FEUS vs USCL

FEUSANorthern Trust ESG & Climate US Large Cap Core ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

FEUS Plenty of ESG large-caps are a screened S&P 500. FEUS instead optimizes the 600 biggest US companies toward higher ESG scores and lower carbon, while holding sector weights near the parent. Fee: 0.09% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027.

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

FEUS The fund seeks results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the price and yield performance of the Northern Trust ESG & Climate US Large Cap Core Index.

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

• FEUS Not a screen, an optimizer: it starts from the 600 largest US companies, tilts toward higher ESG scores and lower carbon, and caps each name's active weight at -1.00% to +0.75%.sec.govflexshares.com
• The ESG Vector Score follows SASB standards, grading the sustainability issues that are financially material to each industry instead of applying one generic rating.sec.govflexshares.com
• 0.09% net of a waiver through March 1, 2027 (0.10% gross), below the category median. ESGU charges 0.15%, SNPE and EFIV 0.10%; only XVV, at 0.08%, goes lower.
• The portfolio matches the index it advertises, and it sits in the top quartile of a crowded 48-fund ESG peer group.

• 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

• FEUS Thinly traded and smaller, roughly 130 stocks. Thin volume can mean wider spreads; filings flag new fund risk, where a fund that stays small may track its index less closely.flexshares.com
• Norms-based and controversial-business screens drop some big US names outright, so returns can drift from the broad market in either direction.sec.govflexshares.com
• The FlexShares label became Northern Trust ESG & Climate US Large Cap Core ETF in 2026. Same ticker, same index.flexshares.com

• 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 FEUS profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠