EFIV vs NUSC

EFIVAState Street SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF

NUSCCNuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF

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.

NUSC ESG screens are thick on the ground in large caps and scarce in small caps. Nuveen has run this one since 2016, tracking TIAA's own ESG small-cap index across roughly 400 US names.

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.

NUSC The Fund seeks to track the performance of the TIAA ESG USA Small-Cap Index before fees and expenses. The index targets U.S.-listed small-cap companies selected using environmental, social, and governance criteria.

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.

• NUSC Live since 2016 and tracking TIAA's own ESG USA Small-Cap Index. Rules decide which small caps make the cut, not a manager's judgment call.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades at moderate volume. Real staying power for a screened corner of the small-cap aisle.
• Roughly 400 US small caps: a defined slice, not the full Russell 2000 sprawl, with the ESG screen stated up front in the fund's mandate.

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.

• NUSC At 0.31%, it runs above the small-cap median and well above VB and SCHA at 0.03% or IWM at 0.19%. The screen is what the extra buys.
• Screening to about 400 names leaves out much of the small-cap market, so results can drift from broad small-cap benchmarks in either direction.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, not monthly.

Full EFIV profile⁠

Full NUSC profile⁠