ICF vs SCHH

ICFBiShares Select U.S. REIT ETF

SCHHASchwab U.S. REIT ETF

In short

ICF Since 2001 this fund has owned a short list of about 30 big U.S. landlords instead of the whole property sector. Cohen & Steers builds the index, iShares runs the wrapper, and concentration is the feature, not an accident.

SCHH Landlord exposure at a rounding-error price. SCHH owns the US equity REIT market, roughly 120 of them, for 0.07% a year, a fraction of what the typical real estate fund charges.

Stated mandate

ICF The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. real estate investment trusts, offering diversified exposure to the U.S. real estate market.

SCHH The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, an index of U.S. equity-classified real estate investment trusts.

Why people hold it

• ICF Concentrated by design: about 30 large U.S. REITs drawn from the Cohen & Steers Realty Majors Index, so the biggest landlords carry real weight rather than getting diluted.ishares.com
• Charges 0.32% a year, below the median fee for U.S. real estate ETFs.
• Tracks its index very closely, one of the stronger implementations in the U.S. real estate group.
• Running since 2001 through multiple property cycles, at multi-billion-dollar scale, paying distributions quarterly.

• SCHH 0.07% a year undercuts every major broad REIT rival: VNQ at 0.13%, USRT, FREL and XLRE at 0.08%, against a 0.37% category median.
• Straight-up landlords. The index covers US equity-classified REITs, the companies that own and rent property, not the wider real estate services trade.schwabassetmanagement.com
• It hugs its index about as closely as anything in the broad US REIT group, one of the strongest implementations among its peers.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades heavily, which keeps spreads tight for retail-size orders and has done since its 2011 launch.

Worth knowing

• ICF Not the cheap option next to the index giants: SCHH, VNQ and USRT all charge a fraction of its fee.
• With about 30 names, a single landlord or property type can steer results more than in a fund that owns the full sector.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume leader among REIT funds.

• SCHH One sector, about 120 names. It moves with property markets and interest rates, not the broad market, so the ride is bumpier than a total-market fund.
• Income arrives quarterly, not monthly, which matters if you budget off distributions.
• US only, and equity REITs only: no overseas property and no mortgage REITs in the mix.schwabassetmanagement.com

Full ICF profile⁠

Full SCHH profile⁠