Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
FNDA vs NUSC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FNDA returned +16.4% to NUSC's +12.2%; 22% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $9.1bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab Fundamental U.S. Small Company ETF, and $1.3bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
FNDA costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.2 points.
| Measure | FNDA | NUSC |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +16.4% | +12.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 6.3%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | 5.7%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | not read by ETFIQ | Nuveen ESG USA Small-Cap Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.31% |
| Net assets, FNDA as of Aug 31, 2026 and NUSC as of Jul 31, 2026 | $9.1bn | $1.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 22% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 3.8% | 10.2% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 23, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026 · 513 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: FNDA against VOO, Aug 23, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; NUSC against MLRG, Dec 23, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026.
FNDA and NUSC returned about the same: +137.8% and +139.1%. NUSC swung slightly less: 21.6% to 22.4%. NUSC fell slightly less at its worst: −40.5% to −43.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FNDA | NUSC | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +137.8% | +139.1% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.2% | +9.2% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +107.5% | +100.1% | FNDA (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 22.4% | 21.6% | NUSC (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.7% | 15.1% | NUSC (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −43.0% | −40.5% | NUSC (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.9% | 93.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 106.7% | 103.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.11 | 1.07 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.73 | 0.77 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.39 | 0.40 | NUSC (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.56 | 0.57 | NUSC (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.087 | 0.081 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.21 | 0.23 | NUSC (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VOO | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −4.4% a year | −4.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.48 | −1.33 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −10.2% to +1.4% | −11.0% to +2.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.28 | −0.34 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.8% | 10.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 513 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, FNDA and NUSC hold 22% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
22% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
FNDA and NUSC on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
FNDA and NUSC are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Holdings in common. 22% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FNDA returned +16.4% and NUSC +12.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.2 points.
- Number of holdings (similar). FNDA holds 913 positions and NUSC holds 405.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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FNDA
FNDA tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 7% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 913 positions, with the top ten at 3.8%. It sat 6.3% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
NUSC
NUSC tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.31% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 6% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 405 positions, with the top ten at 10.2%. It sat 5.7% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, FNDA or NUSC?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FNDA returned +16.4% and NUSC +12.2%.
- Which is cheaper, FNDA or NUSC?
- FNDA is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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, FNDA against NUSC, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fnda-vs-nusc
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). FNDA against NUSC. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fnda-vs-nusc
[FNDA against NUSC (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/fnda-vs-nusc)
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