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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) was launched on 08/13/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - All Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $1.5 billion, this makes it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - All Cap Value. FNDB is managed by Charles Schwab. 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

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.25% for FNDB, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.42%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 17.9% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Apple (AAPL) accounts for about 4.48% of total assets, followed by Microsoft (MSFT) and Exxonmobil Holdings Corp (XOM).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 20.56% of FNDB's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Schwab Fundamental U.S. Broad Market ETF return is roughly 20.63% so far, and it's up approximately 22.27% over the last 12 months (as of 10/28/2026). FNDB has traded between $25.23 $31.93 in this past 52-week period.

FNDB has a beta of 0.88 and standard deviation of 12.80% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 1625 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 $10.52 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P U.S. Value ETF has $28.42 billion. FDVV has an expense ratio of 0.15% 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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