Verified factor-similar pair

IWM vs NUSC

These two ETFs pass the same FF6 US similarity lane: US-listed equity ETFs, same USD model basis, at least one material non-market factor, and 100% overlap in statistically significant material factor exposure.

SMB

Similarity score

Near substitute

Score blends exposure-level distance, factor-vector shape, market-beta closeness, and a small backtested relative-Sharpe term.

IWM

iShares Russell 2000 ETF

SMB

Adj. R2

0.986

Rel. Sharpe

0.785

Mkt beta

1.02

AUM

US$73.2B

MER

0.19%

Valuation

136

NUSC

Nuveen ESG Small-Cap ETF

SMB

Adj. R2

0.971

Rel. Sharpe

0.767

Mkt beta

1.00

AUM

US$1.3B

MER

0.31%

Valuation

283

Factor Exposure Match

Blue bars compare raw factor beta magnitude. Green bars compare absolute t-stat strength. Dim bars indicate the t-stat is below 1.96.

SMB

IWM

+0.82

|t|

+50.5

NUSC

+0.74

|t|

+17.4

diff +0.08

HML

IWM

+0.10

|t|

+6.2

NUSC

+0.13

|t|

+3.7

diff -0.03

RMW

IWM

-0.07

|t|

-4.0

NUSC

-0.01

|t|

-0.3

diff -0.06

CMA

IWM

-0.00

|t|

-0.1

NUSC

+0.01

|t|

+0.2

diff -0.01

UMD

IWM

+0.04

|t|

+3.9

NUSC

+0.04

|t|

+1.5

diff -0.01

Why This Pair Matches

Exposure level

Exposure shape

100

Mkt beta diff

0.01

Rel. Sharpe diff

0.019

This comparison focuses on measured factor exposure, not a qualitative review of each fund's portfolio-construction process. Backtested relative Sharpe is included as a secondary signal, while we continue refining a comparison metric that separates factor payoff from alpha. See methodology.

IWM fund page NUSC fund page US ETF Leaders US Universe

Monthly updates

Get the next US ETF leaders update

Get one monthly email when the US leaders table refreshes, plus methodology and comparison-page updates.

Monthly leaders refresh Download-access updates Low-volume research notes

One monthly email when the data drop lands. This browser will remember you after signup.