NUSC vs USCL

NUSCCNuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

NUSC ESG screens are thick on the ground in large caps and scarce in small caps. Nuveen has run this one since 2016, tracking TIAA's own ESG small-cap index across roughly 400 US names.

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

NUSC The Fund seeks to track the performance of the TIAA ESG USA Small-Cap Index before fees and expenses. The index targets U.S.-listed small-cap companies selected using environmental, social, and 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

• NUSC Live since 2016 and tracking TIAA's own ESG USA Small-Cap Index. Rules decide which small caps make the cut, not a manager's judgment call.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades at moderate volume. Real staying power for a screened corner of the small-cap aisle.
• Roughly 400 US small caps: a defined slice, not the full Russell 2000 sprawl, with the ESG screen stated up front in the fund's mandate.

• 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

• NUSC At 0.31%, it runs above the small-cap median and well above VB and SCHA at 0.03% or IWM at 0.19%. The screen is what the extra buys.
• Screening to about 400 names leaves out much of the small-cap market, so results can drift from broad small-cap benchmarks in either direction.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, not monthly.

• 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 NUSC profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠