ETF Research Center

The iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap ESG Optimized ETF tracks an index of small-cap companies with high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factor scores as determined by MSCI.

FUND BASICS
Category	US Equities
Fund Sponsor	BlackRock
Website	www.ishares.com
Inception date	Apr 10, 2018
Assets (mns)	$134
Currency	USD
Expense ratio	17 bp
Distributions	Quarterly

FUND STRUCTURE
Regulation	Open-Ended Fund
Custodian
Weighting	Principles-based
Index replication
Uses derivatives	No
Options available	No

SECTOR BREAKDOWN

CONSTITUENT BREAKDOWN
No. of constituents	909
Wgt avg mkt cap (mns)	$3,945
Large cap (>$10bn)	1.0%
Mid cap ($2-10bn)	73.2%
Small cap (<$2bn)	25.8%
Developed mkts	100.0%
Emerging mkts	0.0%

TOP TEN HOLDINGS
Total	5.1 %
DOUGLAS EMMETT INC	0.7 %
BRIGHT HORIZONS FAMILY SOLUT	0.7 %
KILROY REALTY CORP	0.6 %
FAIR ISAAC CORP	0.5 %
EASTERLY GOVERNMENT PROPERTIES, IN	0.5 %
BANK OF HAWAII CORP	0.4 %
BWX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.	0.4 %
CULLEN/FROST BANKERS INC	0.4 %
BRANDYWINE REALTY TRUST	0.4 %
APTARGROUP INC	0.4 %

TOP COUNTRY EXPOSURE
	UNITED STATES	96.5 %
	BRITAIN	0.9 %
	BERMUDA	0.6 %
	CAYMAN ISLANDS	0.3 %
	IRELAND	0.3 %
	NETHERLANDS	0.3 %
	ISRAEL	0.2 %
	CANADA	0.2 %
	PUERTO RICO	0.1 %
	SWITZERLAND	0.1 %

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE info

	Custom date range	Compare to
	thru

Standardized Annual Returns (thru January 31)
Year-to-date	1 year	5 years	10 years	Since Incep.
-2.8%	11.8%	--	--	6.9%

Market Correlations
versus...	Beta	R-squared
S&P500	1.28	92%
MSCI EAFE	1.26	67%
MSCI Emg. Mkts.	0.84	50%

Technical Indicators
Recent close	$29.35
30d moving avg.	$28.97
Annualized volatility	19.5%
Short interest (ETF)	0.0%
Relative strength (RSI)	54

Liquidity measures
Avg. volume (thou.)	57
Turnover	1.3%
Bid/Ask (% of price)	0.14%
ADV underlying (mns)	$25,167

Distributions

FINDING ALTERNATIVE FUNDS

Below is a list of 20 potential alternatives to the iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap ESG Optimized ETF based on the alternatives' overlap in portfolio holdings with ESML. Consider funds with lower expense ratios and/or higher ALTAR Score™ ratings as possible alternatives.

Benchmark ticker:

ESML

Expense:

17 bp

ALTAR Score™:

4.5%

ALTERNATIVE ETFs BASED ON OVERLAP WITH ESML
Ticker	Fund Name	Overlap¹ vs ESML (%)	Expense ratio (bp)	Savings vs ESML (bp)	ALTAR Score™ (%)	ALTAR vs ESML (%)
PBSM	Invesco PureBeta MSCI USA Small Cap	66.3	6	11	4.9	+0.4
VB	Vanguard Smallcap ETF	56.5	5	12	5.2	+0.7
SCHA	Schwab U.S. Small-Cap	56.2	4	13	4.8	+0.3
NUSC	NuShares ESG Small-Cap	54.4	40	-23	4.8	+0.3
VXF	Vanguard Extended Market	45.5	7	10	3.5	-1.1
IWM	iShares Russell 2000	44.3	19	-2	3.6	-1.0
VTWO	Vanguard Russell 2000	44.0	15	2	3.6	-1.0
VBR	Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF	41.6	7	10	7.6	+3.1
IUSS	Invesco Strategic US Small Company	39.9	23	-6	5.8	+1.3
MDY	S&P MidCap 400 SPDR	39.8	24	-7	5.6	+1.0
SPMD	SPDR Portfolio Mid Cap	39.8	5	12	5.7	+1.2
IJH	iShares Core S&P MidCap	39.8	7	10	5.7	+1.2
FNDA	Schwab Fundamental Small Cap	39.6	25	-8	5.9	+1.4
IVOO	Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400	39.6	15	2	5.7	+1.1
GSSC	Goldman Sachs Activebeta U.S. Small Cap Equity	39.4	20	-3	5.5	+1.0
VBK	Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF	39.0	7	10	2.1	-2.4
FSMD	Fidelity Small-Mid Factor ETF	38.9	29	-12	6.3	+1.8
EWMC	Invesco S&P Mid Cap 400 Equal Weight	38.8	40	-23	6.3	+1.7
EZM	WisdomTree Midcap Earnings	38.6	38	-21	8.5	+3.9
SFYX	SoFi Next 500	38.3	0	17	5.0	+0.5

¹Overlap is the percentage of holdings by weight that are identical. For example, if Fund A has a 2% position in Apple, Inc. (AAPL) and Fund B has a 5% position, their overlapping position in AAPL is 2%.

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RESULTS & ESTIMATES

	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020E	2021E
Sales per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
Earnings per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
Dividends per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**
Book value per share	**	**	**	**	**	**	**

Sales per share growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%
EPS growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%

Sales per share growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%
EPS growth		**%	**%	**%	**%	**%	**%

OTHER FUNDAMENTAL METRICS

Long term EPS growth est.	**%		Debt-to-equity	**x
Asset turnover	**%		Assets-to-equity	**x

Return on equity

Revision activity*

*Six months ago = 100

Net margins

Compound annual growth rates

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VALUATION METRICS

	2019	2020E	2021E
Price-to-sales	**	**	**
Price-to-earnings	**	**	**
Price-to-cash flow	**	**	**
Price-to-growth	**	**	**
Price-to-book value	**	**	**
Yield	**	**	**

Historical valuation trends

Forward multiple:	iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap ESG Optimized
Relative to:	S&P500	MSCI EAFE	MSCI Emg. Mkts.	Other ETF:

UNDERWEIGHT

Below average appreciation potential. A rating of UNDERWEIGHT is assigned to ETFs with ALTAR Scores in the 2nd quintile (ranking higher than only 20%-40%) of their category. Typically, funds in this category consist of stocks trading at relatively expensive valuations and/or having below-average fundamentals.

ALTAR Score™

Calculation of ALTAR Score™
Avg. Return on Equity	9.1	%
Divided by: Fwd. P/BV	1.9	x
Less: Expense ratio	17	bp
Equals: ALTAR Score	4.5	%

More information on ALTAR Score™

MODERN PORTFOLIO THEORY info

CONSENSUS RECOMMENDATIONS: FUND CONSTITUENTS

COMPOSITE RATING	1.57	CATEGORY AVERAGE	1.56

The composite rating is a weighted average of analysts' consensus recommendations for individual ETF constituents, based on the following scale: BUY = 1; OVERWEIGHT = 1.5, HOLD = 2; UNDERWEIGHT = 2.5; and SELL = 3. Readers are cautioned that because analyst ratings tend to be inflated, the composite score may be more useful as a relative measure of sentiment between funds rather than as a stand-alone recommendation.