STNC vs USCL

STNCDHennessy Sustainable ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

STNC Most ESG funds are a screened S&P 500 index for a few basis points. STNC takes the other road: an active, roughly 70-stock book built from a sustainability ranking, a machine-learning screen and a tail-risk optimizer, at 0.95%.

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

STNC The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. It is an actively managed ETF investing at least 80% of net assets plus investment borrowings in exchange-traded equity securities of U.S. issuers meeting sustainability and fundamental financial standards.

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

• STNC Three steps, not one: a rules-based sustainability ranking, a machine-learning screen, then an optimizer targeting tail risk and diversification. Positions target a 3.5% max, rebalanced quarterly.sec.gov
• Hennessy retired the fund's semi-transparent wrapper and renamed it in 2025, so holdings are now disclosed like any ordinary ETF.sec.gov
• Measures itself against the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index alongside the cap-weighted S&P 500, a fair yardstick for a position-capped portfolio of about 70 names.

• 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

• STNC At 0.95%, the fee sits above the category's typical cost; index rivals XVV (0.08%) and EFIV (0.10%) screen the S&P 500 for a sliver of that.
• Thinly traded, so spreads and order size matter more here than with the category's household names.
• Active and model-driven: the prospectus flags model risk, and a 70-stock portfolio can drift a long way from broad ESG index funds.sec.gov

• 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 STNC profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠