RAFE vs USCL

RAFEBPIMCO RAFI ESG U.S. ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

RAFE Most ESG index funds rescreen a familiar large-cap benchmark and weight it by market value. RAFE runs PIMCO's RAFI rules instead: a long-only, rules-based blend of ESG screening and smart beta, landing on roughly 240 US stocks.

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

RAFE The fund seeks total returns closely corresponding to the RAFI ESG US Index by investing at least 80% of assets in its component securities. The index uses a long-only, rules-based ESG and smart-beta approach.

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

• RAFE Different engine from the cap-weighted crowd: the RAFI ESG US Index sets both the screens and the weights by rule, and the fund keeps at least 80% of assets in those index names.
• It has tracked its index very closely since launch, which is the core job of any index fund and the main thing you are paying for here.
• Roughly 240 stocks is a tighter roster than the 500-name screened index funds that dominate this shelf, so the rules actually show up in the portfolio.
• Live since 2019 under a standard 1940 Act fund wrapper, all-US equity, with cash paid out on a quarterly schedule.

• 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

• RAFE The rules cost money: 0.30% a year against a 0.25% cohort median, while cap-weighted ESG rivals like ESGV, XVV and SNPE sit near or below 0.10%.
• It is a small, thinly traded fund by category standards, so the spread at the moment you trade matters more than it would in a mega-cap ESG index fund.
• The ESG definition is the index provider's, not yours: inclusion follows RAFI ESG US Index rules, so check the methodology against what you actually want screened.

• 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 RAFE profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠