ESGU vs NUMG

ESGUAiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF

NUMGCNuveen ESG Mid-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.

NUMG Most mid-cap index funds go wide. NUMG goes narrow: ESG and growth screens distill the middle of the US market down to about 40 names, tracked through an index Nuveen built in-house.

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.

NUMG The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Nuveen ESG USA Mid-Cap Growth Index. The index targets U.S.-listed mid-cap equities with growth characteristics and ESG 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.

• NUMG About 40 holdings makes this a concentrated sleeve, not a broad market proxy. Each name carries real weight, so the ESG and growth screens actually show up in the portfolio.
• Rules, not vibes. It tracks the Nuveen ESG USA Mid-Cap Growth Index, so the sustainability screens and growth tilt are written into the index rather than left to a manager's judgment.
• One ticker for a corner the mid-cap aisle mostly skips: US mid-caps filtered for both ESG and growth, while the cohort's biggest names are broad core trackers.
• Trading since December 2016, so there's a live multi-year record behind the strategy instead of a backtest and a launch deck.

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

• NUMG At 0.31% it runs about double the mid-cap cohort median of 0.15%, and broad trackers like VO and SCHM sit near 0.03%. The screening is what you're paying for.
• Thinly traded next to the category's heavyweights, so spreads deserve a look and limit orders do more work here than on a mega-fund.
• About 40 growth-tilted names cuts both ways: single-stock stumbles and style swings land harder than in a broad mid-cap index. Payouts come annually or semiannually, not monthly.

Full ESGU profile⁠

Full NUMG profile⁠