Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF

Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF (SCHR) is an index fund that holds U.S. Treasury notes maturing in three to ten years. It tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury 3-10 Year Index. Its expense ratio of 0.03% a year matches Vanguard's VGIT and SPDR's SPTI and is below the 0.08% average of similar funds. It pays income monthly, and its trailing yield was 4.03% as of October 29, 2026.

• Over the year to Nov 2, 2026, SCHR returned -0.6%, 6th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was 0.0% and its 10-year +1.1%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash, while stocks fell, it gained 4.9%.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-10.6%); its best was 2011 (+9.5%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 16.1% (Aug 4, 2020 to Oct 20, 2022), not yet recovered.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 101 securities; the ten largest made up 18.97% of assets.

The bonds mature in 5.5 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 3.59%.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $575.9M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: 0.00%, -0.08%, +0.13%.

SCHR aims to match the total return, before fees, of the Bloomberg US Treasury 3-10 Year Index. That index includes publicly issued U.S. Treasury securities with at least three and less than ten years left until they mature. Each one must be fixed-rate, priced in U.S. dollars and have at least $300 million outstanding. It leaves out Treasury STRIPS, which are bonds split into separate interest and principal pieces. Bonds are weighted by market value, and the index updates its list on the last business day of each month.

Schwab doesn't buy every bond in the index. Instead it uses sampling, which means holding a smaller set chosen to match the index's maturities and interest-rate sensitivity. At least 90% of net assets must be in index securities. Up to 10% can go into other high-quality government-backed debt, cash or other funds, and the fund may lend out its securities. As of June 30, 2026, it held 101 securities, almost all Treasury notes. The largest was about 2.1% of assets, and the top 10 together were about 19%.

The index's duration was 4.94 years as of December 31, 2025. Duration estimates how sensitive bond prices are to interest rates. Here it means a 1-percentage-point rise in rates would cut the fund's value by roughly 5%. Portfolio turnover was 42%.

• SCHR charges 0.03% a year, versus an average of 0.08% for the similar funds below (1st of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $3 in the first year and $39 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It holds intermediate-term Treasury notes that have often moved differently from stocks, though not in every downturn.

SCHR could add high-quality government bonds alongside stocks. During the 2020 COVID crash it gained 4.9% while stocks fell, and its brief 2.2% dip was recovered within days. 2022 showed the limit. As rates climbed, it lost 10.63% for the year, its worst calendar year, and needed about 34 months, until August 2025, to recover. Its deepest drop was 16.1%, from August 2020 to October 2022. It had not been fully made up as of October 29, 2026. Anyone forced to draw on it in a rising-rate year could take a loss. It launched in 2010, so it has no 2008 record.

Income comes monthly, and the trailing yield was 4.03% as of October 29, 2026. Costs are low, at 0.03% a year. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).