IWR vs SCHM

IWRAiShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF

SCHMASchwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF

In short

IWR The Russell mid-cap standard: roughly 800 mid-sized US companies in one ticker, tracked since 2001. Big, heavily traded, and priced a notch above the index-fund floor.

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

IWR The fund seeks to track an index composed of mid-sized U.S. companies.

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

• IWR Has tracked the Russell MidCap Index since 2001 and hews to it about as closely as anything in the mid-cap group.ishares.com
• Roughly 800 mid-size US names, so no single stock carries the fund.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which tends to keep bid-ask spreads thin for small and large orders alike.
• Plain 1940 Act fund paying quarterly distributions. No leverage, no exotic wrapper to babysit.

• 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

• IWR 0.18% a year, versus 0.03% for mid-cap rivals like VO and SCHM. Same aisle, different sticker.
• Different yardstick than several rivals: Russell MidCap rather than a Morningstar mid-cap index, so the holdings and the size cutoffs differ.
• All equity, all US. Nothing here (bonds, cash, foreign stocks) cushions a domestic stock selloff.

• 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 IWR profile⁠

Full SCHM profile⁠