IBIJ vs SCHP

IBIJBiShares iBonds Oct 2033 Term TIPS ETF

SCHPASchwab US TIPS ETF

In short

IBIJ Most target-maturity bond funds bundle corporate or plain Treasury paper. This one holds inflation-linked Treasuries with a 2033 maturity year stamped on the label, so the CPI adjustment comes with an end date instead of a perpetual roll.

SCHP Inflation insurance in the plainest wrapper available: SCHP owns the full maturity range of Treasury inflation-protected bonds and tracks its Bloomberg index for three basis points a year.

Stated mandate

IBIJ The fund seeks to track an index composed of U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities maturing in 2033.

SCHP The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index composed of inflation-protected U.S. Treasury securities.

Why people hold it

• IBIJ Tracks an index of U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities maturing in 2033: the inflation adjustment of TIPS inside a dated, term-structured wrapper.
• Charges 0.10%, in line with the median target-maturity bond fund, for what is a narrower and less common corner of that shelf.
• Rules-based and fully indexed to the ICE 2033 Maturity US Inflation-Linked Treasury Index. No manager picking bonds, no drift into other maturity years.
• Sits in the upper half of its target-maturity peer group on our review, with high confidence in the mandate evidence behind it.

• SCHP 0.03% a year, a quarter of the typical Treasury-fund fee and level with the cheapest names in the group (VGIT, VCSH).
• One job, done literally: only inflation-linked US Treasuries, whose principal adjusts with the official consumer price index.
• Running since 2010, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and hugs the Bloomberg Series-L index closely.
• Passive, no maturity tilt, no manager view: one of the cleaner builds among Treasury ETFs.

Worth knowing

• IBIJ Thinly traded and modest in size, so spreads can be wider than the household-name bond ETFs. Limit orders matter more here.
• Inflation-linked does not mean price-stable: before 2033, TIPS values still move with real yields.
• Cheaper dated Treasury options exist in the same cohort (IBTJ at 0.07%), but they carry no inflation adjustment. Different job, different price.

• SCHP Inflation-linked is not rate-proof. This spans the whole maturity spectrum, so prices move with real yields.
• Distributions are irregular. Coupons sit on an inflation-adjusted principal, so the cash arrives lumpy, not as a steady check.
• About 50 bonds, all Uncle Sam. No credit spread, no corporate yield pickup; inflation and duration are the whole story.

Full IBIJ profile⁠

Full SCHP profile⁠