Xtrackers MSCI USA Selection Eq ETF | USSG

Analyst Report
Morningstar's Take
|13/05/2025

by Lan Anh Tran
Xtrackers MSCI USA ESG Leaders Equity ETF targets best-in-sector environmental, social, and governance leaders while retaining some of the benefits of a broad-market index strategy. However, its ESG mandate can add some active risk that might not be rewarded.

The fund tracks the MSCI USA ESG Leaders Index, which targets large- and mid-cap US firms with strong ESG characteristics. The index ranks each company against its sector peers on the ESG risks they face and how well they manage them. The index starts with the highest-ranking firm in each sector and goes down the list until it captures 50% of each sector’s total market capitalization. This approach avoids sector tilts as it recognizes some sectors carry more ESG risk than others and doesn’t weed out entire industries with higher risk. The fund keeps out ESG laggards but ensures its sector composition stays in line with that of the broader stock market.

The index weights eligible constituents by their market capitalization. This efficiently sizes its positions according to the market’s collective opinion of each stock’s value. The resulting portfolio carries the same sector and factor exposure as its average large-blend Morningstar Category peer and the category index.

The fund’s return patterns largely follow its category average, but some ESG-driven stock bets can drive short-term returns in unexpected directions. The fund excludes many stocks as it only sweeps in the top-scoring half of each sector. Some of these exclusions are industry giants that claim significant weightings in a typical peer’s portfolio. Three of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks are noticeably absent: Apple, Amazon.com, and Meta Platforms. This can lead to significant concentration in the fund’s top holdings. For example, Nvidia and Microsoft each claim around 10% of the fund’s assets.

Nonetheless, the fund should maintain a performance edge over category peers with its still-broad and low-turnover portfolio over the long run. Its low 0.09% annual fee will also help preserve this advantage.
 
Morningstar Medalist Rating™A broad-market portfolio of ESG leaders from each equity sector.
To find out how Morningstar rates a fund click here.
Morningstar Pillars
PessoasAbove Average
ParentAverage
ProcessoAbove Average
 
Morningstar Medalist RatingMorningstar assigns the Medalist Rating to funds that are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed through manager research and algorithmic processes. The assessment turns on three key “pillars” – People, Process, and Parent – that yield an estimate of how well a fund will perform before fees but after adjusting for risk.
A fim de prover consistência para todos os relatórios fornecidos por diferentes Asset Managers, os data points calculados apresentados são gerados usando uma metodologia de cálculo proprietária da Morningstar, que pode ser conferida com mais detalhes em(https://www.morningstar.com/research/signature)
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