Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF

Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF (NUSC) is an index fund that tracks the Nuveen ESG USA Small-Cap Index. The index picks small US companies from the MSCI USA Small Cap Index that score well on environmental, social and governance (ESG) measures. The fund may appeal to people who want small-company stocks with ESG screens. The main trade-off is cost: its 0.31% expense ratio is about double the 0.15% average of similar funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, NUSC returned +11.2%, 9th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +4.8%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-17.7%); its best was 2021 (+17.6%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 28.8% (Nov 5, 2021 to Jun 16, 2022), recovered by Oct 16, 2024.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 405 securities; the ten largest made up 10.17% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors withdrew a net $50.4M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +2.53%, +3.89%, -2.25%.

NUSC is an index fund. It tries to match the Nuveen ESG USA Small-Cap Index, which MSCI builds and controls. Nuveen has no say in which stocks go in. The starting point is the MSCI USA Small Cap Index. As of December 31, 2025, that index covered companies worth about $160.5 million to $28.3 billion. MSCI first removes companies with significant business in alcohol, tobacco, nuclear power, gambling, or weapons and firearms. It also removes companies above certain carbon emissions and carbon ownership limits.

MSCI scores the remaining companies against their industry peers on issues such as climate change, waste, treatment of employees, product safety and business ethics. In each sector, the top scorers are added until they make up 50% of that sector's market value in the starting index. The chosen stocks are weighted by market capitalization (the total value of a company's shares). Their weights are then adjusted so each sector's share stays close to the starting index. As of the prospectus date, industrial companies made up a large part of the index.

The index is rebalanced every quarter, in February, May, August and November. The fund updates its holdings shortly after each change. Portfolio turnover was 56%, so roughly half the portfolio gets replaced over a year, which adds trading costs. The index held 452 stocks as of December 31, 2025, and the fund held 405 as of July 31, 2026.

• NUSC charges 0.31% a year, versus an average of 0.15% for the similar funds below (9th of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.3% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $32 in the first year and $393 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It adds an ESG-screened slice of small US companies whose prices swing like stocks, so it fits better as a smaller side position than as the base of a portfolio.

NUSC gives exposure to smaller US companies that large-company funds barely own. The fund launched in 2016, so it missed the 2008 crisis. Its price history here starts in June 2020, after the COVID crash, but the prospectus shows a 30.76% loss in the first quarter of 2020. In the 2022 bear market it fell 26.1% and took 25 months to recover. Its deepest drop was 28.8%, from November 2021 to June 2022, and recovery took 28 months. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at -17.7%. Anyone who had to sell during a stretch like that would have locked in losses. Income is small: the yield was 0.94% as of October 27, 2026, paid once a year. In the SEC's standard $10,000 example, costs come to $32 after one year and $393 after 10 years. 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.