Is Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF (NULG) a Strong ETF Right Now?

A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF (NULG) debuted on 12/13/2016, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Managed by Nuveen, NULG has amassed assets over $2.36 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. NULG, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index.

The Nuveen ESG USA Large-Cap Growth Index composes of equity securities issued by large capitalization companies listed on U.S. exchanges.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.26% for this ETF, which makes it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.12%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 53% of the portfolio. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) accounts for about 16.97% of the fund's total assets, followed by Broadcom Inc (AVGO) and Alphabet Inc (GOOG).

NULG's top 10 holdings account for about 47.03% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -5.46% and is up roughly 12.28% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 03/26/2026), respectively. NULG has traded between $70.54 and $102.52 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 18.45% for the trailing three-year period. With about 66 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF Shares (ESGV) tracks FTSE US ALL CAP CHOICE INDEX and the iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) tracks MSCI USA ESG Focus Index. Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF Shares has $11.12 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $14.99 billion. ESGV has an expense ratio of 0.09% and ESGU changes 0.15%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Growth

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF (NULG): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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