FTGS vs SCHG: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

First Trust Growth Strength ETF

FTGSCNasdaq

Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF

SCHGANYSE Arca

Overlap

15.3%by weight

Expense ratio

SCHG −0.56pt a year

FTGS0.60%SCHG0.04%

Avg volume · 30D

SCHG 65.8×the volume

FTGS115KSCHG7.59M

3Y return · a year

SCHG +7.0pt

FTGS+17.8%SCHG+24.8%

FTGS vs SCHG Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+5.2%FTGS+3.3%SCHG

Expense ratio: FTGS 0.60%; SCHG 0.04%, better
Fund size: FTGS $1.27B; SCHG $61.7B
1Y total return: FTGS +5.2%, better; SCHG +3.3%
Yield (12M): FTGS 0.04%; SCHG 0.40%, better
Holdings: FTGS 51; SCHG 187
Avg volume (30D): FTGS 115K sh; SCHG 7.59M sh, better
NAV per share: FTGS $37.48; SCHG $34.31
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for FTGS, SCHG, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	FTGS	SCHG
Cost30% weight	F6	A96Higher
Mission25% weight	A76	A92Higher
Risk15% weight	A70Higher	C41
Tradability15% weight	D39	A87Higher
Holdings10% weight	B68Higher	D36
Durability5% weight	D38	A75Higher

Rank among US Growth Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. FTGS and SCHG are both graded against the same 35 US Growth Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Growth Index⁠

Category · 35 funds

See all 35 ›

SCHG ranks 2nd and FTGS 28th of 35 funds in the US Growth Index Category.

Rank 1ASPYGState Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETFScore 84
Rank 2AILCGiShares Morningstar Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 2AIMCGiShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 2ASCHGSchwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETFScore 78
Rank 5AVUGVanguard Morningstar Growth ETFScore 77
Rank 27CBKLGBNY Mellon US Large Cap Equity Growth ETFScore 51
Rank 28CFTGSFirst Trust Growth Strength ETFScore 45
Rank 28CFYCFirst Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX FundScore 45

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

FTGSCFirst Trust Growth Strength ETF

SCHGASchwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF

In short

FTGS Growth with a credit check. FTGS holds about 50 US names that clear screens for return on equity, long-term debt against cash, and revenue and cash flow growth. Growth that funds itself, rather than borrows for it.

SCHG Schwab's growth workhorse: roughly 200 large-cap U.S. growth names for four basis points, one of the cheapest tickets in a crowded category. Running since 2009 and among the most heavily traded growth funds around.

Stated mandate

FTGS The Fund seeks results generally corresponding to the price and yield, before fees and expenses, of The Growth StrengthTM Index. Normally, it invests at least 80% of net assets in the common stocks and REITs comprising that Index.

SCHG SCHG seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index. It generally invests in stocks included in that index, which represents large-cap U.S. growth equities.

Why people hold it

FTGS A quality gate wearing a growth label: return on equity, long-term debt versus cash, and revenue plus cash flow growth. Balance sheet first, story second.yahoo.com
About 50 holdings, with REITs eligible alongside common stocks. Concentrated and a little unusual for a growth fund, which is the reason to hold it next to a cap-weighted index.
The portfolio sticks to the mandate: at least 80% of net assets in the index's stocks and REITs, US large-cap growth, no drift into side bets.
Since its 2022 launch it has grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund and trades regularly, so ordinary-sized orders are not fighting an empty book.

SCHG 0.04% a year against a growth-category median of 0.18%. Costs sit near the floor of the group.
Hews closely to the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index, one of the tighter index implementations in its peer group.
Live since 2009, a multi-billion-dollar fund, and one of the busier tickers in the growth aisle, so entering and exiting is usually cheap and easy.
The benchmark is carved out of a total-market growth index, not S&P 500 membership, so a stock does not need an index committee's nod to qualify.

Worth knowing

FTGS 0.60% a year is the entry fee, while plain-vanilla category giants like IUSG and VYM charge under a tenth of that. The screen has to earn the gap.
With roughly 50 names, single stocks and sector tilts carry real weight, so results can wander well away from broad growth benchmarks in either direction.
The live record starts in late 2022, a short history for judging how a fundamental screen behaves across different markets.

SCHG Growth-only by design. Value and dividend-heavy corners of the market sit outside the mandate, so the ride differs from a total-market fund.
Large-cap U.S. only, roughly 200 stocks. No mid-caps, no small-caps, nothing overseas.
VUG charges a hair less for a similar broad-growth mandate. A tiny gap, but it is there. Distributions here arrive quarterly.

Full FTGS profile⁠

Full SCHG profile⁠

FTGS vs SCHG Holdings

How FTGS and SCHG differ

Overlap by weight

15.3%

Shared holdings make up 51.9% of FTGS and 30.3% of SCHG.

Level by level

Holdings26 in both15.3%
Sector11 Sectors67.5%
Countryby domicile98.0%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in FTGS and SCHG, widest gap first
Sector	More in FTGSMore in SCHG	FTGS	SCHG
Technology	SCHG +19.6 points	34.7%	54.3%
Financials	FTGS +13.1 points	18.1%	5.0%
Communication	SCHG +10.2 points	3.5%	13.7%
Health Care	FTGS +7.7 points	14.3%	6.6%
Industrials	FTGS +5.0 points	12.0%	7.0%
Materials	FTGS +2.9 points	3.8%	0.9%
Consumer Discretionary	SCHG +2.3 points	7.8%	10.1%
Real Estate	FTGS +1.5 points	1.8%	0.3%
Energy	FTGS +1.4 points	2.1%	0.7%
Consumer Staples	FTGS +0.9 points	2.0%	1.1%
Utilities	SCHG +0.4 points	0.0%	0.4%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in FTGS and SCHG, widest gap first
Country	More in FTGSMore in SCHG	FTGS	SCHG
Switzerland	FTGS +2.0 points	1.9%	0.0%
United States	SCHG +1.7 points	98.0%	99.8%
China	SCHG +0.2 points	0.0%	0.2%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

FTGS22.1%
SCHG59.9%

Securities held

FTGS50
SCHG187

Asset class

FTGS: Equity
SCHG: Equity

Holdings

Only in FTGS24
In both26
Only in SCHG161

Only in FTGS

24 securities, 48.0% of FTGS by weight

United Therapeutics Corporation2.27%
Blackstone Inc.2.25%
General Dynamics Corporation2.19%
Incyte Corporation2.15%
Cincinnati Financial Corporation2.14%
Arch Capital Group Ltd.2.13%
Monster Beverage Corporation2.09%
Ralph Lauren Corporation2.06%
PayPal Holdings, Inc.2.03%
Amphenol Corporation2.02%
Stryker Corporation2.00%
Expedia Group, Inc.2.00%
Ameriprise Financial, Inc.1.98%
CBRE Group, Inc.1.96%
Tapestry, Inc.1.96%
Garmin Ltd.1.94%
DexCom, Inc.1.94%
Salesforce, Inc.1.93%
Cummins Inc.1.90%
Corning Incorporated1.89%
Newmont Corporation1.82%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc.1.82%
Netflix, Inc.1.78%
Marvell Technology, Inc.1.74%

Only in SCHG

161 securities, 69.7% of SCHG by weight

Apple11.92%
Microsoft9.21%
Amazon Com Inc5.60%
Alphabet Class A3.90%
Alphabet Class C3.14%
Tesla Inc3.09%
Micron Technology2.86%
Advanced Micro Devices2.51%
Visa Class A1.90%
Costco Wholesale Corp1.20%
UnitedHealth Group1.00%
Applied Material Inc0.91%
Ge Aerospace0.88%
Palo Alto Networks0.84%
Caterpillar Inc0.81%
Crowdstrike Holdings Class A0.72%
Thermo Fisher Scientific0.71%
Ge Vernova0.64%
Linde PLC0.63%
Kla0.59%
Sandisk0.53%
Walt Disney0.52%
BlackRock0.46%
Deere0.45%
Eaton PLC0.41%
Western Digital Corp0.39%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals0.37%
Boeing0.37%
Parker-Hannifin0.32%
Snowflake0.31%
Mckesson Corp0.31%
Servicenow0.31%
Booking Holdings0.31%
Phillips0.30%
Equinix Reit0.28%
Cloudflare Class A0.27%
Quanta Services Inc0.26%
Synopsys0.26%
Datadog Inc Class A0.24%
Constellation Energy Corp0.24%
Marriott International Class A0.23%
Howmet Aerospace0.22%
Lumentum Holdings0.22%
Hilton Worldwide Holdings0.22%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals0.22%
Royal Caribbean Group0.21%
Sherwin Williams0.21%
United Rentals0.20%
Robinhood Markets Class A0.20%
Airbnb Class A0.19%

Weight gaps

All 26 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in FTGS and SCHG, widest gap first
Holding	More in FTGSMore in SCHG	FTGS	SCHG
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA	SCHG +10.17 points	1.93%	12.10%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO	SCHG +2.19 points	2.01%	4.20%
Five Below, Inc.FIVE	FTGS +2.15 points	2.19%	0.04%
Vertiv Holdings Co (Class A)VRT	FTGS +2.02 points	2.28%	0.26%
Delta Air Lines, Inc.DAL	FTGS +2.02 points	2.15%	0.13%
Workday, Inc. (Class A)WDAY	FTGS +1.99 points	2.10%	0.11%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Class A)META	SCHG +1.99 points	1.75%	3.74%
Intuit Inc.INTU	FTGS +1.87 points	2.12%	0.25%
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.MPWR	FTGS +1.86 points	2.02%	0.16%
Moody's CorporationMCO	FTGS +1.86 points	2.06%	0.20%
Baker Hughes Company (Class A)BKR	FTGS +1.86 points	2.01%	0.15%
ResMed Inc.RMD	FTGS +1.85 points	1.95%	0.10%
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.CDNS	FTGS +1.82 points	2.08%	0.26%
S&P Global Inc.SPGI	FTGS +1.82 points	2.20%	0.38%
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (Class A)IBKR	FTGS +1.78 points	1.88%	0.10%
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.ISRG	FTGS +1.62 points	2.05%	0.43%
Seagate Technology Holdings PlcSTX	FTGS +1.61 points	2.04%	0.43%
Comfort Systems USA, Inc.FIX	FTGS +1.60 points	1.73%	0.13%
Trane Technologies plcTT	FTGS +1.55 points	1.81%	0.26%
Applovin Corp. (Class A)APP	FTGS +1.55 points	1.74%	0.19%
Uber Technologies, Inc.UBER	FTGS +1.52 points	1.88%	0.36%
Arista Networks, Inc.ANET	FTGS +1.41 points	1.93%	0.52%
Fortinet, Inc.FTNT	FTGS +1.40 points	1.63%	0.23%
Palantir Technologies Inc. (Class A)PLTR	FTGS +0.77 points	2.00%	1.23%
Eli Lilly and CompanyLLY	SCHG +0.70 points	2.28%	2.98%
Mastercard IncorporatedMA	FTGS +0.69 points	2.09%	1.40%

All 50 FTGS holdings⁠All 189 SCHG 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.

FTGS vs SCHG Cost

Overpaying FTGS vs SCHG

$10,968

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

FTGS 0.60%
$11,817
SCHG 0.04%
$849

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

FTGS 0.60%
SCHG 0.04%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	FTGS	SCHG	Overpaying
10	$1,076	$73	$1,003
20	$4,116	$288	$3,828
30	$11,817	$849	$10,968

Expense ratio

0.60%FTGS
0.04%SCHG, cheaper

SCHG0.04%FTGS0.60%

0.03%0.70%

Middle half of US Growth Index funds
Median 0.18%

SCHG 2nd cheapest of 35 funds

FTGS 32nd cheapest of 35 funds

FTGS vs SCHG Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): FTGS 0.04%; SCHG 0.40%, better
Payout (12M): FTGS $0.01; SCHG $0.14
Last payment: FTGS $0.0088; SCHG $0.04
Ex-dividend: FTGS Sep 24, 2026; SCHG Sep 23, 2026
Paid on: FTGS Sep 30, 2026; SCHG Sep 28, 2026
Frequency: FTGS Twice a year; SCHG Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

FTGSTwice a year · 14 paymentsAll FTGS payments⁠

SCHGQuarterly · 42 paymentsAll SCHG payments⁠

FTGS vs SCHG Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: FTGS 13.8%, betterSCHG 16.5%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: FTGS 0.94SCHG 1.16, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: FTGS −20.0%since Oct 2022SCHG −34.6%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: FTGS 1.02SCHG 1.20; Market = 1

FTGS and SCHG in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want
Updated Nov 2, 2026SCHG
Best ETFs
The cheap large-cap growth pick is the S&P 500 list
Updated Oct 2, 2026SCHG

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FTGS vs SCHG

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it

Worth knowing

How FTGS and SCHG differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FTGS

Only in SCHG

Weight gaps

Cost over time

Year by year

Distribution history

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want

The cheap large-cap growth pick is the S&P 500 list

How FTGS and SCHG differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FTGS

Only in SCHG

Weight gaps