Nuveen ESG Dividend ETF

Nuveen ESG Dividend ETF (NUDV) tracks the Nuveen ESG USA High Dividend Yield Index. The index is built by MSCI and holds US large- and mid-cap stocks that pay high, steady dividends and score well on ESG (environmental, social and governance) measures. Its 0.26% expense ratio is a little below the 0.30% average of similar funds. It is small, with about $50 million in net assets as of July 31, 2026, and leans toward financial stocks.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, NUDV returned +17.7%, 6th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +9.4%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-7.8%); its best was 2024 (+14.1%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 20.1% (Jan 4, 2022 to Sep 30, 2022), recovered by Dec 14, 2023.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 85 securities; the ten largest made up 22.7% of assets.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $3.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.38%, +0.81%, +2.78%.

NUDV is an index fund. It tries to match the Nuveen ESG USA High Dividend Yield Index, which MSCI owns and calculates. Nuveen has no say over which stocks go in. The index starts from the MSCI USA Index, a broad list of US large- and mid-cap companies. It removes companies with significant activity in alcohol, tobacco, nuclear power, gambling, or weapons and firearms. It also removes companies above certain carbon ownership and emissions limits. It looks for stocks with higher-than-average dividend yields that appear sustainable and persistent, along with quality traits.

MSCI ESG Research scores each company against its industry peers on issues such as climate, waste, employee relations, product safety and business ethics. Within each sector, the highest-scoring companies are added until they make up 50% of that sector's market value in the starting index. Stocks are weighted by company size within their sector. The weights are then adjusted so the index's sector mix stays close to the broader market's. The index had 88 stocks as of December 31, 2025, and is rebalanced quarterly, in February, May, August and November.

The fund buys essentially all the index stocks in about the same proportions. It does not use derivatives and does not move to cash in falling markets. Portfolio turnover, the share of holdings replaced in a year, was 66%. Financials made up 24.2% of the fund as of July 31, 2026.

• NUDV charges 0.26% a year, versus an average of 0.3% for the similar funds below (5th of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.25% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $27 in the first year and $331 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

NUDV aims to hold US companies with high, sustainable dividends and pays quarterly, though its 2.28% trailing yield is modest.

NUDV could add quarterly dividends from established US companies such as Coca-Cola, Merck and Procter & Gamble. Its trailing 12-month yield was 2.28% as of October 27, 2026, so the income is moderate, not large. The fund launched in September 2021, so it has no record in the 2008 or 2020 crashes. In the 2022 bear market, it fell 20.1% from January 4 to September 30, 2022. It took about 14.5 months from that low to recover, on December 14, 2023. Its worst calendar year, 2022, was a 7.65% loss, according to the prospectus. Anyone forced to sell shares during that slump would have sold at a loss. Costs are low: $331 over 10 years on $10,000 in the SEC's standard example. With 24.2% in financials, a banking scare could hit it hard. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.