ESGU vs NULG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF

ESGUANasdaq

Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth

NULGBCboe

Overlap

23.5%by weight

Expense ratio

ESGU −0.11pt a year

ESGU0.15%NULG0.26%

Avg volume · 30D

ESGU 5.0×the volume

ESGU409KNULG82.6K

5Y return · a year

ESGU +1.6pt

ESGU+10.4%NULG+8.8%

ESGU vs NULG Performance

Nov 9, 2021 – Nov 9, 2026

+63.8%ESGU+52.3%NULG

Expense ratio: ESGU 0.15%, better; NULG 0.26%
Fund size: ESGU $17.3B; NULG $2.76B
1Y total return: ESGU +13.1%, better; NULG +7.7%
Yield (12M): ESGU 0.94%, better; NULG 0.11%
Holdings: ESGU 271; NULG 78
Avg volume (30D): ESGU 409K sh, better; NULG 82.6K sh
NAV per share: ESGU $160.68; NULG $102.12
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for ESGU, NULG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	ESGU	NULG
Cost30% weight	B68Higher	C46
Mission25% weight	A98Higher	A84
Risk15% weight	C53Higher	F16
Tradability15% weight	A92Higher	A72
Holdings10% weight	B59Higher	D32
Durability5% weight	A94Higher	A80

Rank among US ESG & Values Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. ESGU and NULG are both graded against the same 47 US ESG & Values Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US ESG & Values Index⁠

Category · 47 funds

See all 47 ›

ESGU ranks 4th and NULG 29th of 47 funds in the US ESG & Values Index Category.

Rank 1AKLMNInvesco MSCI North America Climate ETFScore 80
Rank 2AEFIVState Street SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETFScore 78
Rank 2ASNPEXtrackers S&P 500 Scored & Screened ETFScore 78
Rank 4AESGUiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETFScore 77
Rank 5AXVViShares ESG Select Screened S&P 500 ETFScore 75
Rank 28BESGNorthern Trust STOXX US ESG Select ETFScore 59
Rank 29BNULGNuveen ESG Large-Cap GrowthScore 55
Rank 29BNUSCNuveen ESG Small-Cap ETFScore 55

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

ESGUAiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF

NULGBNuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth

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.

NULG Most ESG funds hand you the whole US market and call it a day. NULG picks a lane: a compact bench of large-cap growth names run through TIAA's own ESG screen, so the values filter and the style tilt arrive in one ticker.

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.

NULG The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index, which holds ESG-screened equity securities issued by large-capitalization companies listed on U.S. exchanges.

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.

NULG A style box, not a blanket. It tracks the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index, pairing an ESG screen with an explicit growth tilt instead of a whole-market ESG blend.
Running since 2016 under Nuveen, the TIAA-affiliated manager, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades in reasonable day-to-day size.
The label and the filings agree: US-listed large caps, growth style, ESG-screened, tracked closely against the stated index rather than drifting into manager discretion.

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

NULG At 0.26% a year it lands near the ESG category median, but broad ESG index rivals such as XVV (0.08%) and ESGV (0.09%) charge a fraction of that.
Roughly 70 holdings, all growth, means fewer places to hide. Single names and hot sectors move this fund more than they move a 500-stock ESG index fund.
Cash comes once or twice a year, and ESG here means TIAA's definition of it, which will not match every investor's own screen.

Full ESGU profile⁠

Full NULG profile⁠

ESGU vs NULG Holdings

How ESGU and NULG differ

Overlap by weight

23.5%

Shared holdings make up 85.2% of NULG and 23.9% of ESGU.

Level by level

Holdings55 in both23.5%
Sector11 Sectors80.5%
Countryby domicile98.3%
Asset classStocks100%

Sector

Sector weights in ESGU and NULG, widest gap first
Sector	Gap	ESGU	NULG
Technology	NULG +11.4 points	36.2%	47.6%
Financials	ESGU +6.9 points	12.5%	5.6%
Consumer Discretionary	NULG +5.0 points	8.7%	13.7%
Consumer Staples	ESGU +3.9 points	4.8%	0.9%
Energy	ESGU +3.7 points	3.7%	0.0%
Communication	ESGU +2.7 points	8.2%	5.5%
Utilities	ESGU +1.9 points	1.9%	0.0%
Industrials	NULG +1.9 points	8.3%	10.2%
Real Estate	NULG +0.9 points	2.2%	3.1%
Materials	NULG +0.4 points	2.1%	2.5%
Health Care	ESGU +0.3 points	11.3%	11.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in ESGU and NULG, widest gap first
Country	Gap	ESGU	NULG
United States	ESGU +1.6 points	99.8%	98.2%
Brazil	NULG +1.4 points	0.1%	1.5%
Other countries (2)	NULG +0.2 points	0.1%	0.3%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

ESGU36.5%
NULG43.2%

Securities held

ESGU268
NULG76

Asset class

ESGU: Stocks
NULG: Stocks

Holdings

Only in ESGU213
In both55
Only in NULG21

Only in ESGU

213 securities, 75.9% of ESGU by weight

Apple7.82%
Microsoft5.97%
Amazon.com Inc3.87%
Alphabet Class C3.03%
Meta Platforms Class A1.95%
Alphabet Class A1.66%
Tesla Inc1.59%
JPMorgan Chase & Co1.37%
Micron Technology1.20%
AbbVie0.90%
Johnson & Johnson0.84%
Mastercard Class A0.78%
Exxonmobil Holdings Corp0.74%
Home Depot0.71%
Costco Wholesale Corp0.70%
Procter & Gamble0.69%
Coca-Cola0.64%
Cisco Systems Inc0.63%
Hartford Insurance Group0.62%
Verizon Communications Inc0.57%
Merck & Co Inc0.54%
Goldman Sachs Group0.52%
Ge Aerospace0.50%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B0.49%
Nisource0.48%
Rtx0.47%
UnitedHealth Group0.46%
Palantir Technologies Class A0.45%
Morgan Stanley0.45%
Bank of New York Mellon Corp0.44%
Nextera Energy0.43%
Gilead Sciences0.43%
Automatic Data Processing Inc0.42%
Lowes Companies Inc0.42%
Linde PLC0.42%
S&P Global0.41%
American Express0.41%
American Tower Reit0.40%
Steris0.40%
Intel Corporation0.40%
Texas Instrument0.39%
International Business Machines Co0.39%
Honeywell International Inc0.37%
Bank of America0.37%
Stryker0.36%
Metlife0.36%
Accenture PLC Class A0.36%
Amgen Inc0.36%
Exelon Corp0.36%
Crh Public Limited PLC0.34%

Only in NULG

21 securities, 14.5% of NULG by weight

Tjx Companies, Inc.1.68%
Ross Stores, Inc.1.62%
Ebay, Inc.1.56%
Carvana Co1.06%
Expedia Group Inc0.98%
Live Nation Entertainment0.93%
Ulta Beauty Inc0.92%
Estee Lauder Cos. Class A0.89%
Liberty Media Corp-C0.77%
Autozone, Inc.0.73%
Roblox Corp0.66%
Samsara Inc0.46%
Verisign Inc.0.43%
Reddit Inc0.38%
Nvent Electric PLC0.34%
Lpl Financial Holdings In0.27%
O'reilly Automotive, Inc.0.22%
Echostar Corp0.21%
United Therapeutics Corp0.20%
Ast Spacemobile Inc0.19%
Carpenter Technology Corp<0.01%

Weight gaps

All 55 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in ESGU and NULG, widest gap first
Holding	Gap	ESGU	NULG
NVIDIANVDA	NULG +8.57 points	6.80%	15.37%
Eli LillyLLY	NULG +3.49 points	1.67%	5.16%
Broadcom IncAVGO	NULG +3.16 points	2.12%	5.28%
Visa Class AV	NULG +2.61 points	1.39%	4.00%
Advanced Micro DevicesAMD	NULG +2.45 points	1.18%	3.63%
WelltowerWELL	NULG +1.80 points	0.25%	2.05%
NetflixNFLX	NULG +1.66 points	0.34%	2.00%
Applovin Class AAPP	NULG +1.63 points	0.13%	1.76%
Palo Alto NetworksPANW	NULG +1.61 points	0.48%	2.09%
Moodys CorpMCO	NULG +1.51 points	0.17%	1.68%
Idexx LaboratoriesIDXX	NULG +1.38 points	0.38%	1.76%
Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTX	NULG +1.35 points	0.28%	1.63%
AutodeskADSK	NULG +1.33 points	0.27%	1.60%
Applied Material IncAMAT	NULG +1.31 points	0.51%	1.82%
Booking HoldingsBKNG	NULG +1.29 points	0.19%	1.48%
Lam ResearchLRCX	NULG +1.28 points	0.48%	1.76%
Cadence Design SystemsCDNS	NULG +1.28 points	0.26%	1.54%
Caterpillar IncCAT	NULG +1.27 points	0.44%	1.71%
FortinetFTNT	NULG +1.23 points	0.11%	1.34%
MercadolibreMELI	NULG +1.21 points	0.13%	1.34%
Sherwin WilliamsSHW	NULG +1.16 points	0.17%	1.33%
Chipotle Mexican GrillCMG	NULG +1.14 points	0.17%	1.31%
Trane Technologies PLCTT	NULG +1.13 points	0.35%	1.48%
Howmet AerospaceHWM	NULG +1.13 points	0.17%	1.30%
Eaton PLCETN	NULG +1.08 points	0.20%	1.28%
Analog DevicesADI	NULG +1.07 points	0.29%	1.36%
ResmedRMD	NULG +1.01 points	0.11%	1.12%
ServicenowNOW	NULG +1.02 points	0.27%	1.29%
Datadog Inc Class ADDOG	NULG +0.98 points	0.08%	1.06%
Seagate Technology Holdings PLCSTX	NULG +0.95 points	0.17%	1.12%
Cummins IncCMI	NULG +0.93 points	0.32%	1.25%
Keysight TechnologiesKEYS	NULG +0.89 points	0.14%	1.03%
Western Digital CorpWDC	NULG +0.88 points	0.18%	1.06%
EcolabECL	NULG +0.85 points	0.44%	1.29%
Mongodb Class AMDB	NULG +0.73 points	0.07%	0.80%
Caseys General Stores IncCASY	NULG +0.63 points	0.21%	0.84%
Ww Grainger IncGWW	NULG +0.60 points	0.32%	0.92%
Marvell TechnologyMRVL	NULG +0.57 points	0.21%	0.78%
Iron Mountain IncIRM	NULG +0.53 points	0.09%	0.62%
XpoXPO	NULG +0.49 points	0.10%	0.59%
Edwards LifesciencesEW	NULG +0.43 points	0.25%	0.68%
Rockwell Automation IncROK	NULG +0.41 points	0.09%	0.50%
Mettler ToledoMTD	NULG +0.34 points	0.23%	0.57%
Deckers OutdoorDECK	NULG +0.30 points	0.10%	0.40%
Rivian Automotive Class ARIVN	NULG +0.27 points	0.09%	0.36%
Quanta Services IncPWR	NULG +0.24 points	0.08%	0.32%
Equinix ReitEQIX	NULG +0.22 points	0.37%	0.59%
Mckesson CorpMCK	NULG +0.21 points	0.33%	0.54%
Emcor GroupEME	NULG +0.14 points	0.08%	0.22%
Waters CorpWAT	ESGU +0.11 points	0.14%	0.03%
West Pharmaceutical ServicesWST	ESGU +0.10 points	0.12%	0.02%
ZscalerZS	ESGU +0.09 points	0.11%	0.02%
First SolarFSLR	ESGU +0.04 points	0.09%	0.05%
Jb Hunt Transport ServicesJBHT	ESGU +0.03 points	0.08%	0.05%
Comfort Systems UsaFIX	ESGU +0.02 points	0.06%	0.04%

All 268 ESGU holdings⁠All 78 NULG holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

ESGU vs NULG Cost

Overpaying NULG vs ESGU

$2,221

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

ESGU 0.15%
$3,137
NULG 0.26%
$5,358

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

ESGU 0.15%
NULG 0.26%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	ESGU	NULG	Overpaying
10	$274	$473	$199
20	$1,071	$1,838	$767
30	$3,137	$5,358	$2,221

Expense ratio

0.15%ESGU, cheaper
0.26%NULG

ESGU0.15%NULG0.26%

0.08%0.95%

Middle half of US ESG & Values Index funds
Median 0.25%

ESGU 13th cheapest of 47 funds

NULG 25th cheapest of 47 funds

ESGU vs NULG Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 9, 2026

Yield (12M): ESGU 0.94%, better; NULG 0.11%
Payout (12M): ESGU $1.55; NULG $0.11
Last payment: ESGU $0.38; NULG $0.11
Ex-dividend: ESGU Sep 15, 2026; NULG Dec 18, 2025
Paid on: ESGU Sep 18, 2026; NULG Dec 19, 2025
Frequency: ESGU Quarterly; NULG Annual

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

ESGUQuarterly · 41 paymentsAll ESGU payments⁠

NULGAnnual · 10 paymentsAll NULG payments⁠

ESGU vs NULG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

ESGU
NULG

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: ESGU 12.8%, betterNULG 17.4%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: ESGU 1.35, betterNULG 1.01
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: ESGU −26.1%, betterNULG −35.8%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: ESGU 1.04NULG 1.21; Market = 1

ESGU and NULG in the news

All news⁠

ETF Filings
iShares files for a screened MSCI USA ETF that omits ESG from the name
Sep 4, 2026ESGU

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