EGUS vs VUG

EGUSCiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Growth ETF

VUGAVanguard Morningstar Growth ETF

In short

EGUS Most ESG funds live in the middle of the market. EGUS moves the screen into the growth style box: it starts from MSCI's US large- and mid-cap growth universe, then optimizes toward better-rated ESG names while targeting risk and return close to the unscreened parent index.

VUG Three basis points buys roughly 170 US large-cap growth names. Running since 2004, over $100 billion in assets, and it tracks its index about as closely as an index fund can.

Stated mandate

EGUS The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S. large- and mid-capitalization equities with growth characteristics and positive environmental, social and governance characteristics.

VUG The fund seeks to track a benchmark index measuring the investment return of large-capitalization growth stocks.

Why people hold it

• EGUS Not a bolt-on. The index is built by optimizing the MSCI USA Growth parent for ESG exposure while aiming to keep risk and return characteristics similar to it.msci.com
• Hard exclusions, not vibes: tobacco, controversial weapons, civilian firearms, thermal coal and oil sands are ineligible for the index.msci.com
• 0.18% a year buys the screen plus standard iShares index plumbing. Roughly 90 large- and mid-cap growth names, with distributions paid quarterly.ishares.com
• A 2023 launch that does exactly what the label says: US growth, ESG-screened, index-tracked, with the objective spelled out in the registration statement.

• VUG 0.03% a year against a 0.18% median for its growth peer group. A rival tracking the same declared index charges 0.36%, twelve times more for the same shopping list.vanguard.com
• One of the largest and most heavily traded funds in US large-cap growth, and among the tightest index implementations in that group. Deep volume tends to mean thin spreads.
• Trading since January 2004, so the record spans full market cycles rather than a backtest. Distributions land quarterly.

Worth knowing

• EGUS Small and thinly traded next to the big growth trackers, so bid-ask spreads can run wider and large orders need more care.
• Unscreened growth trackers charge far less (VUG at 0.03%, SCHG at 0.04%) than this fund's 0.18%. The ESG optimizer is what the extra buys.
• Roughly 90 names, and the optimizer can leave out growth companies you'd expect to see, so returns can drift from a plain growth index in either direction.msci.com

• VUG Cap-weighted, so the biggest mega-caps dominate the top of the book. That makes it one of the more concentrated portfolios in this cohort.vanguard.com
• A style sleeve, not the whole market: growth screens only, large caps only. When growth is out of favor it can swing harder than a total-market fund.
• SPYG and SCHG sit at 0.04%, so the price edge is a rounding error. The real gap is how each index defines a growth stock.

Full EGUS profile⁠

Full VUG profile⁠