NZAC vs SCHK

NZACBState Street SPDR MSCI ACWI Climate Paris Aligned ETF

SCHKASchwab 1000 Index ETF

In short

NZAC A whole-world stock index fund with a climate filter baked in: large and mid caps across developed and emerging markets, screened for climate risk, at 0.12% a year. A Paris-aligned mandate priced like plain vanilla.

SCHK Schwab's house-built alternative to the S&P 500: the 1,000 largest US companies in one passive wrapper, reaching past the mega-caps into mid-cap turf, priced at three basis points.

Stated mandate

NZAC The fund seeks to track the MSCI ACWI Climate Paris Aligned Index, an equity index covering large- and mid-cap companies in developed and emerging markets. Its methodology is designed to reduce physical and transition climate risks and increase exposure to opportunities from the transition to a lower-carbon economy.

SCHK The fund seeks to track the total return of the Schwab 1000 Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• NZAC Charges 0.12% a year against a 0.45% median for its index-fund cohort. The climate screen arrives without the boutique price tag that usually rides along.
• One ticket, roughly 600 large and mid caps across developed and emerging markets. The screen runs across the whole global opportunity set, not just the US slice.
• The portfolio matches the label. MSCI's methodology targets lower physical and transition climate risk, and this is one of the cleaner implementations among index wrappers.

• SCHK 0.03% a year, the lowest fee among the top-scoring funds in its index-wrapper group and a small fraction of what the typical fund there charges.
• About 1,000 stocks covering roughly 90% or more of US stock market value: the S&P 500 names plus a layer of mid caps most large-blend funds skip.schwabassetmanagement.com
• Tracks its stated index tightly and stands among the strongest implementations in its peer group of plain index wrappers.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and pays distributions quarterly.

Worth knowing

• NZAC Thinly traded next to the giants of its cohort, so the gap between bid and ask can be wider at the moment you trade.
• Unscreened global index funds go cheaper: VT runs 0.06%. The climate methodology is what the fee difference buys.
• An exclusionary approach reshapes sector and country weights, so results can drift from a plain global index in either direction. Cash comes back once or twice a year, not monthly.

• SCHK Weighted by market value, so the biggest US companies drive the bulk of results. Those extra 500 names carry less weight than the headcount suggests.schwabassetmanagement.com
• All-US, all-equity by mandate: no bonds, no foreign stocks, and it rides the full swings of the US market.
• The benchmark is Schwab's own proprietary index, so there is no rival fund on the identical yardstick for a side-by-side comparison.

Full NZAC profile⁠

Full SCHK profile⁠