ISMD vs USCL

ISMDCInspire Small/Mid Cap ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

ISMD A values screen most investors meet in large-cap form, aimed instead at US small and mid caps. Running since 2017, it tracks an index built on Inspire's own Impact Score, so the screening is rules-based rather than a manager's judgment call.

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

ISMD The Fund seeks to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact 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

• ISMD The values filter is codified. It tracks the Inspire Small/Mid Cap Impact Index, screened by the Inspire Impact Score, so exclusions follow published rules instead of a manager's discretion.
• Screening doesn't hollow out the portfolio. Holdings construction and diversification are the fund's strongest measured trait, well ahead of where its overall standing sits.
• No mandate drift. It stays what the prospectus says it is: a US equity fund in the small and mid cap range, tracking its stated index rather than wandering into large caps.
• Live since 2017 and now in the $250M to $1B range, with quarterly distributions. That's past the fragile startup stage for a niche screened strategy.

• 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

• ISMD The screen carries a price. At 0.53%, it costs meaningfully more than the plain broad-market trackers in its peer group, such as ILCB and GUSA.
• It's thinly traded, so bid-ask spreads can be wider than on the giant index funds it sits beside.
• Small and mid caps swing harder than large caps, and the screen narrows the pool further. Expect a bumpier ride than a total-market fund.

• 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 ISMD profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠