SCHP vs TIPB

SCHPASchwab US TIPS ETF

TIPBBNorthern Trust 2035 Inflation-Linked Distributing Ladder ETF

In short

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.

TIPB Most target-maturity bond ETFs ladder nominal bonds and pay fixed coupons. This one holds U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities and makes periodic inflation-linked payouts of income and, at times, principal, winding down through 2035.

Stated mandate

SCHP The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index composed of inflation-protected U.S. Treasury securities.

TIPB The Fund seeks periodic inflation-linked distributions from U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, consisting of income and/or principal through 2035.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• TIPB Built on U.S. TIPS, so the distributions it aims to pay track inflation-adjusted Treasury cash flows rather than fixed coupons.
• 0.10% expense ratio, sitting right at the median for target-maturity bond funds.
• Peers like IBTJ, BSCT and IBDU ladder nominal bonds. TIPB runs the same defined-term playbook with inflation-protected Treasuries instead.
• Narrow, checkable mandate: U.S. inflation-protected Treasuries with a 2035 end date, and the portfolio hews closely to it.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• TIPB Payouts are periodic and irregular and can include return of principal, so the cash stream varies and the pot is designed to shrink toward 2035.
• Small asset base and thin trading, so the bid-ask spread can matter more to your cost than the 0.10% fee.
• Launched in 2025, so there is only a short live record of tracking and distribution behavior to examine.

Full SCHP profile⁠

Full TIPB profile⁠