Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SCHF vs SPY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SCHF returned +17.6% to SPY's +13.6%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $69.7bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab International Equity ETF, and $814.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.
Pair scorecard
SCHF costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.0 points.
| Measure | SCHF | SPY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +17.6% | +13.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 4.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | FTSE Developed ex US Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, SCHF as of Aug 31, 2026 and SPY as of Oct 27, 2026 | $69.7bn | $814.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 13.8% | 38.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 13, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 884 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SCHF against EFA, Nov 13, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026; SPY against VOO, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPY returned more: +837.0% to +222.5%. SPY swung slightly less: 16.0% to 17.1%. SPY fell slightly less at its worst: −31.8% to −33.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SCHF | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +222.5% | +837.0% | SPY | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +7.1% | +14.1% | SPY | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +106.8% | +593.3% | SPY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.1% | 16.0% | SPY (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.1% | 11.0% | SPY (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.8% | −31.8% | SPY (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.2% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.0% | 100.0% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.99 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.40 | 0.81 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.56 | 1.17 | SPY | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.069 | 0.133 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.21 | 0.44 | SPY | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | EFA | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.5% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.02 | −0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +1.4% | −0.3% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.20 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.9% | 0.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 884 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SCHF and SPY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SCHF and SPY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SCHF and SPY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. SCHF follows FTSE Developed ex US Index and SPY follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SCHF returned +17.6% and SPY +13.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.0 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SCHF
SCHF tracks an index of International Equity. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the MSCI EAFE Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,475 positions, with the top ten at 13.8%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
SPY
SPY tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.6% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SCHF or SPY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SCHF returned +17.6% and SPY +13.6%.
- Which is cheaper, SCHF or SPY?
- SCHF is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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, SCHF against SPY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/schf-vs-spy
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