NULG vs USCL: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth

NULGBCboe

iShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

USCLANasdaq

Overlap

23.2%by weight

Expense ratio

USCL −0.18pt a year

NULG0.26%USCL0.08%

Avg volume · 30D

NULG 6.3×the volume

NULG82.6KUSCL13.1K

3Y return · a year

USCL +0.2pt

NULG+19.7%USCL+19.9%

NULG vs USCL Performance

Nov 7, 2025 – Nov 9, 2026

+7.7%NULG+9.6%USCL

Expense ratio: NULG 0.26%; USCL 0.08%, better
Fund size: NULG $2.76B; USCL $2.61B
1Y total return: NULG +7.7%; USCL +9.6%, better
Yield (12M): NULG 0.11%; USCL 1.06%, better
Holdings: NULG 78; USCL 393
Avg volume (30D): NULG 82.6K sh, better; USCL 13.1K sh
NAV per share: NULG $102.12; USCL $83.10
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for NULG, USCL, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	NULG	USCL
Cost30% weight	C46	A99Higher
Mission25% weight	A84	Not scored
Risk15% weight	F16	B55Higher
Tradability15% weight	A72Higher	B69
Holdings10% weight	D32	D34Higher
Durability5% weight	A80Higher	A71

Rank among US ESG & Values Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. NULG and USCL are both graded against the same 47 US ESG & Values Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US ESG & Values Index⁠

Category · 47 funds

See all 47 ›

USCL ranks 7th and NULG 29th of 47 funds in the US ESG & Values Index Category.

Rank 7AEVUSiShares ESG Aware MSCI USA Value ETFScore 73
Rank 7AUSCLiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETFScore 73
Rank 11AFEUSNorthern Trust ESG & Climate US Large Cap Core ETFScore 72
Rank 28BESGNorthern Trust STOXX US ESG Select ETFScore 59
Rank 29BNULGNuveen ESG Large-Cap GrowthScore 55
Rank 29BNUSCNuveen ESG Small-Cap ETFScore 55

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

NULGBNuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

NULG Most ESG funds hand you the whole US market and call it a day. NULG picks a lane: a compact bench of large-cap growth names run through TIAA's own ESG screen, so the values filter and the style tilt arrive in one ticker.

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

NULG The Fund seeks to track the investment results of the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index, which holds ESG-screened equity securities issued by large-capitalization companies listed on U.S. exchanges.

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

NULG A style box, not a blanket. It tracks the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index, pairing an ESG screen with an explicit growth tilt instead of a whole-market ESG blend.
Running since 2016 under Nuveen, the TIAA-affiliated manager, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades in reasonable day-to-day size.
The label and the filings agree: US-listed large caps, growth style, ESG-screened, tracked closely against the stated index rather than drifting into manager discretion.

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

NULG At 0.26% a year it lands near the ESG category median, but broad ESG index rivals such as XVV (0.08%) and ESGV (0.09%) charge a fraction of that.
Roughly 70 holdings, all growth, means fewer places to hide. Single names and hot sectors move this fund more than they move a 500-stock ESG index fund.
Cash comes once or twice a year, and ESG here means TIAA's definition of it, which will not match every investor's own screen.

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 NULG profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠

NULG vs USCL Holdings

How NULG and USCL differ

Overlap by weight

23.2%

Shared holdings make up 88.1% of NULG and 23.3% of USCL.

Level by level

Holdings59 in both23.2%
Sector11 Sectors82.5%
Countryby domicile98.4%
Asset classStocks100%

Sector

Sector weights in NULG and USCL, widest gap first
Sector	Gap	NULG	USCL
Technology	NULG +8.6 points	47.6%	39.0%
Financials	USCL +4.7 points	5.6%	10.3%
Communication	USCL +4.8 points	5.5%	10.3%
Consumer Staples	USCL +3.7 points	0.9%	4.6%
Consumer Discretionary	NULG +3.5 points	13.7%	10.2%
Industrials	NULG +3.3 points	10.2%	6.9%
Energy	USCL +2.0 points	0.0%	2.0%
Utilities	USCL +1.7 points	0.0%	1.7%
Real Estate	NULG +1.3 points	3.1%	1.8%
Materials	NULG +0.8 points	2.5%	1.7%
Health Care	USCL +0.4 points	11.0%	11.4%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in NULG and USCL, widest gap first
Country	Gap	NULG	USCL
Brazil	NULG +1.4 points	1.5%	0.1%
United States	USCL +1.1 points	98.2%	99.3%
Other countries (6)	USCL +0.2 points	0.3%	0.5%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

NULG43.2%
USCL45.0%

Securities held

NULG76
USCL390

Asset class

NULG: Stocks
USCL: Stocks

Holdings

Only in NULG17
In both59
Only in USCL331

Only in NULG

17 securities, 11.5% of NULG by weight

Applovin Corp1.76%
Tjx Companies, Inc.1.68%
Resmed Inc1.12%
Carvana Co1.06%
Live Nation Entertainment0.93%
Casey's General Stores In0.84%
Mongodb Inc0.80%
Autozone, Inc.0.73%
Roblox Corp0.66%
Verisign Inc.0.43%
Reddit Inc0.38%
Nvent Electric PLC0.34%
Emcor Group Inc0.22%
Echostar Corp0.21%
United Therapeutics Corp0.20%
Ast Spacemobile Inc0.19%
Carpenter Technology Corp<0.01%

Only in USCL

331 securities, 76.5% of USCL by weight

Apple9.68%
Microsoft7.21%
Amazon.com Inc4.83%
Alphabet Class A3.22%
Meta Platforms Class A2.58%
Alphabet Class C2.56%
Tesla Inc1.97%
JPMorgan Chase & Co1.28%
Johnson & Johnson1.28%
Walmart1.06%
Mastercard Class A1.02%
AbbVie0.99%
Procter & Gamble0.74%
Coca-Cola0.71%
Cisco Systems Inc0.71%
Merck & Co Inc0.70%
UnitedHealth Group0.69%
Palantir Technologies Class A0.67%
Exxonmobil Holdings Corp0.66%
Home Depot0.66%
Thermo Fisher Scientific0.50%
Ge Aerospace0.48%
Amgen Inc0.48%
Bank of America0.46%
Linde PLC0.46%
Costco Wholesale Corp0.45%
Gilead Sciences0.40%
Mcdonalds Corp0.38%
Chevron0.38%
Micron Technology0.38%
Pepsico0.37%
Goldman Sachs Group0.37%
Verizon Communications Inc0.37%
Arista Networks0.35%
Nextera Energy0.35%
Kla0.35%
Qualcomm0.34%
BlackRock0.33%
International Business Machines Co0.33%
Union Pacific0.33%
Salesforce0.33%
American Express0.33%
Pfizer0.32%
Deere0.31%
Morgan Stanley0.31%
Accenture PLC Class A0.31%
Walt Disney0.29%
Charles Schwab0.29%
Oracle0.29%
AT&T0.29%

Weight gaps

All 59 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in NULG and USCL, widest gap first
Holding	Gap	NULG	USCL
NVIDIA CorpNVDA	NULG +7.11 points	15.37%	8.26%
Eli Lilly and CompanyLLY	NULG +3.07 points	5.16%	2.09%
Broadcom IncAVGO	NULG +2.72 points	5.28%	2.56%
Visa IncV	NULG +2.65 points	4.00%	1.35%
Advanced Micro DevicesAMD	NULG +2.22 points	3.63%	1.41%
Welltower IncWELL	NULG +1.72 points	2.05%	0.33%
Idexx Laboratories IncIDXX	NULG +1.66 points	1.76%	0.10%
Palo Alto Networks IncPANW	NULG +1.60 points	2.09%	0.49%
Ross Stores, Inc.ROST	NULG +1.55 points	1.62%	0.07%
Moody's CorporationMCO	NULG +1.54 points	1.68%	0.14%
Netflix.com Inc.NFLX	NULG +1.49 points	2.00%	0.51%
Auto DeskADSK	NULG +1.49 points	1.60%	0.11%
Ebay, Inc.EBAY	NULG +1.47 points	1.56%	0.09%
Applied Materials, Inc.AMAT	NULG +1.44 points	1.82%	0.38%
Lam Research CorpLRCX	NULG +1.40 points	1.76%	0.36%
Cadence Design SystemsCDNS	NULG +1.37 points	1.54%	0.17%
Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTX	NULG +1.36 points	1.63%	0.27%
Caterpillar, Inc.CAT	NULG +1.34 points	1.71%	0.37%
Trane Technologies PLCTT	NULG +1.31 points	1.48%	0.17%
Booking Holdings IncBKNG	NULG +1.24 points	1.48%	0.24%
Chipotle Mexican GrillCMG	NULG +1.22 points	1.31%	0.09%
Howmet Aerospace IncHWM	NULG +1.22 points	1.30%	0.08%
Mercadolibre IncMELI	NULG +1.21 points	1.34%	0.13%
Fortinet IncFTNT	NULG +1.20 points	1.34%	0.14%
Sherwin-Williams CoSHW	NULG +1.18 points	1.33%	0.15%
Cummins IncCMI	NULG +1.16 points	1.25%	0.09%
Ecolab IncECL	NULG +1.14 points	1.29%	0.15%
Servicenow IncNOW	NULG +1.09 points	1.29%	0.20%
Eaton Corp PLCETN	NULG +1.02 points	1.28%	0.26%
Analog Devices, Inc.ADI	NULG +1.02 points	1.36%	0.34%
Seagate Technology HoldSTX	NULG +0.97 points	1.12%	0.15%
Datadog IncDDOG	NULG +0.95 points	1.06%	0.11%
Keysight Technologies IncKEYS	NULG +0.94 points	1.03%	0.09%
Western DigitalWDC	NULG +0.93 points	1.06%	0.13%
Expedia Group IncEXPE	NULG +0.92 points	0.98%	0.06%
Grainger W.w. Inc.GWW	NULG +0.86 points	0.92%	0.06%
Ulta Beauty IncULTA	NULG +0.87 points	0.92%	0.05%
Estee Lauder Cos. Class AEL	NULG +0.84 points	0.89%	0.05%
Liberty Media Corp-CFWONK	NULG +0.74 points	0.77%	0.03%
Xpo IncXPO	NULG +0.56 points	0.59%	0.03%
Edwards Lifescience Corp.EW	NULG +0.57 points	0.68%	0.11%
Iron Mountain IncIRM	NULG +0.56 points	0.62%	0.06%
Marvell Technology IncMRVL	NULG +0.55 points	0.78%	0.23%
Mettler-Toledo Intl IncMTD	NULG +0.50 points	0.57%	0.07%
Equinix IncEQIX	NULG +0.45 points	0.59%	0.14%
Samsara IncIOT	NULG +0.43 points	0.46%	0.03%
Rockwell Automation, Inc.ROK	NULG +0.42 points	0.50%	0.08%
Deckers Outdoor CorpDECK	NULG +0.38 points	0.40%	0.02%
Mckesson Corp.MCK	NULG +0.36 points	0.54%	0.18%
Rivian Automotive IncRIVN	NULG +0.34 points	0.36%	0.02%
Lpl Financial Holdings InLPLA	NULG +0.25 points	0.27%	0.02%
Quanta Services Inc.PWR	NULG +0.16 points	0.32%	0.16%
O'reilly Automotive, Inc.ORLY	NULG +0.15 points	0.22%	0.07%
Waters Corp.WAT	USCL +0.06 points	0.03%	0.09%
Hunt (Jb) Transport ServJBHT	NULG +0.04 points	0.05%	<0.01%
Comfort Systems Usa IncFIX	USCL +0.03 points	0.04%	0.07%
West Pharmaceutical ServWST	USCL +0.02 points	0.02%	0.04%
Zscaler IncZS	USCL +0.02 points	0.02%	0.04%
First Solar, Inc.FSLR	NULG +0.02 points	0.05%	0.03%

All 78 NULG holdings⁠All 390 USCL holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

NULG vs USCL Cost

Overpaying NULG vs USCL

$3,669

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

NULG 0.26%
$5,358
USCL 0.08%
$1,689

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

NULG 0.26%
USCL 0.08%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	NULG	USCL	Overpaying
10	$473	$147	$326
20	$1,838	$575	$1,263
30	$5,358	$1,689	$3,669

Expense ratio

0.26%NULG
0.08%USCL, cheaper

USCL0.08%NULG0.26%

0.08%0.95%

Middle half of US ESG & Values Index funds
Median 0.25%

USCL cheapest of 47 funds

NULG 25th cheapest of 47 funds

NULG vs USCL Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 9, 2026

Yield (12M): NULG 0.11%; USCL 1.06%, better
Payout (12M): NULG $0.11; USCL $0.91
Last payment: NULG $0.11; USCL $0.20
Ex-dividend: NULG Dec 18, 2025; USCL Sep 15, 2026
Paid on: NULG Dec 19, 2025; USCL Sep 18, 2026
Frequency: NULG Annual; USCL Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

NULGAnnual · 10 paymentsAll NULG payments⁠

USCLQuarterly · 13 paymentsAll USCL payments⁠

NULG vs USCL Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: NULG 17.4%USCL 12.5%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: NULG 1.01USCL 1.28, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: NULG −35.8%USCL −19.0%since Jun 2023
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: NULG 1.21USCL 1.01; Market = 1

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