Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market, the Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Value ETF (NULV Quick QuoteNULV - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 12/13/2016.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

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

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.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

NULV is managed by Nuveen, and this fund has amassed over $1.82 billion, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. NULV seeks to match the performance of the TIAA ESG USA Large-Cap Value Index before fees and expenses.

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

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.26% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.89%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 21.1% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Procter & Gamble Co/the (PG) accounts for about 2.57% of the fund's total assets, followed by Bank Of America Corp (BAC) and Coca Cola Co. (KO).

The top 10 holdings account for about 21.72% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, NULV has gained about 10.49%, and is up about 5.36% in the last one year (as of 10/15/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $36.02 and $44.03.

NULV has a beta of 0.89 and standard deviation of 13.34% for the trailing three-year period. With about 105 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Value ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (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 has $11.45 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $14.85 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 Value

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.