ESGD vs ESGG

ESGDAiShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF

ESGGBNorthern Trust STOXX Global ESG Select ETF

In short

ESGD The plain-vanilla international index fund, ESG-screened. Roughly 400 developed-market stocks from outside the US and Canada, tracking an MSCI EAFE ESG Focus index since 2016, for 0.20% a year.

ESGG A global ESG fund that picks and weights stocks on five countable checks (emissions targets, women on the board, independent directors, child-labor policy, golden parachutes) rather than one blended score, and it keeps US names in the mix.

Stated mandate

ESGD The fund seeks to track an index of international developed-market stocks outside the United States and Canada that have positive aggregate environmental, social, and governance characteristics.

ESGG The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the STOXX Global ESG Select KPIs Index.

Why people hold it

• ESGD Costs 0.20% a year, below the typical fee in its international ESG peer group.
• Roughly 400 stocks spanning developed markets outside the US and Canada: broad-market coverage, not a narrow thematic bet.ishares.com
• Tracks the MSCI EAFE Extended ESG Focus Index, keeping the familiar developed-markets shape while tilting toward companies with better aggregate ESG characteristics.ishares.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund trading since 2016, and one of the sturdier builds in its peer group.

• ESGG Scope is the hook: global, US included, while most of this peer group (VSGX, ESGD, EFAX) stops at developed markets outside the US.flexshares.com
• The index selects and weights on five concrete KPIs: a CDP emissions or energy reduction target, women on the board, independent directors, a child labor policy, and golden parachute agreements.stoxx.com
• Exclusion screens sit on top: controversial weapons, thermal coal, tobacco, military contracting, small arms, oil sands, plus global standards and ESG controversy flags.stoxx.com
• Live since 2016 and spread across roughly 700 stocks, so it reads as a broad core book rather than a concentrated ESG bet.

Worth knowing

• ESGD Cheaper tickets exist on the same shelf: VSGX at 0.10%, iShares' own DMXF at 0.12%. The fee here buys scale, not the lowest sticker.
• The ESG screen leaves holdings different from a plain EAFE fund, so results can drift from the unscreened index in either direction.
• Moderately traded rather than one of the busiest tapes in the category, and distributions land once or twice a year rather than monthly.

• ESGG Costs 0.42% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027 (0.45% gross), above the category median and above VSGX at 0.10% and ESGD at 0.20%.
• A smaller fund that trades thinly next to the category's giants, which can show up as wider spreads on the screen.
• The screens are rules-based, not judgment calls: a company can clear all five KPIs and still sit on somebody's exclusion list.stoxx.comstoxx.com 2

Full ESGD profile⁠

Full ESGG profile⁠