USCA vs XSHD

USCAAXtrackers MSCI USA Climate Action Equity ETF

XSHDDInvesco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF

In short

USCA The largest US ETF debut on record when it launched in 2023, seeded by a Finnish pension fund. It owns roughly 400 US large- and mid-caps, keeping only the top half of each sector on MSCI's climate-transition scoring, for 0.07% a year.

XSHD The high-yield-then-low-volatility recipe, run down in the S&P SmallCap 600 instead of the usual blue chips. A few dozen small caps picked for payout first and calm second, with cash paid out monthly.

Stated mandate

USCA The fund seeks to track the MSCI USA Climate Action Index before fees and expenses through a passive indexing strategy. The index selects U.S. large- and mid-capitalization companies assessed as leading sector peers in climate-transition positioning and actions.

XSHD The fund seeks to track its underlying index before fees and expenses by investing primarily in securities included in that index.

Why people hold it

• USCA Costs 0.07% a year against a typical screened US equity peer near 0.28%, and undercuts bigger ESG names like SUSA at 0.25%.
• No blanket sector bans: the index keeps the top 50% of companies in each GICS sector, so energy and industrials stay in, represented by their climate-transition leaders.dws.commsci.com
• Rules do the picking. MSCI's climate metrics, ESG ratings and controversy screens set the roster; no manager discretion, no stock-by-stock calls.dws.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund with an institutional anchor investor from day one, and it pays quarterly.businesswire.com

• XSHD Two-step screen with a clear order of operations: rank the small-cap universe by trailing 12-month dividend yield first, then keep the least volatile of those names.spglobal.com
• Pays monthly, a cadence rare among small-cap equity funds, where quarterly is the norm.
• Income and low-volatility screens usually live in large caps. This one applies them inside the S&P SmallCap 600, a part of the market most yield funds skip.invesco.com
• Rules-based and running since 2016: holdings change on the index's schedule, not a manager's hunch.

Worth knowing

• USCA Half of each sector is screened out, so results can drift from a plain MSCI USA index fund in either direction.dws.com
• Market-cap weighted and filed as non-diversified, so America's largest companies carry heavy weight at the top.dws.com
• Moderately traded next to the giants of US equity, so spreads can be a bigger part of the cost of getting in and out.

• XSHD Thinly traded. Spreads can be wider than in the household-name funds, so limit orders and a look at the quote before you hit the button matter more here.
• 0.30% a year, a shade above the typical fee among US factor ETFs, and the fund sits in the lower reaches of that peer group on cost and tradability.
• Yield-first selection concentrates the portfolio in the highest-paying corners of small caps, across only a few dozen names, and the volatility screen reads the past 12 months.spglobal.com

Full USCA profile⁠

Full XSHD profile⁠