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Is Schwab Fundamental U.S. Broad Market ETF (FNDB) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The Schwab Fundamental U.S. Broad Market ETF (FNDB - Free Report) made its debut on 08/13/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Charles Schwab. FNDB has been able to amass assets over $1.04 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. FNDB, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Russell RAFI US Index.

The RAFI Fundamental High Liquidity US All Index measures the performance of U.S. based companies based on their fundamental size and weight.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

With one of the cheaper products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.25%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.61%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 17.8% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL) accounts for about 4.3% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Alphabet Inc Class A (GOOGL).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 19.07% of FNDB's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 16.73% so far this year and is up roughly 12.85% in the last one year (as of 12/15/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $20.36 and $26.90

The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 13.70% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1640 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

Schwab Fundamental U.S. Broad Market ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - All Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV) tracks Fidelity Core Dividend Index and the iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF (IUSV) tracks S&P 900 Value Index. Fidelity High Dividend ETF has $7.73 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF has $24.43 billion. FDVV has an expense ratio of 0.16% and IUSV changes 0.04%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - All Cap Value

Bottom Line

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.

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