ESGU vs ESGV

ESGUAiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF

ESGVAVanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF

In short

ESGU Screening out companies is easy; keeping the market's shape while you do it is the hard part. ESGU's index optimizes toward stronger ESG characteristics while targeting risk and return similar to the broad MSCI USA Index.

ESGV Most screened U.S. funds start with the S&P 500 and stop there. ESGV screens the whole market instead, holding roughly 1,300 large, mid and small caps at a 0.09% expense ratio.

Stated mandate

ESGU Seeks to track an index of large- and mid-cap U.S. companies selected for favorable environmental, social and governance (ESG) characteristics while seeking risk/return similar to the MSCI USA Index.

ESGV The Fund passively tracks a broad U.S. equity index covering large-, mid-, and small-capitalization companies that are screened using environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria.

Why people hold it

• ESGU Not a screen-and-drop portfolio: the index optimizes toward better ESG characteristics while targeting risk and return similar to the broad MSCI USA Index.ishares.com
• 0.15% a year, below the typical fund in its US ESG group, spread across roughly 300 large- and mid-cap names rather than a narrow shortlist.
• Running since 2016, a multi-billion-dollar iShares fund that pays quarterly and sits in the top quartile of a crowded US ESG peer group.

• ESGV Costs 0.09% a year, against a typical fund in its screened-U.S. peer group at 0.25%. It also sits under SNPE and EFIV (0.10%) and ESGU (0.15%).
• All-cap by design: large, mid and small companies, roughly 1,300 names. Most rivals here are screened versions of the S&P 500, so small caps never make the cut.
• Passive and literal: it follows the FTSE US All Cap Choice Index with very little drift, and is one of the cleaner implementations in a 35-fund peer group.
• A multi-billion-dollar Vanguard fund running since 2018, paying distributions quarterly. Long enough on the tape to have a real operating history.

Worth knowing

• ESGU Cheaper seats in the same row: XVV at 0.08%, ESGV at 0.09%, SNPE and EFIV at 0.10%, against 0.15% here.
• Market-like risk is the stated goal, so exclusions are lighter than a purist ESG fund and the holdings end up looking a lot like the broad US market.ishares.com
• MSCI's ratings decide who makes the cut, so the portfolio reflects one provider's definition of ESG, not an industry standard.ishares.com

• ESGV The screens strip out companies a plain total-market fund keeps, so the sector mix differs and results can run ahead of or behind the unscreened market in any stretch.
• All stocks, all U.S. No bonds, no foreign listings, so full equity market swings come straight through.
• The values test is FTSE's rulebook, not yours. Worth reading what the index actually excludes before assuming it matches your own list.

Full ESGU profile⁠

Full ESGV profile⁠