A
vs
B
Share
Compare their flowsAsk IQ about these two funds

BAFE vs ESGU: Differences, Returns & Fees

BAFE and ESGU hold 27% of their weight in the same names, and ESGU returned +17.3% over the year. Net assets: $1.7bn on Jun 30, 2026 for Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF, and $18.3bn on Oct 9, 2026 for iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF.

ESGU costs 0.39 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.0 points; ESGU is 10.5 times larger.

BAFE vs ESGU: Differences, Returns & Fees
BAFEESGU
Expense ratio0.54%0.15%
Net assets, as of Jun 30, 2026$1.7bn$17.7bn
Total return, 1 year+12.3%+17.3%
What it tracksNo index, actively managedMSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index
Holdings in common27%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund42.2%37.8%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

+12.3%
BAFE total return, 1 year
+17.3%
ESGU total return, 1 year
0.54%
BAFE expense ratio
0.15%
ESGU expense ratio

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, BAFE and ESGU hold 27% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Oct 9, 2026.

half

27% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding BAFE ESGU
MICROSOFT CORPORATION 4.85% 5.67%
AMAZON.COM, INC. 4.33% 3.69%
ALPHABET INC. 4.04% 3.50%
NVIDIA CORPORATION 3.06% 7.87%
META PLATFORMS, INC. 3.64% 2.16%
ALPHABET INC. 3.83% 1.93%
APPLE INC. 1.69% 7.25%
VISA INC. 4.07% 1.20%
MASTERCARD INCORPORATED 3.52% 0.66%
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 3.33% 0.42%
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INCORPORATED 3.24% 0.42%
BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION 1.66% 0.38%
Only in BAFE
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited 7.09%
KKR & CO. INC. 2.94%
Suncor Energy Inc. 2.24%
THE CHARLES SCHWAB CORPORATION 1.98%
Amer Sports, Inc 1.80%
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 1.78%
ILLUMINA, INC. 1.52%
SAP SE 1.49%
Only in ESGU
BROADCOM INC 2.46%
MICRON TECHNOLOGY 1.69%
TESLA INC 1.60%
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 1.50%
ELI LILLY 1.37%
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 1.28%
ABBVIE 0.81%
CISCO SYSTEMS INC 0.75%

Check overlap with more funds →

On the same fields

BAFE
Brown Advisory Flexible Equity ETF
ESGU
iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF
Where it sits Stock ETF Stock ETF
Issuer BROWN iShares
What it is Actively managed Tracks an index
Total return, 1 year +12.3% +17.3%
Its benchmark over the same days +17.3% (VOO) not published
Gap to its benchmark −5.0 pts vs VOO not available
Expense ratio 0.54% 0.15%
Already in the S&P 500 77.5% 97.4%
Holdings 44 269
Net assets, BAFE as of Jun 30, 2026 and ESGU as of Oct 9, 2026 $1.7bn $18.3bn

BAFE and ESGU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About BAFE

BAFE is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +12.3% with distributions reinvested, against +17.3% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.54% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 78% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 44 positions, with the top ten at 42.2%.

About ESGU

ESGU tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 9, 2026 it returned +17.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 9, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 269 positions, with the top ten at 37.8%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, BAFE or ESGU?
In the year to Oct 9, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BAFE returned +12.3% and ESGU +17.3%.
Which is cheaper, BAFE or ESGU?
ESGU is cheaper, by 0.39 percentage points a year. That is about $39 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do BAFE and ESGU overlap with the S&P 500?
By their latest filed holdings, 78% of BAFE and 97% of ESGU by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.
Other comparisons
BAFE vs SPYMBAFE vs VTIBAFE vs SPYBAFE vs IVVESGU vs QVMLESGU vs QUSEPS vs ESGUESGU vs QDPL
BAFE on its own →ESGU on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →
Where these figures came from
BAFE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗BAFE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗BROWN website ↗ESGU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗ESGU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗iShares page for ESGU ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, BAFE against ESGU, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bafe-vs-esgu

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.