CATH vs USCL

CATHBGlobal X S&P 500 Catholic Values ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

CATH Same S&P 500 neighborhood, screened through Catholic doctrine instead of a generic ESG rating. Global X has run this faith-based cut of the index since 2016.

USCL Most ESG index funds work by exclusion. USCL scores roughly 400 US large and mid caps on where they're heading instead: emissions intensity, reduction targets, green revenue. And it charges 0.08% a year to do it.

Stated mandate

CATH The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the performance of the S&P 500® Catholic Values Index before fees and expenses.

USCL The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S. large- and mid-capitalization companies selected for their relative positioning on the transition to a low-carbon economy, using climate-related measures such as emissions intensity, reduction targets, green-business revenue, and climate-risk management.

Why people hold it

• CATH The screen is the whole point: it tracks the S&P 500 Catholic Values Index, filtering the benchmark on faith-based criteria rather than a broad ESG score.globalxetfs.com
• Still core-shaped underneath: roughly 400 large US companies, index-tracked, no stock-picker's hunches in the mix.
• Live since 2016 and now over a billion dollars in assets, running on an S&P-built index rather than an in-house screen.
• The portfolio sticks tightly to the index it names, so the label and the holdings tell the same story.

• USCL At 0.08% a year, it matches the cheapest fund in its ESG cohort (XVV) and undercuts ESGV, SNPE, EFIV and ESGU.ishares.com
• The index doesn't just screen out offenders. It selects on transition evidence: emissions intensity, reduction targets, green-business revenue, climate-risk management.ishares.com
• About 400 US large and mid caps, so it reads as core equity exposure with a climate tilt, not a narrow clean-energy sector bet.
• A multi-billion-dollar iShares fund that sticks tightly to the MSCI USA Extended Climate Action Index, one of the cleaner implementations in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• CATH At 0.29% a year it runs above the typical fund in its screened-equity group, and well above bare-bones S&P 500 ESG trackers like SNPE and XVV.
• Trading volume is modest next to the biggest names in the category, so spreads can be wider. That cost shows up at the moment you transact.
• Excluding companies means this is not the S&P 500. Results can drift from the parent index in either direction, and distributions come only once or twice a year.

• USCL Trading is thin for a fund this size, so spreads can widen. Limit orders are the standard tool here.
• Climate scoring reshapes the sector and name mix, so results can diverge from a plain US large-cap index in either direction.
• Launched in 2023, so its history is short next to the older ESG funds it competes with.

Full CATH profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠