JCPI vs SCHP

JCPICJPMorgan Inflation Managed Bond ETF

SCHPASchwab US TIPS ETF

In short

JCPI Most inflation funds just buy TIPS. JCPI builds a core bond portfolio and layers CPI-U swaps on top, an active route to a similar inflation-linked payoff, run by J.P. Morgan since 2010 and wrapped in an ETF in 2022.

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

JCPI The fund seeks to deliver inflation-protected total return by combining a core bond portfolio with actively managed inflation swaps and tactical trades.

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

• JCPI The mechanism is the story: CPI-U swaps combined with a core bond portfolio, designed to act like a portfolio of inflation-protected bonds without simply owning them.sec.gov
• Actively run. The team manages the swap book and makes tactical trades, measured against the intermediate 1-10 year TIPS index rather than the long end of the curve.jpmorgan.com
• Not a startup strategy: it dates to 2010 as a mutual fund and converted into an ETF in April 2022, carrying its track record across.jpmorgan.com
• Pays monthly, with the core spread across roughly 700 bonds.

• 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

• JCPI Active costs money. The fee sits above the category median, while index trackers like SCHP and VTIP charge 0.03%.
• Swaps add counterparty and derivative exposure, and the prospectus notes there is no assurance CPI-U accurately measures the actual rate of inflation.sec.gov
• The core can hold corporate and other non-Treasury bonds, so you carry credit risk a pure Treasury TIPS fund would not.sec.gov

• 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 JCPI profile⁠

Full SCHP profile⁠