FTCB vs SCHZ: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

First Trust Core Investment Grade ETF

FTCBCNYSE Arca

Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

SCHZANYSE Arca

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

SCHZ −0.53pt a year

FTCB0.56%SCHZ0.03%

Avg volume · 30D

SCHZ 2.8×the volume

FTCB839KSCHZ2.37M

FTCB vs SCHZ Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

−0.6%FTCB−0.2%SCHZ

Expense ratio: FTCB 0.56%; SCHZ 0.03%, better
Fund size: FTCB $2.76B; SCHZ $10.8B
1Y total return: FTCB −0.6%; SCHZ −0.2%, better
Yield (12M): FTCB 5.50%, better; SCHZ 4.27%
Holdings: FTCB 724; SCHZ 12610
Avg volume (30D): FTCB 839K sh; SCHZ 2.37M sh, better
NAV per share: FTCB $20.18; SCHZ $22.54
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for FTCB, SCHZ, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	FTCB	SCHZ
Cost30% weight	F13	A97Higher
Mission25% weight	A100	A100
Risk15% weight	D32	C47Higher
Tradability15% weight	B66	A85Higher
Holdings10% weight	C48	A78Higher
Durability5% weight	A70	A88Higher

Rank among US Aggregate Bond funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. FTCB and SCHZ are both graded against the same 114 US Aggregate Bond funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Aggregate Bond⁠

Category · 114 funds

See all 114 ›

SCHZ ranks 2nd and FTCB 78th of 114 funds in the US Aggregate Bond Category.

Rank 1AAGGiShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETFScore 87
Rank 2AIUSBiShares Core Universal USD Bond ETFScore 86
Rank 2ASCHZSchwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETFScore 86
Rank 2ASPABState Street SPDR Portfolio Aggregate Bond ETFScore 86
Rank 76CWABFWestern Asset Bond ETFScore 52
Rank 78CFTCBFirst Trust Core Investment Grade ETFScore 51
Rank 78CMAGGMadison Aggregate Bond ETFScore 51

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

FTCBCFirst Trust Core Investment Grade ETF

SCHZASchwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

In short

FTCB First Trust's take on the core bond sleeve: roughly 300 investment-grade bonds, no index to hug, income paid monthly. You pay up for a manager making the calls instead of a benchmark doing it for free.

SCHZ Schwab's core bond holding: the broad U.S. investment-grade bond market, over 10,000 issues deep, for 0.03% a year. That is the floor of a category whose median fee is more than ten times higher. Running since 2011, pays monthly.

Stated mandate

FTCB The fund seeks long-term total return and normally invests its entire investment portfolio in investment-grade securities.

SCHZ The fund seeks to track the total return of an index representing the broad U.S. investment-grade bond market.

Why people hold it

FTCB Does what the label says. The mandate keeps the entire portfolio in investment-grade securities, and the fund has stayed tightly inside that brief.ftportfolios.com
Pays monthly, spread across roughly 300 bonds, so income lands on a steady rhythm rather than in quarterly lumps.
Launched in 2023 and already a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so size and liquidity are not the weak links here.

SCHZ 0.03% a year sits at the category floor, against a cohort median of 0.36%. Only a short list of aggregate-bond funds matches it, including AGG, BND and SPAB.
Tracks the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index tightly, one of the cleanest index implementations among the 187 funds in its peer group.schwabassetmanagement.com
One ticker, thousands of investment-grade U.S. bonds, income paid monthly. The plumbing of a bond portfolio without buying a single bond yourself.
Live since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so trading costs on ordinary retail-sized orders tend to be minor.

Worth knowing

FTCB Fee is the headline trade-off: 0.56% a year, above the typical core-bond fund, while index staples like BND, SPAB and SCHZ charge 0.03%.
No declared index to measure the manager against. The shape of the portfolio is the team's call, within the investment-grade mandate.
It sits in the intermediate-term bond lane. Investment grade trims credit risk; it does nothing about the pull of interest rates.

SCHZ This is duration exposure, not a cash substitute. Interest-rate moves, not credit selection, drive most of the ride, and that is the weakest part of its risk profile.
Investment grade and U.S. only: no high-yield, no foreign bonds. Funds like BNDX cover the international side of the cohort.
The aggregate-bond aisle is commoditized. Against AGG, BND and SPAB at the same 0.03%, the differences come down to index variant and where you already custody, not fee.

Full FTCB profile⁠

Full SCHZ profile⁠

FTCB vs SCHZ Holdings

How FTCB and SCHZ differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Countryby domicile95.3%
Asset classFixed Income100%

Sector

No Sector split for FTCB and SCHZ.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in FTCB and SCHZ, widest gap first
Country	More in FTCBMore in SCHZ	FTCB	SCHZ
Cayman Islands	FTCB +2.6 points	2.9%	0.3%
United States	SCHZ +1.2 points	93.1%	94.3%
United Kingdom	SCHZ +0.8 points	0.0%	0.8%
Ireland	FTCB +0.8 points	0.9%	0.1%
Japan	SCHZ +0.5 points	0.0%	0.5%
Other countries (25)	SCHZ +0.8 points	3.1%	3.9%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

FTCB36.5%
SCHZ4.8%

Securities held

FTCB723
SCHZ12,608

Asset class

FTCB: Fixed Income
SCHZ: Fixed Income

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. FTCB holds 723 securities, SCHZ 12,608.

All 788 FTCB holdings⁠All 12,611 SCHZ holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

FTCB vs SCHZ Cost

Overpaying FTCB vs SCHZ

$10,450

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

FTCB 0.56%
$11,088
SCHZ 0.03%
$638

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

FTCB 0.56%
SCHZ 0.03%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	FTCB	SCHZ	Overpaying
10	$1,006	$55	$951
20	$3,855	$216	$3,639
30	$11,088	$638	$10,450

Expense ratio

0.56%FTCB
0.03%SCHZ, cheaper

SCHZ0.03%FTCB0.56%

0.00%1.04%

Middle half of US Aggregate Bond funds
Median 0.34%

SCHZ 2nd cheapest of 114 funds

FTCB 101st cheapest of 114 funds

FTCB vs SCHZ Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): FTCB 5.50%, better; SCHZ 4.27%
Payout (12M): FTCB $1.11; SCHZ $0.96
Last payment: FTCB $0.08; SCHZ $0.08
Ex-dividend: FTCB Oct 21, 2026; SCHZ Oct 1, 2026
Paid on: FTCB Oct 30, 2026; SCHZ Oct 7, 2026
Frequency: FTCB Monthly; SCHZ Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

FTCBMonthly · 35 paymentsAll FTCB payments⁠

SCHZMonthly · 45 paymentsAll SCHZ payments⁠

FTCB vs SCHZ Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: FTCB 5.6%since Dec 2023SCHZ 5.6%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: FTCB 0.03since Dec 2023SCHZ 0.17
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: FTCB −5.6%since Nov 2023SCHZ −17.5%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: FTCB 0.16SCHZ 0.99; Market = 1

FTCB and SCHZ in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
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Updated Oct 2, 2026SCHZ

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FTCB vs SCHZ

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it

Worth knowing

How FTCB and SCHZ differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Cost over time

Year by year

Distribution history

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

Best bond ETFs: LQD, HYG and TLT cost more than the funds beside them

How FTCB and SCHZ differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings