A strong management team and sound investment process underpin Nuveen ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF's Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver. The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the lowest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy’s management team earns an Above Average People Pillar rating. The strategy's effective investment approach earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an underweight position in quality exposure and has an overweight in yield exposure compared with category peers. Low quality exposure is attributed to stocks with higher financial leverage and lower profitability. And a high yield exposure is rooted in holding high dividend-paying or buyback stocks. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Average Parent Pillar rating, and this rating is inherited from vehicles belonging to the same branding entity and is indirectly assigned by an analyst.

Analyst Rating

Stewart Information Services

Fisker

Nuvn PA Mun Val Shs of Benef Interest

JPMorgan BetaBuilders Canada ETF

First Trust Multi Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund

SM Energy

Yum China Hlds

Gold Fields Ltd.

Molina Healthcare

Credicorp

Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category index on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. Nuveen ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. The primary contributor to the rating is that this fund tracks an index. Historical data, like Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, finds that passively managed funds have generally outperformed their active counterparts, especially over longer time horizons. Respectable risk-adjusted performance also strengthens the process. This can be seen in the fund's five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the process was successful over that period. Lastly, the process is limited by the parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 50%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The parent's relatively low success ratio suggests that the firm could do better across its fund lineup.

The investment strategy as stated in the fund's prospectus is:  The investment seeks to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of the TIAA ESG Emerging Markets Equity Index (the "index").  In seeking to track the investment results of the index, the advisor attempts to replicate the index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the securities represented in the index in approximately the same proportions as the index. The index identifies equity securities from the base index that satisfy certain ESG criteria, based on ESG performance data collected by MSCI ESG Research, and Inc. 

 The portfolio has allocations in its top two sectors, communication services and basic materials, that are similar to the category. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are technology and industrials, with technology underweighting the average portfolio by 2.9 percentage points of assets and industrials similar to the average. The strategy owns 266 securities and is similarly diversified as peers, with 25.1% of portfolio assets concentrated within the top 10 holdings. And finally, in terms of portfolio turnover, on a year-over-year basis, 71% of the fund's holdings have turned over, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

Above Average

Process

Nuveen’s team is strong compared with others in the industry, resulting in an Above Average People Pillar rating. There are two managers listed on the fund: Lei Liao, Philip Campagna. The team is well equipped, with an average of 14 years of portfolio management experience. Together, they manage a total of 10 strategies, with a Bronze asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating, indicating the potential to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median in aggregate.  

 Note: The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. The longest-tenured manager of the fund also manages a different product rated by an analyst. Their analyst-assigned People Pillar rating is combined here with the People scores (algorithmic or analyst-assigned) for the fund’s other managers on a tenure-weighted basis.

People

Nuveen has accomplished years of refinement, but a handful of areas keep it from landing among the industry’s best. It retains an Average Parent rating.
Nuveen is the asset-management arm of TIAA. TIAA purchased Nuveen in October 2014 and in January 2017 announced that Nuveen would become the umbrella brand for all its asset-management capabilities, including the legacy Nuveen and TIAA investment teams and their affiliates. 
Since then, a dramatic transformation has taken place. This includes merging all but one affiliated investment team into centralized equity and fixed-income groups, which are now among the industry’s largest. All operations, technology, and sales functions were centralized and modernized; in 2019, the firm rolled out a comprehensive long-term incentive plan that has helped attract and retain talent, and the previously expansive investment lineup has been mostly cleaned up.
Nuveen’s investment strengths are predominantly in fixed income and real assets. While its municipal team is among the industry’s more ubiquitous, its aggressive approach has been a sticking point for several years. Its experienced equity team hasn’t distinguished its performance from peers’. Finally, CEO Jose Minaya has built a robust management team, but several of them are recent outside hires and so it will take time to see how they integrate with Minaya’s modernized vision for the firm.

Average

Parent

NuShares ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF

NUEM tracks an index of large- and mid-cap emerging-market stocks that score highly on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. The index is optimized for market-like risk and return characteristics.

Making its debut on 06/07/2017, smart beta exchange traded fund Nuveen ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NUEM) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market.

Is Nuveen ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NUEM) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Didi Global

Amplify Travel Tech ETF

Global X China Industrials

Davis Select International ETF

Davis Select Worldwide ETF

Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF

SoFi Gig Economy ETF

Amplify Online Retail ETF

Renaissance IPO ETF

Amplify International Online Retail ETF

In the U.S., 58 ETFs carry the Chinese ride-hailing company's stock.

DiDi Delisting's Effect On ETFs

Xtrackers MSCI EAFE ESG Leaders Equity ETF

SPDR MSCI Emerging Markets Fossil Fuel Free ETF

Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets ESG Leaders Equity ETF

WisdomTree India Earnings Fund

iShares MSCI EM ESG Optimized ETF

FlexShares STOXX Global ESG Select Index Fund

Columbia International ESG Equity Income ETF

Franklin FTSE India ETF

First Trust Chindia ETF

HDFC Bank Limited

Columbia India Consumer ETF

iShares MSCI India ETF

Nifty India Financials ETF

iShares India 50 ETF

WisdomTree India ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund

iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF

First Trust India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF

Invesco India ETF

iShares MSCI Global Impact ETF

iShares MSCI India Small Cap ETF

In this research piece, we discuss the possible pathway to India's environmental goals, as well as select investment opportunities that reflect ongoing progress across the ESG landscape. India fares well in disclosures with 97% of MSCI India constituents publishing sustainability reports.

Harnessing Growth: India's Transition Reflected In Sustainability Commitment

NuShares ESG U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

NuShares ESG International Developed Markets Equity ETF

Nuveen ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF

NuShares ESG

NuShares ESG Mid-Cap Growth ETF

Nuveen ESG Mid-Cap Value ETF

Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF

The issuer launched an active growth fund and an ESG fund with a dividend focus, in additon to cutting expense ratios on nine of its ETFs.

Nuveen Debuts Active, ESG ETFs

With the global recovery peaking — and concerns about inflation, rising rates, and fuller valuations just getting started — how can advisors best implement ESG strategies to help their clients navigate today's challenging markets? In the upcoming webcast, How to Use ESG Factors to Navigate the Recovery, Jordan Farris, Managing Director, Head of ETF Product Development, Nuveen; [.

How to Use ESG Factors to Navigate the Recovery

Financial advisors can generate alpha across style, size, and region with environmental, social, and governance ETF strategies. In the recent webcast, ESG: The Key to Portfolios with Both Growth And Value, Brian Griggs, Managing Director, Portfolio Strategist, Nuveen, noted that since the late 2000s, growth has been the standout style.

ESG ETFs Offer Both Growth and Value Opportunities

Responsible investing isn't just a localized growth opportunity, it's truly a global trend that's full of value generation. But where should advisors begin?

ESG: The Key to Portfolios with Both Growth And Value

As more investors become aware of their growing impact on the world, many are turning to investments that include environmental, social, and governance principles.

What Advisors Need to Know About ESG During Volatile Times

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF

Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF

iShares MSCI Turkey ETF

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

Wall Street had a bloodbath on May 13 on Fed chair's warning of prolonged economic weakness, but EM ETFs remained largely steady.

Emerging Market ETFs Look Stable Amid Wall Street Bloodbath

Socially responsible exchange traded fund strategies that incorporate environmental, social, and governance principles are beginning to gain traction with the investment community.

Growing Demand for ESG ETFs as a Core Holding

When expanding their line of products for investors, money managers can fall back on what they’re good at.

ESG ETF Strategies Are Backed by Years of Research and Experience

News for NuShares ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF ETF (NUEM)