ESGV vs USCL

ESGVAVanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

ESGV Most screened U.S. funds start with the S&P 500 and stop there. ESGV screens the whole market instead, holding roughly 1,300 large, mid and small caps at a 0.09% expense ratio.

USCL Most ESG index funds work by exclusion. USCL scores roughly 400 US large and mid caps on where they're heading instead: emissions intensity, reduction targets, green revenue. And it charges 0.08% a year to do it.

Stated mandate

ESGV The Fund passively tracks a broad U.S. equity index covering large-, mid-, and small-capitalization companies that are screened using environmental, social, and corporate governance criteria.

USCL The Fund seeks to track an index of U.S. large- and mid-capitalization companies selected for their relative positioning on the transition to a low-carbon economy, using climate-related measures such as emissions intensity, reduction targets, green-business revenue, and climate-risk management.

Why people hold it

• ESGV Costs 0.09% a year, against a typical fund in its screened-U.S. peer group at 0.25%. It also sits under SNPE and EFIV (0.10%) and ESGU (0.15%).
• All-cap by design: large, mid and small companies, roughly 1,300 names. Most rivals here are screened versions of the S&P 500, so small caps never make the cut.
• Passive and literal: it follows the FTSE US All Cap Choice Index with very little drift, and is one of the cleaner implementations in a 35-fund peer group.
• A multi-billion-dollar Vanguard fund running since 2018, paying distributions quarterly. Long enough on the tape to have a real operating history.

• USCL At 0.08% a year, it matches the cheapest fund in its ESG cohort (XVV) and undercuts ESGV, SNPE, EFIV and ESGU.ishares.com
• The index doesn't just screen out offenders. It selects on transition evidence: emissions intensity, reduction targets, green-business revenue, climate-risk management.ishares.com
• About 400 US large and mid caps, so it reads as core equity exposure with a climate tilt, not a narrow clean-energy sector bet.
• A multi-billion-dollar iShares fund that sticks tightly to the MSCI USA Extended Climate Action Index, one of the cleaner implementations in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• ESGV The screens strip out companies a plain total-market fund keeps, so the sector mix differs and results can run ahead of or behind the unscreened market in any stretch.
• All stocks, all U.S. No bonds, no foreign listings, so full equity market swings come straight through.
• The values test is FTSE's rulebook, not yours. Worth reading what the index actually excludes before assuming it matches your own list.

• USCL Trading is thin for a fund this size, so spreads can widen. Limit orders are the standard tool here.
• Climate scoring reshapes the sector and name mix, so results can diverge from a plain US large-cap index in either direction.
• Launched in 2023, so its history is short next to the older ESG funds it competes with.

Full ESGV profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠