What's Really Inside Popular ESG ETFs?
Investors poured over $30 billion into ESG ETFs in 2025. The proposition: buy one fund and align your portfolio with your values. The marketing describes a more responsible version of the stock market.
We pulled the top holdings from 10 of the most popular ESG ETFs and scored them through Mashinii's integrity system, which uses court filings, regulatory actions, investigative reports, and NGO findings across 11 ethical dimensions.
The result: the top holdings of these funds are nearly indistinguishable from a standard S&P 500 index fund. The companies inside them carry documented records that the ESG label does not convey.
For context on why ESG ratings produce these outcomes, see our comparison of ESG ratings versus independent data. For an analysis of companies specifically marketed as "sustainable," see what's inside sustainable funds.
The 10 ESG ETFs We Examined
These are among the largest and most widely held ESG ETFs available to retail investors:
- iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETF (ESGU) -- $12.7B AUM
- Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) -- $9.1B AUM
- SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF (EFIV) -- $4.3B AUM
- iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (SUSA) -- $3.8B AUM
- Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF (NULG) -- $2.1B AUM
- Xtrackers MSCI USA ESG Leaders ETF (USSG) -- $1.9B AUM
- iShares ESG Aware MSCI EAFE ETF (ESGD) -- $1.7B AUM
- Parnassus Core Equity ETF (PRBLX/VOTE) -- $1.5B AUM
- JPMorgan Carbon Transition U.S. Equity ETF (JCTR) -- $1.2B AUM
- Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ESG ETF (GSLC-ESG) -- $0.9B AUM
Despite different methodologies and different ESG rating providers, these ETFs share a remarkably similar set of top holdings.
iShares ESG Aware (ESGU): Top Holdings Scored
ESGU is the largest ESG ETF by assets. It uses MSCI ESG ratings to screen companies and holds approximately 300 stocks. The top 10 holdings account for roughly 35% of the fund.
| Holding | Weight | Mashinii Avg. Score | Worst Dimension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | ~7% | -3 | Planet-Friendly Business: -40 |
| Microsoft | ~6% | -5 | No War, No Weapons: -50 |
| NVIDIA | ~6% | -10 | No War, No Weapons: -70 |
| Amazon | ~3% | -25 | Fair Pay & Worker Respect: -50 |
| Meta | ~2% | -39 | Safe & Smart Tech: -70 |
| Alphabet | ~2% | -29 | No War, No Weapons: -80 |
Of the top six positions by weight, every company scores negative on average. The largest allocation goes to Apple, which scores -40 on climate. The ESG screen removed Lockheed Martin and Philip Morris but kept the technology companies whose AI and cloud platforms increasingly serve the same defence applications.
Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV): What You Actually Own
ESGV takes a broader approach, holding around 1,500 stocks from the U.S. market. It excludes adult entertainment, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, fossil fuels, gambling, and nuclear power. The overlap with a standard total market fund still exceeds 90%.
| Holding | Weight | Mashinii Avg. Score | Worst Dimension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | ~7% | -3 | Planet-Friendly Business: -40 |
| Microsoft | ~6% | -5 | No War, No Weapons: -50 |
| NVIDIA | ~5% | -10 | No War, No Weapons: -70 |
| Amazon | ~3% | -25 | Fair Pay & Worker Respect: -50 |
| Meta | ~2% | -39 | Safe & Smart Tech: -70 |
| Alphabet | ~2% | -29 | No War, No Weapons: -80 |
ESGV excludes fossil fuels and weapons -- but its top six holdings are identical to ESGU's. The companies that dominate both ESG and standard indices are included because of their market capitalisation, not because they pass independent integrity tests.
The Full Top-10 Overlap: Same Companies, Different Labels
Across ESGU, ESGV, and EFIV, the same 10 companies dominate. Here they are with full Mashinii scores:
| Company | Ticker | Integrity | Workers | Tech Ethics | Climate | Peace | Avg. Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | AAPL | -20 | 0 | +10 | -40 | -30 | -3 |
| Microsoft | MSFT | -20 | +30 | -40 | -30 | -50 | -5 |
| NVIDIA | NVDA | +20 | +20 | -50 | -30 | -70 | -10 |
| Alphabet | GOOGL | -30 | -40 | -70 | -30 | -80 | -29 |
| Amazon | AMZN | -50 | -50 | -50 | -30 | -40 | -25 |
| Meta | META | -60 | -30 | -70 | -10 | -50 | -39 |
| JPMorgan Chase | JPM | -40 | 0 | -30 | -20 | 0 | -17 |
| Visa | V | +30 | +40 | +40 | -20 | -20 | +9 |
| Mastercard | MA | -10 | 0 | +30 | 0 | -20 | +1 |
| UnitedHealth | UNH | -10 | +40 | -80 | -50 | 0 | -18 |
Scores range from -100 to +100. Avg. Score is the mean across all 11 ethical dimensions.
The average Mashinii score across these 10 holdings is -13.6. Two companies -- Visa and Mastercard -- score net positive. The remaining eight are negative.
For full profiles on the companies that appear most frequently, see: Meta | Alphabet | Amazon | Microsoft | NVIDIA | Apple.
Why These Companies Pass ESG Screens
The ESG label does perform some screening. Most of these funds exclude tobacco manufacturers, dedicated controversial weapons producers, and thermal coal miners. Some exclude private prison operators and certain fossil fuel companies.
But the filtering is narrow. ESGU holds approximately 300 of the S&P 500's roughly 500 companies. The overlap with standard index funds regularly exceeds 90%.
The companies that dominate both the regular and ESG versions of the index are included because they are large, produce detailed sustainability reports, and have dedicated ESG teams managing disclosures. ESG ratings reward the quality of the report. Independent evidence measures the quality of the conduct. These are different things.
The Fee Premium
ESGU charges an expense ratio of 0.15%. ESGV charges 0.09%. A standard S&P 500 ETF like VOO charges 0.03%.
The absolute cost difference is small. But investors are paying a premium for a product that shares over 90% of its holdings with the index it claims to screen, and whose top positions carry negative integrity scores across the majority of independently measured dimensions.
How to Check What Your ESG Fund Actually Holds
If you hold any ESG ETF, the composition is public. But the integrity profile of those holdings is not visible from a ticker symbol or an ESG label. Whether you hold ESGU, ESGV, EFIV, or any other fund, a portfolio audit shows where your capital sits on every ethical dimension.
Mashinii scores over 6,000 public companies across 11 ethical dimensions. You can search any company, see the evidence behind every score, and audit your entire portfolio against the values that matter to you.
Scoring methodology
Mashinii scores companies across 11 ethical dimensions using independently sourced evidence -- court records, regulatory actions, investigative reports, and NGO findings. Every score is backed by cited sources.
Learn more about our methodology
What Investors Can Do
Buying an ESG ETF involves more screening than a standard index fund. But the data shows that the top holdings carry documented records across multiple ethical dimensions that the ESG label does not convey.
Advisors working under the FCA's Anti-Greenwashing Rule can use Mashinii's independently sourced evidence instead of relying on corporate self-assessments. Explore the advisor solution.
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Mashinii provides integrity data for informational purposes only. Nothing on this page constitutes financial, legal, or investment advice.