ESGU vs WOMN

ESGUAiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF

WOMNDImpact Shares YWCA Women's Empowerment 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.

WOMN The rare ETF where the fee is part of the pitch: sponsor Impact Shares is itself a 501(c)(3) that routes net advisory profits to YWCA USA, while the portfolio tracks a Morningstar index that scores US companies on gender equality.

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.

WOMN The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Morningstar Women’s Empowerment Index.

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.

• WOMN Sponsor Impact Shares is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and donates net advisory profits from WOMN to YWCA USA. The management fee doubles as a funding channel, not just a cost line.globenewswire.comywca.org
• The screen has teeth. Equileap's Gender Equality Scorecard, built into the Morningstar index, grades companies on 19 criteria including workforce gender balance, the pay gap and paid parental leave.morningstar.com
• Roughly 180 US large and mid caps, so it reads like diversified equity with a tilt rather than a narrow sector bet. Pays quarterly and has been trading since 2018.globenewswire.com

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

• WOMN At 0.75%, it prices above the typical thematic fund. That gap is also what feeds the YWCA donation, so the cost and the mission are the same dollar.globenewswire.com
• A small fund that trades thinly, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on giant index products, particularly in fast-moving markets.
• A gender-equality screen reshapes the lineup, so results can drift from a plain broad US market index in either direction.morningstar.com

Full ESGU profile⁠

Full WOMN profile⁠