EFIV vs STNC

EFIVAState Street SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF

STNCDHennessy Sustainable 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.

STNC Most ESG funds are a screened S&P 500 index for a few basis points. STNC takes the other road: an active, roughly 70-stock book built from a sustainability ranking, a machine-learning screen and a tail-risk optimizer, at 0.95%.

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.

STNC The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. It is an actively managed ETF investing at least 80% of net assets plus investment borrowings in exchange-traded equity securities of U.S. issuers meeting sustainability and fundamental financial standards.

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.

• STNC Three steps, not one: a rules-based sustainability ranking, a machine-learning screen, then an optimizer targeting tail risk and diversification. Positions target a 3.5% max, rebalanced quarterly.sec.gov
• Hennessy retired the fund's semi-transparent wrapper and renamed it in 2025, so holdings are now disclosed like any ordinary ETF.sec.gov
• Measures itself against the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index alongside the cap-weighted S&P 500, a fair yardstick for a position-capped portfolio of about 70 names.

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.

• STNC At 0.95%, the fee sits above the category's typical cost; index rivals XVV (0.08%) and EFIV (0.10%) screen the S&P 500 for a sliver of that.
• Thinly traded, so spreads and order size matter more here than with the category's household names.
• Active and model-driven: the prospectus flags model risk, and a 70-stock portfolio can drift a long way from broad ESG index funds.sec.gov

Full EFIV profile⁠

Full STNC profile⁠