ESGG vs FEDM

ESGGBNorthern Trust STOXX Global ESG Select ETF

FEDMANorthern Trust ESG & Climate Developed Markets ex-US Core ETF

In short

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.

FEDM Northern Trust writes the index and runs the fund: a developed-ex-US core holding screened on its own ESG and climate scoring, at 0.12% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

Stated mandate

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

FEDM The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Northern Trust ESG & Climate Developed Markets ex-US Core Index.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• FEDM At 0.12% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027, it sits at the low end of its peer group, matching DMXF (0.12%) and undercutting ESGD (0.20%).
• Optimized, not just screened: the index limits how far any stock, sector or region can drift from its developed-ex-US parent, so it still behaves like core foreign equity.flexshares.com
• Northern Trust scores companies on its own ESG Vector Score instead of licensing a third party ratings index, and manages the fund in-house.flexshares.com
• Roughly 300 large and mid-cap names across developed markets outside the US, paid out quarterly.flexshares.com

Worth knowing

• 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

• FEDM Thinly traded next to the category giants, so spreads can widen. Limit orders matter more here than with the household-name alternatives.
• The 0.12% is net of a waiver through March 1, 2027; the gross fee is 0.16%, so the discount depends on that waiver being extended.
• ESG and climate screens change what it owns versus a plain developed-ex-US index, so results can drift from the broad market in either direction.sec.gov

Full ESGG profile⁠

Full FEDM profile⁠