TPSC vs USCL

TPSCCTimothy Plan US Small Cap Core ETF

USCLAiShares Climate Conscious & Transition MSCI USA ETF

In short

TPSC Small caps run through two filters at once: a biblically responsible screen, and volatility weighting that sizes each holding by how much the stock moves rather than how big the company is.

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

TPSC The Fund seeks to match, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Victory US Small Cap Volatility Weighted BRI 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

• TPSC The index weights by volatility instead of market cap, so the jumpiest names get the smallest slots. A different shape of small cap exposure than a cap-weighted fund.
• The faith screen lives in the index rules, not a manager's judgment: the fund's job is to match the Victory US Small Cap Volatility Weighted BRI Index before fees and expenses.
• At 0.52%, it charges the median fee for its US small cap peer group, and it pays distributions monthly.
• Live since 2019 and one of the stronger implementations in its small cap peer group on our review, with no structural red flags in the wrapper.

• 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

• TPSC Thinly traded next to the giants of the category, so bid-ask spreads can run wider, particularly in fast markets.
• Broad small cap rivals AVUV and AVSC charge 0.25%, under half this fund's 0.52%.
• Values screens plus volatility weighting mean the portfolio can look and behave quite differently from a standard cap-weighted small cap index. Matching one isn't the goal.

• 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 TPSC profile⁠

Full USCL profile⁠