ESGU vs NUSC

ESGUAiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF

NUSCCNuveen ESG Small-Cap 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.

NUSC ESG screens are thick on the ground in large caps and scarce in small caps. Nuveen has run this one since 2016, tracking TIAA's own ESG small-cap index across roughly 400 US names.

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.

NUSC The Fund seeks to track the performance of the TIAA ESG USA Small-Cap Index before fees and expenses. The index targets U.S.-listed small-cap companies selected using environmental, social, and 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.

• NUSC Live since 2016 and tracking TIAA's own ESG USA Small-Cap Index. Rules decide which small caps make the cut, not a manager's judgment call.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades at moderate volume. Real staying power for a screened corner of the small-cap aisle.
• Roughly 400 US small caps: a defined slice, not the full Russell 2000 sprawl, with the ESG screen stated up front in the fund's mandate.

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

• NUSC At 0.31%, it runs above the small-cap median and well above VB and SCHA at 0.03% or IWM at 0.19%. The screen is what the extra buys.
• Screening to about 400 names leaves out much of the small-cap market, so results can drift from broad small-cap benchmarks in either direction.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, not monthly.

Full ESGU profile⁠

Full NUSC profile⁠