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Is Nuveen ESG Mid-Cap Value ETF (NUMV) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Nuveen ESG Mid-Cap Value ETF (NUMV - Free Report) debuted on 12/13/2016, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

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.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

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

The fund is managed by Nuveen. NUMV has been able to amass assets over $432.79 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the TIAA ESG USA Mid-Cap Value Index.

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

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.31%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.00%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 18.5% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Keysight Technologies Inc (KEYS) accounts for about 2.52% of total assets, followed by Baker Hughes Co (BKR) and Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH).

The top 10 holdings account for about 20.67% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, NUMV has gained about 6.49%, and was up about 22.71% in the last one year (as of 05/06/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $33.75 and $41.64.

The fund has a beta of 0.96 and standard deviation of 14.68% for the trailing three-year period. With about 95 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

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

Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF Shares (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 Shares has $12.62 billion in assets, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF has $16.74 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 - Mid 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.

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