Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PSC vs SCHA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PSC returned +21.0% to SCHA's +17.8%; 28% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $2.7bn on Oct 26, 2026 for Principal U.S. Small-Cap ETF, and $22.6bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF.
Pair scorecard
SCHA costs 0.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.2 points.
| Measure | PSC | SCHA |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +21.0% | +17.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.9%, high on Jun 30, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Total Stock Market Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.38% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, PSC as of Oct 26, 2026 and SCHA as of Aug 31, 2026 | $2.7bn | $22.6bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 28% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 11.2% | 10.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Sep 30, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026 · 525 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PSC against IWM, Sep 30, 2016 to Oct 23, 2026; SCHA against IVV, Nov 13, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026.
PSC returned more: +204.6% to +159.7%. SCHA swung slightly less: 22.5% to 23.2%. SCHA fell slightly less at its worst: −40.9% to −44.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PSC | SCHA | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +204.6% | +159.7% | PSC | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +11.7% | +9.9% | PSC | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +170.5% | +126.1% | PSC | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 23.2% | 22.5% | SCHA (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 16.0% | 15.6% | SCHA (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −44.9% | −40.9% | SCHA (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 84.9% | 113.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 91.9% | 111.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.95 | 1.17 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 0.80 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.49 | 0.42 | PSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.70 | 0.61 | PSC | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.118 | 0.100 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.26 | 0.24 | PSC (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IWM | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +2.4% a year | −3.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.96 | −1.50 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.5% to +7.4% | −8.0% to +1.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.24 | −0.13 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 8.1% | 9.9% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 525 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PSC and SCHA hold 28% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
28% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PSC and SCHA on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PSC and SCHA are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. PSC follows No index, actively managed and SCHA follows Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Total Stock Market Index.
- Holdings in common. 28% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PSC returned +21.0% and SCHA +17.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 3.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +21.0% with distributions reinvested, against +14.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index.
PSC is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.38% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 506 positions, with the top ten at 11.2%.
SCHA
SCHA tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 7% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,705 positions, with the top ten at 10.1%. It sat 7.9% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, PSC or SCHA?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PSC returned +21.0% and SCHA +17.8%.
- Which is cheaper, PSC or SCHA?
- SCHA is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, PSC against SCHA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/psc-vs-scha
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PSC against SCHA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/psc-vs-scha
[PSC against SCHA (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/psc-vs-scha)
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