SCHX is the one fund, unless you want SCHG's growth bet

If you want one fund for U.S. large-cap stocks, buy Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF SCHX. Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF SCHG returned 18.68% a year over the 10 years through Sept. 30, 2026, against 15.15% for SCHX, but every company in it is already in SCHX, and those companies are 56% of SCHX.

The higher return is what you got for holding those companies heavier. SCHX already includes them, along with the rest of the large-cap market.

What SCHX and SCHG hold

SCHX tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index, about 750 of the largest U.S. companies, weighted by the market value of shares available to trade. SCHG tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index, the growth names from that same group. Schwab's summary prospectus of Feb. 27, 2026 says those names are classified as growth on a number of factors, and that the index caps weights each quarter so they fit the diversification rules that apply to the fund.

As of Nov. 5, 2026, Apple was 7.3% of SCHX and 12.1% of SCHG. Nvidia was 6.9% of SCHX and 11.5% of SCHG. Microsoft was 5.9% of SCHX and 9.8% of SCHG.

A straight scale of that 56% would put Apple at about 13% of SCHG, not the 12.1% it is. The growth index caps the largest weights each quarter, so the biggest companies are not held in proportion to their weight in SCHX.

On that date, the 10 largest positions were 37.1% of SCHX and 63.2% of SCHG.

Technology was 38.8% of the broad fund and 54.3% of the growth fund.

What SCHG leaves out is 44% of SCHX. Berkshire Hathaway, 1.5% of the broad fund, is not in the growth fund. JPMorgan Chase and Exxon Mobil are not in it either.

The 10-year lead, and the years that canceled

Schwab's total returns through Sept. 30, 2026, with dividends reinvested. Figures beyond one year are annualized.

Over the past year in the table, SCHX led. The five-year gap is the narrow one, about 1.6 percentage points a year, because that window still holds 2022.

Compounded, the 10-year rates turn $10,000 into about $55,400 in SCHG and about $41,000 in SCHX, before taxes. SCHX charges 0.03% and SCHG charges 0.04%, $1 a year apart on $10,000. That dollar does not account for a lead of 3.5 percentage points a year. The lead is the difference between the growth index and the broad large-cap index, not a difference in how the two funds are run.

In 2022 SCHG lost 31.81% and SCHX lost 19.44%. In 2023 the growth fund returned 50.12% and the broad fund returned 26.86%.

SCHG's 2023 gain is larger than its 2022 loss, in percentage terms. An owner who held through both years was up 2.4% in SCHG and 2.2% in SCHX.

The growth fund's worst year and its best year offset, so the decade's lead was built in other years. The owner who chose SCHG ended in almost the same place, on a much rougher ride.

Schwab's standard deviation, its measure of how much returns varied over three years, was 16.2% for SCHG and 12.7% for SCHX as of Sept. 30.

SCHG also cost more for each dollar of earnings, and it paid less. As of Sept. 30, Schwab's price-to-earnings ratio was 29.83 for SCHG and 24.60 for SCHX. Over the 12 months through that date, the distribution yield was 1.04% for SCHX and 0.39% for SCHG.

When to take SCHG instead

Holding both will not give you two bets. SCHG adds no company SCHX lacks. It adds weight to companies you already own, at the higher fee.

Choose SCHG instead when you want those growth names held heavier than SCHX holds them, and you will keep that position through a year like 2022. For one large-cap fund, SCHX already holds the growth companies and the names the growth fund leaves out.