Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Schwab 1000 Index ETF (SCHK) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Looking for broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Schwab 1000 Index ETF (SCHK - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 10/11/2017.

The fund is sponsored by Charles Schwab. It has amassed assets over $2.78 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Companies that fall in the large cap category tend to have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.

Blend ETFs are aptly named, since they tend to hold a mix of growth and value stocks, as well as show characteristics of both kinds of equities.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.05%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.53%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 27.50% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 6.55% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 27.73% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SCHK seeks to match the performance of the Schwab 1000 Index before fees and expenses. The Schwab 1000 Index is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that includes the 1,000 largest stocks of publicly traded companies in the United States, with size being determined by market capitalization. The index is designed to be a measure of the performance of large- and mid-cap U.S. stocks.

The ETF has gained about 11.29% so far this year and it's up approximately 10.71% in the last one year (as of 11/02/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $35.96 and $44.27.

The ETF has a beta of 1.02 and standard deviation of 18.06% for the trailing three-year period. With about 988 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Schwab 1000 Index ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, SCHK is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $344.75 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $393 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Published in