SCHZ ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

How has SCHZ done since 2011?#

SCHZS&P 500 (SPY)Growth of $10,000, log scale, with dividends reinvested. Past results do not tell you what happens next.

From July 2011 to October 2026, SCHZ returned about 1.9% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 14.2% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $13,377 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

Period	SCHZ	S&P 500 (SPY)
1 month	−0.1%	1.5%
3 months	−1.8%	1.9%
6 months	−2.1%	9.3%
Year to date	−1.6%	12.8%
1 year	−1.8%	16.8%
3 years per year	4.7%	22.0%
5 years per year	−0.4%	12.8%
10 years per year	1.3%	15.4%
Since 2011 per year	1.9%	14.2%

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

SCHZ returns by month and year#

SCHZ rose in 105 of its 184 months (57%). Its best month was November 2023, at 4.6%. Its worst was September 2022, at −4.3%.

Return each month, in percent
Year	Total	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2026	−1.6%	0.3	1.5	−1.7	0.2	0.3	0.2	−1.3	0.4	−2.6	1.2
2025	7.2%	0.6	2.3	−0.1	0.5	−0.7	1.6	−0.3	1.2	1.1	0.6	0.6	−0.2
2024	1.3%	0.0	−1.4	0.8	−2.6	1.8	0.9	2.4	1.4	1.4	−2.5	1.1	−1.8
2023	5.6%	3.5	−2.7	2.6	0.6	−1.2	−0.2	−0.1	−0.6	−2.6	−1.5	4.6	3.7
2022	−13.2%	−2.2	−1.0	−2.7	−4.0	0.8	−1.6	2.7	−3.1	−4.3	−1.1	3.7	−0.8
2021	−1.7%	−0.7	−1.5	−1.2	0.8	0.2	0.8	1.1	−0.1	−1.0	0.1	0.2	−0.2
2020	7.5%	2.0	1.5	−1.5	3.0	0.6	0.7	1.4	−0.9	−0.2	−0.6	1.3	0.0
2019	8.6%	1.1	−0.1	2.0	−0.1	1.6	1.4	0.2	2.7	−0.5	0.2	−0.1	0.0
2018	0.0%	−1.1	−1.0	0.6	−0.7	0.5	0.1	−0.1	0.7	−0.6	−0.7	0.5	1.9
2017	3.5%	0.3	0.7	0.0	0.8	0.7	0.0	0.4	0.9	−0.5	0.0	−0.1	0.3
2016	2.2%	1.3	0.8	0.9	0.4	−0.1	1.9	0.5	−0.2	0.1	−0.9	−2.3	−0.1
2015	0.4%	1.7	−0.6	0.3	−0.2	−0.4	−1.1	0.8	−0.3	0.8	0.1	−0.4	−0.2
2014	6.3%	1.7	0.4	−0.1	0.7	1.2	0.0	−0.3	1.1	−0.5	0.9	0.6	0.4
2013	−2.0%	−0.5	0.4	0.2	1.0	−1.8	−2.0	0.7	−0.6	1.0	0.8	−0.4	−0.7
2012	3.1%	0.8	−0.1	−0.9	1.2	0.9	0.2	1.3	−0.2	0.2	0.0	0.2	−0.6
2011	4.2%							0.6	1.8	0.6	0.1	−0.2	1.3

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

How risky is SCHZ compared with the S&P 500?#

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

Beta 0.08. When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, SCHZ tended to move about 0.08%.
Correlation 0.21. SCHZ moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
Up and down months. In months the S&P 500 rose, SCHZ rose 21% as much on average. In months it fell, SCHZ fell 40% as much.

Measure	SCHZ	S&P 500 (SPY)
Return per year	−0.4%	12.8%
Volatility	6.1%	17.1%
Worst drop	−17.4%	−24.5%
Sharpe ratio	-0.03	0.79
Sortino ratio	-0.04	1.15
Calmar ratio	-0.02	0.52

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

Is SCHZ above its 200-day average?#

SCHZ closed 1.6% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds SCHZ only above that average would be out of it today.

vs 200-day average: −1.6%; below it
50-day vs 200-day: −1.1%; trend falling
vs 52-week high: −3.3%; high of $23.05

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as the 10-month moving average strategy hold a fund only while it is above one. You can build that rule for SCHZ and backtest it in a minute.

What was SCHZ’s worst drop?#

Drawdown: how far SCHZ was below its last high on each day.

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. SCHZ’s worst fall was −18.7%, from August 4, 2020 to October 24, 2022. By October 16, 2026 it had not yet climbed back to that high. On October 16, 2026 it was 4.3% below its highest close.

Drop	From the high	To the bottom	Back to the high
−18.7%	Aug 4, 2020	Oct 24, 20222.2 years	Not yet
−10.3%	Mar 6, 2020	Mar 18, 202012 days	May 22, 20202 months
−4.9%	May 2, 2013	Sep 5, 20134 months	May 9, 20148 months
−4.3%	Jul 8, 2016	Dec 16, 20165 months	Aug 29, 20178 months
−3.5%	Sep 7, 2017	May 17, 20188 months	Jan 30, 20198 months

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

What does SCHZ hold?#

This fund holds thousands of high quality US bonds. They include government bonds, mortgage bonds and bonds from big companies. When interest rates go up, the prices of these bonds usually go down.

It tracks the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. It had 12,355 holdings as of June 30, 2026, according to Schwab.

What is the SCHZ expense ratio?#

SCHZ charges 0.03% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.03% fee comes to about $3 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 85% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

0.03%

Which Tactfolio strategies hold SCHZ?#

No classic strategy holds SCHZ yet. You can add it to your own rules in the builder and see how they would have done.

How does SCHZ compare with similar ETFs?#

Funds that can stand in for SCHZ:

AGG: iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, 0.03% a year
BND: Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF, 0.03% a year
IUSB: iShares Core Universal USD Bond ETF, 0.06% a year
VGIT: Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF, 0.03% a year

See all 7 SCHZ alternatives, compared on the same dates as SCHZ.

Test SCHZ in your own rules#

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the builder, add SCHZ, and see how a rule such as “hold it only above its 200-day average” would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

The details#

Prices come from Tactfolio’s stored daily prices for SCHZ and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from Schwab. We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read what a backtest simulates and how to read drawdown and CAGR for more on these measures.

Common questions#

What is the expense ratio of SCHZ?#

SCHZ charges 0.03% a year, according to Schwab as of October 17, 2026. That is about $3 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

When did SCHZ start trading?#

SCHZ started trading on July 14, 2011. It is run by Schwab.

What does SCHZ track?#

SCHZ tracks the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index. This fund holds thousands of high quality US bonds.

How much has SCHZ returned per year?#

From July 2011 to October 2026, SCHZ returned about 1.9% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −18.7%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

Is SCHZ above its 200-day moving average?#

On October 16, 2026, SCHZ closed 1.6% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

Which strategies use SCHZ?#

None of Tactfolio’s classic strategies hold SCHZ yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

Sources#

Schwab: Schwab U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF fund page