CVMC vs USCL

CVMCBCalvert US Mid-Cap Core Responsible Index ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

CVMC Most mid-cap index funds buy the middle of the market and stop there. CVMC screens it first, tracking a Calvert-built responsible index of US mid-caps for 0.15% a year.

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

CVMC The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Calvert US Mid-Cap Core Responsible Index.

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

• CVMC Follows Calvert's own responsible index (CALMID) instead of a generic mid-cap benchmark, so the screening lives in the index rules rather than in a manager's discretion.
• At 0.15% a year it charges the same as the typical fund in its US mid-cap peer group, so the values screen does not come with a premium price tag.
• Plain structure under the hood: a passive US mid-cap core stock basket in a standard 1940 Act fund, with no leverage, options overlay or exotic wrapper. It pays quarterly.

• 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

• CVMC Thinly traded with a modest asset base, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the giant mid-cap trackers, especially on larger tickets.
• Competitive on cost, but not the floor: VO and SCHM cover US mid-caps for 0.03%. The gap is the price of the responsible index.
• Launched in 2023, so its record is short next to mid-cap index funds that have been compounding through multiple market cycles.

• 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 CVMC profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠