Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF
$23.87+0.01 (+0.06%)
- 0.03%
- $15.4B
- +1.6%
- 3.85%
- 4.5M sh
- $23.86
- low $23.79high $24.46
The ETF.net SCHO Grade
A
Score 80 out of 100
- 2 of 15
Score 80 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A89 out of 100Rank 1 of 15Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.A100 out of 100Rank 1 of 14Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C54 out of 100Rank 5 of 15Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.B61 out of 100Rank 7 of 15Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A71 out of 100Rank 4 of 15Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A77 out of 100Rank 3 of 15
Our read on SCHO
AShort Treasuries, stripped to the studs: roughly 100 US government bonds maturing in one to three years, wrapped in a 0.03% fee. Running since 2010, and one of the tighter builds in its corner of the bond market.
The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index representing the short-term U.S. Treasury bond market.
Why people hold it
- 0.03% a year, a fifth of the 0.15% on the category's best-known fund, SHY. When every fund in the aisle owns the same Treasuries, the fee is the main lever.
- Pure government paper: the Bloomberg US Treasury 1-3 Year Index, tracked very closely. No corporate bonds, no credit spread dressed up as yield.schwabassetmanagement.com
- A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and pays income monthly, so entering and exiting rarely means wrestling the spread.
- Live since 2010 and among the strongest implementations in the short-Treasury peer group, which matters in a slice of the market where execution is the whole game.
Worth knowing
- Bonds, not cash. One to three year maturities still reprice when rates move, so the share price wobbles instead of sitting flat.schwabassetmanagement.com
- Income floats with short-term Treasury yields rather than locking in, so the monthly payout moves up and down as rates do.
- The 0.03% fee is a three-way tie with VGSH and SPTS, and VGSH tracks the identical index, so cost alone will not separate them.
SCHO Holdings
- Bonds
- 97
- 14%
- Treasury Note 3.50% 01/31/2028 (BBG01CGJ5RZ0)
Sectors
- Financials100.0%
Geography
- United States100.00%
SCHO Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
SCHO$10,161
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | SCHO |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +0.7% |
| 1 month | +0.1% |
| 3 months | +0.1% |
| 1 year | +1.6% |
| 3 years | +4.1% |
| 5 years | +1.9% |
| 10 years | +1.8% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | SCHO |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +0.7% | |
| 2025 | +5.5% | |
| 2024 | +3.6% | |
| 2023 | +4.3% | |
| 2022 | −3.9% | |
| 2021 | −0.6% | |
| 2020 | +3.1% |
SCHO in the news
SCHO Dividends
- 3.85%
- $0.92
- $0.08 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
SCHO Risk
- 1.7%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- −0.33
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −5.4%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.23
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
SCHO Cost
0.03%
SCHO0.03%
- The middle half of Treasuries (1-3 Year) funds
- Median 0.15%
No Treasuries (1-3 Year) fund charges less.
Other funds in Treasuries (1-3 Year)
- AVGSHVanguard Short-Term Treasury ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return +1.6%
- ASPTSState Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Treasury ETFExpense ratio 0.03%1 year return +1.5%
- ABBSBJPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Treasury Bond 1-3 Year ETFExpense ratio 0.04%1 year return +1.5%
- BBOXXAlpha Architect 1-3 Month Box ETFExpense ratio 0.24%1 year return +4.0%
- BXTWOBondBloxx Bloomberg Two Year Target Duration US Treasury ETFExpense ratio 0.05%1 year return +1.4%