Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
ESGU vs PABU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ESGU returned +13.6% to PABU's +8.2%; 47% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $18.3bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF, and $2.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Paris-Aligned Climate Optimized MSCI USA ETF.
Pair scorecard
PABU costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.4 points; ESGU is 7.3 times larger.
| Measure | ESGU | PABU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.6% | +8.2% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index | MSCI USA Climate Paris Aligned Benchmark Extended Select Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.10% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $18.2bn | $2.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 47% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 36.9% | 49.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 29, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 234 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: ESGU against MLRG, Dec 16, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026; PABU against PBUS, Apr 29, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026.
ESGU returned more: +91.6% to +81.9%. ESGU swung slightly less: 16.4% to 17.7%. ESGU fell slightly less at its worst: −17.4% to −19.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | ESGU | PABU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +91.6% | +81.9% | ESGU | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.5% | +14.2% | ESGU (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +80.8% | +73.3% | ESGU (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.4% | 17.7% | ESGU (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.8% | 11.6% | ESGU (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −17.4% | −19.0% | ESGU (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 97.1% | 108.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.7% | 107.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.97 | 1.07 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.97 | 0.96 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.70 | 0.60 | ESGU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.06 | 0.91 | ESGU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.130 | 0.099 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.89 | 0.75 | ESGU | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | PBUS | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.7% a year | −2.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.78 | −1.42 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −1.1% to +2.6% | −5.4% to +0.9% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.12 | −0.41 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 3.0% | 3.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 234 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, ESGU and PABU hold 47% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
47% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
ESGU and PABU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
ESGU and PABU are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. ESGU follows MSCI USA Extended ESG Focus Index and PABU follows MSCI USA Climate Paris Aligned Benchmark Extended Select Index.
- Holdings in common. 47% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ESGU returned +13.6% and PABU +8.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.4 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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ESGU
ESGU tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 268 positions, with the top ten at 36.9%.
PABU
PABU tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +8.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.10% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 88 positions, with the top ten at 49.1%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, ESGU or PABU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ESGU returned +13.6% and PABU +8.2%.
- Which is cheaper, ESGU or PABU?
- PABU is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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.
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ETFIQ, ESGU against PABU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/esgu-vs-pabu
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[ESGU against PABU (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/esgu-vs-pabu)
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