Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
SCHO vs SHY: Differences, Returns & Fees
SCHO's duration was 1.8 years on Jun 30, 2026 and SHY's 1.8 on Aug 31, 2026; SCHO charges 0.03% to SHY's 0.15%.
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Net assets: $13.0bn on Jun 30, 2026 for Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF, and $27.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
SCHO costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points.
| Measure | SCHO | SHY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +1.8% | +1.6% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Bloomberg US Treasury 1-3 Year Index | ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, SCHO as of Jun 30, 2026 and SHY as of Oct 27, 2026 | $13.0bn | $27.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 82% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Aug 13, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026 · 845 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: SCHO against VGSH, Aug 13, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; SHY against BBSB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
SCHO returned slightly more: +24.3% to +23.2%. SCHO and SHY swung about the same: 1.3% and 1.3%. SCHO and SHY fell about the same at their worst: −5.6% and −5.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | SCHO | SHY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +24.3% | +23.2% | SCHO (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.3% | +1.3% | SCHO (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −4.2% | −3.2% | SHY | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 1.3% | 1.3% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 0.9% | 0.9% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −5.6% | −5.6% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 94.7% | 97.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 93.4% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.96 | 0.98 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.94 | 0.98 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | −0.19 | −0.23 | SCHO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | −0.28 | −0.34 | SCHO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | −0.003 | −0.012 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.24 | 0.23 | SCHO (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VGSH | BBSB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | −0.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.40 | −0.96 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.2% to +0.1% | −0.4% to +0.1% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.07 | −0.43 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.3% | 0.2% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 845 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, SCHO and SHY hold 82% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026.
half
82% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
SCHO and SHY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
SCHO and SHY are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. SCHO follows Bloomberg US Treasury 1-3 Year Index and SHY follows ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index.
- Cost. SCHO charges 0.03% of assets a year and SHY 0.15%, a gap of 0.12 points.
- Holdings in common (similar). 82% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Aug 31, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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SCHO
SCHO tracks an index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.8% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg US Treasury 1-3 Year Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.
SHY
SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, SCHO or SHY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SCHO returned +1.8% and SHY +1.6%.
- Which is cheaper, SCHO or SHY?
- SCHO is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 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, SCHO against SHY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/scho-vs-shy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). SCHO against SHY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/scho-vs-shy
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