EFIV vs NULG

EFIVAState Street SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF

NULGBNuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth

In short

EFIV A screened S&P 500 that still looks like one. EFIV trims to about 300 names on ESG criteria but holds industry-group weights close to the parent index, for 0.10% a year.

NULG Most ESG funds hand you the whole US market and call it a day. NULG picks a lane: a compact bench of large-cap growth names run through TIAA's own ESG screen, so the values filter and the style tilt arrive in one ticker.

Stated mandate

EFIV The Fund seeks to track an index of securities selected using environmental, social, and governance sustainability criteria while retaining industry-group weights broadly similar to the S&P 500 Index.

NULG The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index, which holds ESG-screened equity securities issued by large-capitalization companies listed on U.S. exchanges.

Why people hold it

• EFIV Charges 0.10% a year, well under the 0.25% typical of its values-screened peer group.
• Keeps industry-group weights broadly similar to the S&P 500, so the screen changes which names you own more than which sectors.
• Tracks its declared index very tightly, one of the cleaner implementations in its cohort.
• Straightforward 1940 Act index fund from SPDR, running since 2020, distributing quarterly.

• NULG A style box, not a blanket. It tracks the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index, pairing an ESG screen with an explicit growth tilt instead of a whole-market ESG blend.
• Running since 2016 under Nuveen, the TIAA-affiliated manager, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades in reasonable day-to-day size.
• The label and the filings agree: US-listed large caps, growth style, ESG-screened, tracked closely against the stated index rather than drifting into manager discretion.

Worth knowing

• EFIV About 300 stocks, not 500. The screens remove names, so results can diverge from the headline S&P 500.
• Cheaper shelf-mates exist: XVV at 0.08% and ESGV at 0.09% undercut it on fee.
• Mid-size asset base and moderate trading volume, which can mean wider spreads than the mega-cap index giants.

• NULG At 0.26% a year it lands near the ESG category median, but broad ESG index rivals such as XVV (0.08%) and ESGV (0.09%) charge a fraction of that.
• Roughly 70 holdings, all growth, means fewer places to hide. Single names and hot sectors move this fund more than they move a 500-stock ESG index fund.
• Cash comes once or twice a year, and ESG here means TIAA's definition of it, which will not match every investor's own screen.

Full EFIV profile⁠

Full NULG profile⁠