ESGU vs MNZL

ESGUAiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF

MNZLCManzil Russell Halal USA Broad Market 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.

MNZL A broad slice of the US market, filtered for faith. MNZL passively tracks a Russell index that screens stocks for Shariah compliance, then adds a second AFSC layer. Ordinary index plumbing, faith-based rules on top. Launched 2025.

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.

MNZL The Fund uses passive indexing to track the total return performance of its Russell index before fees and expenses. The index consists of common stocks and applies Shariah screening followed by AFSC principles.

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.

• MNZL Broad-market by construction: it passively tracks a Russell US index rather than a hand-picked list, so the halal screen sits on top of standard index plumbing.
• Two screens, not one: Shariah rules first, then AFSC principles, both written into the fund's own index rules.
• A single-ticket way to hold screened US common stocks without vetting names one at a time. Domestic equity only, so no foreign-market or currency layer.

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

• MNZL The screen carries a price: 0.40% a year, versus 0.09% at ESGV and 0.08% at XVV in the wider screened-equity group.
• It opened in late 2025, so there is little history yet on how tightly it hugs its index.
• Still a small, thinly traded fund, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the established names in its peer group.

Full ESGU profile⁠

Full MNZL profile⁠