Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
NUSC vs PSC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, NUSC returned +12.2% to PSC's +21.0%; 20% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $1.3bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF, and $2.7bn on Oct 26, 2026 for Principal U.S. Small-Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
NUSC costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.8 points.
| Measure | NUSC | PSC |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.2% | +21.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 5.7%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Nuveen ESG USA Small-Cap Index | No index, actively managed |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.31% | 0.38% |
| Net assets, NUSC as of Jul 31, 2026 and PSC as of Oct 26, 2026 | $1.3bn | $2.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 20% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 10.2% | 11.2% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Dec 23, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026 · 513 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: NUSC against MLRG, Dec 23, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026; PSC against IWM, Sep 30, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026.
PSC returned more: +173.9% to +139.1%. NUSC swung slightly less: 21.6% to 23.1%. NUSC fell slightly less at its worst: −40.5% to −44.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | NUSC | PSC | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +139.1% | +173.9% | PSC | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +9.2% | +10.8% | PSC | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +100.1% | +143.2% | PSC | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.6% | 23.1% | NUSC (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.1% | 16.0% | NUSC (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −40.5% | −44.9% | NUSC (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 93.6% | 84.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 103.0% | 91.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.07 | 0.95 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.77 | 0.88 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.40 | 0.45 | PSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.57 | 0.65 | PSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.081 | 0.118 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.23 | 0.24 | PSC (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | IWM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −4.5% a year | +2.4% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.33 | 0.96 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −11.0% to +2.1% | −2.5% to +7.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.34 | 0.24 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.5% | 8.1% | 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, NUSC and PSC hold 20% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Jul 31, 2026.
half
20% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
NUSC and PSC on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
NUSC and PSC are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. NUSC follows Nuveen ESG USA Small-Cap Index and PSC follows No index, actively managed.
- Holdings in common. 20% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Jun 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 NUSC returned +12.2% and PSC +21.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.8 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +21.0% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index.
PSC is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.38% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 506 positions, with the top ten at 11.2%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, NUSC or PSC?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, NUSC returned +12.2% and PSC +21.0%.
- Which is cheaper, NUSC or PSC?
- NUSC is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 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, NUSC against PSC, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nusc-vs-psc
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). NUSC against PSC. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nusc-vs-psc
[NUSC against PSC (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/nusc-vs-psc)
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