SCHC vs VSS

SCHCASchwab International Small-Cap Equity ETF

VSSAVanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF

In short

SCHC The bargain end of international small caps: Schwab charges 0.06% where the typical fund in this group sits near 0.40%. Roughly 2,200 stocks from developed markets outside the US, with Canada and South Korea in the mix.

VSS One ticker for the small companies the rest of the world runs on: roughly 4,800 stocks across developed and emerging markets outside the US, at 0.06% a year. Vanguard has run it since 2009.

Stated mandate

SCHC The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the FTSE Developed Small Cap ex US Liquid Index.

VSS Seeks to track the FTSE Global Small Cap ex US Index, providing broad exposure to developed and emerging non-U.S. small-cap equity markets worldwide through passive index sampling.

Why people hold it

• SCHC 0.06% a year, against a peer-group median near 0.40%. In a corner of the market where fees usually run high, that gap is most of the pitch.schwabassetmanagement.com
• About 2,200 holdings across developed markets outside the US. Broad enough that it behaves like the asset class rather than a concentrated bet.
• Counts Canada and South Korea as developed markets, covering ground that EAFE-built rivals such as SCZ leave out by design.schwabassetmanagement.comishares.com
• Trading since 2010 and has tracked its FTSE developed small-cap benchmark tightly, one of the cleaner index implementations in its peer group.

• VSS 0.06% a year, against a roughly 0.40% median for international small-cap funds. Only Schwab's SCHC matches the price.
• Developed and emerging markets in the same basket, roughly 4,800 names deep, so no single country or company carries much of the load.
• Tracks its FTSE Global Small Cap ex US benchmark closely and trades tightly for a fund built on thousands of overseas small caps.
• Running since 2009, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that pays out quarterly. Long track record, deep plumbing.vanguard.com

Worth knowing

• SCHC Foreign small caps swing harder than large caps, and holdings are priced in local currencies, so exchange-rate moves feed straight into results.
• Developed markets only. Emerging-market small caps sit outside the mandate, which is where wider ex-US peers like VSS reach further.
• Moderately traded rather than a top-of-tape name, and distributions land once or twice a year instead of quarterly.

• VSS Small caps abroad move harder than blue chips, and everything is priced back into dollars, so currency swings ride along.vanguard.com
• Vanguard samples the index rather than buying every line item, so the portfolio approximates the benchmark instead of replicating it.vanguard.com
• Coverage stops at the US border by design. American small caps sit entirely outside the mandate.

Full SCHC profile⁠

Full VSS profile⁠