BKMC vs SCHM

BKMCABNY Mellon US Mid Cap Core Equity ETF

SCHMASchwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF

In short

BKMC About 400 US mid-caps for four basis points, from BNY Mellon's cut-rate ETF shelf. The fee undercuts most of the mid-cap field; the trade-off is a thinner tape than the household names.

SCHM The forgotten middle of the US market, for three basis points. SCHM has tracked the Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market Index since 2011, holding roughly 500 companies at a fee nobody in the category undercuts.

Stated mandate

BKMC The fund seeks to track the Solactive GBS United States 400 Index TR.

SCHM The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market Index.

Why people hold it

• BKMC Costs 0.04% a year, well under the 0.15% median for US mid-cap funds and level with the cheapest of the big index shops (IMCB).
• Tracks the Solactive GBS United States 400 Index tightly, with roughly 400 names spreading single-stock risk across the whole mid-cap band.
• Straight index core equity in a standard 1940 Act fund: one benchmark, no sector tilts, quarterly distributions.

• SCHM 0.03% a year, 30 cents per $100. That ties VO for the lowest fee in the mid-cap group and runs well below the category's typical charge.schwabassetmanagement.com
• Pure index plumbing: no stock picking, no tilts. The fund has tracked its benchmark closely, which is the whole job description here.
• Roughly 500 mid-sized US companies, so no single name carries the fund. Broad enough to be a one-ticket middle slice.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund trading since 2011 and among the stronger builds in its peer group, with active daily volume and tight handling.

Worth knowing

• BKMC Thinly traded next to the mid-cap heavyweights, which tends to mean wider bid-ask spreads and more price impact on big orders.
• Launched in 2020, so the live track record is short compared with mid-cap index funds that have run for decades.
• VO and SCHM shave another basis point off the fee and carry far heavier trading, so the cost edge here is about matching the field, not leading it.

• SCHM Mid-caps swing harder than blue chips. This is full, undampened exposure to that middle tier, with nothing built in to soften rough stretches.
• Every provider draws the mid-cap line differently. The Dow Jones index here won't hold the same names as a Russell or Morningstar mid-cap fund, so overlap with what you own varies.
• Distributions land quarterly, and they're a byproduct of the index, not the point. This is a growth-of-capital vehicle, not an income one.

Full BKMC profile⁠

Full SCHM profile⁠