taxable dollar bonds, screened for ESG ratings and stripped of fossil fuel issuers, at a fee well under the typical broad bond ETF.
The Fund seeks to track the Bloomberg MSCI US Universal Choice ESG Screened Index, an index of U.S. dollar-denominated taxable bonds with favorable ESG ratings and extensive screens, including fossil-fuel exclusions.
Why people hold it
- Charges 0.12% a year, well below the median fee in its broad-bond group and cheap for a rules-screened portfolio.
- The screens are the product: favorable ESG ratings plus extensive exclusions, fossil fuels included, written into the index rather than left to a manager's mood.ishares.com
- Spreads exposure across several thousand US dollar taxable bonds and pays monthly, so the income cadence is steady.
- Delivers the mandate it advertises, one of the tighter ESG implementations among broad bond funds we grade.
Worth knowing
- Screening changes the mix. Cutting fossil fuel issuers means the portfolio's sector map and results can diverge from a plain total-bond index.
- Cheap, not cheapest: unscreened aggregate peers like BND, SPAB and SCHZ run 0.03%.
- Smaller and less actively traded than the core bond giants, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads on larger orders.
EUSB Holdings
- Bonds
- 4,392
- 7%
- Blk Csh Fnd Treasury Sl Agency
Geography
- United States97.94%
- United Arab Emirates0.52%
- Qatar0.26%
- Saudi Arabia0.14%
- Romania0.13%
- China0.12%
- Hungary0.11%
- Hong Kong0.11%
- 0.67%
EUSB Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Not enough history yet.
EUSB$9,839
Returns run to the Oct 12, 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 | EUSB |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −2.4% |
| 1 month | −1.1% |
| 3 months | −2.4% |
| 1 year | −1.6% |
| 3 years | +4.7% |
| 5 years | −0.2% |
| 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 | EUSB |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −2.4% | |
| 2025 | +7.5% | |
| 2024 | +1.8% | |
| 2023 | +5.8% | |
| 2022 | −12.8% | |
| 2021 | −1.3% | |
| 2020 | +1.7% |
EUSB in the news
EUSB Dividends
- 4.13%
- $1.72
- $0.15 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
EUSB Risk
- 5.4%
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.
- −0.002
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.
- −16.9%
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.
- 0.94
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
EUSB Cost
0.12%
EUSB0.12%
- The middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
- Median 0.34%
21 of the 113 US Aggregate Bond funds charge less.
Other funds in US Aggregate Bond
- ATAGGT. Rowe Price QM U.S. Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.08%1 year return −1.7%
- ADFCFDimensional - Core Fixed Income ETFExpense ratio 0.18%1 year return −1.9%
- AVPLSVanguard Core-Plus Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.20%1 year return −1.3%
- ABLVVanguard Long-Term Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return −7.3%
- ACGCBCapital Group Core Bond ETFExpense ratio 0.27%1 year return −2.2%