A strong management team and sound investment process underpin Schwab Intermediate-Term US Trs ETF™'s Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver. The portfolio maintains a sizable cost advantage over competitors, priced within the cheapest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy’s management team earns an Above Average People Pillar rating. The strategy merits an Above Average Process Pillar rating.  The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Above Average Parent Pillar rating. People, Process and Parent Pillar ratings for this strategy are indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following each pillar section for more details. The details of assigning methods can be found in each pillar section.

Analyst Rating

Vanguard’s manager employs representative sampling to track the Bloomberg US Treasury 3-10 Year Index, which includes Treasury bonds whose remaining maturities range from three to 10 years. Qualifying bonds must have at least $300 million in outstanding face value. The index is market-value-weighted and rebalances each month. This results in a conservative portfolio that limits return potential but also caps risk.

Investors in the fund enjoy virtually zero credit risk since it holds Treasuries exclusively. Many peers reach into the securitized bucket to generate extra return, which can hurt competitors when credit spreads widen but help when they narrow. The typical peer’s stake in securitized assets has fallen in recent months but still stood at more than 50% as of March 31, 2023.

The portfolio experiences less turnover on average than the category norm. The typical peer’s annual portfolio turnover routinely runs well above 100% compared with this fund’s 37% average annual turnover since 2012. This means the category’s complexion changes more frequently than this fund and can lead to disparate risk and performance patterns. For example, the fund has historically taken on more interest-rate risk than the category norm, but this changed in early 2022 when category peers increased their allocation to longer-duration bonds. While this portfolio remains relatively constant, category-relative returns are determined by the risks peers are willing to take.

Note: The Process Pillar rating and analysis are indirectly assigned by an analyst. When an analyst covers a passively managed vehicle that tracks a particular index, Morningstar associates the Process Pillar rating assigned to that vehicle with the index concerned. Morningstar then maps the Process Pillar associated with a given index to any other uncovered passive strategies that track the same index. This ensures that the analyst’s view is leveraged whenever available and promotes consistency when analyzing passive vehicles associated with a given index.

Above Average

Process

Schwab Intermediate-Term US Trs ETF™ benefits considerably from its fixed income team, earning it an Above Average People Pillar rating. There are two managers listed on the fund: Mark McKissick, Matthew Hastings. Experience on the team is abundant, with over 25 years of average portfolio management experience. Together, they manage a total of five strategies, with a Silver asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating, indicating the potential to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median in aggregate. This group has had relatively low management turnover, providing a stable environment and continuity for the strategies. 

 Note: This People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. Morningstar analysts evaluate the People Pillar for passive products at the brand level and may also differentiate by asset class. There is at least one other passive strategy at the firm that is covered by a Morningstar analyst, so the People Pillar rating of the fund is inherited from the rating that the Morningstar analyst assigned to investment vehicles under the same brand name.

People

Under new but familiar leadership, Schwab Asset Management Solutions maintains its Above Average Parent Pillar rating. 

After the former Schwab CEO was named president of parent Charles Schwab Corporation in 2022, Omar Aguilar, a Schwab CIO since 2011, was promoted to CEO while retaining his CIO role. Under Aguilar's leadership, Schwab remains focused on core-oriented strategies: More than 95% of the firm's fund assets under management are in low-cost index products that are suitable for the biggest portions of investors' portfolios. Index-tracking remains are par with the best teams in the business.

Recent strategic initiatives show a desire to grow in an increasingly competitive landscape. Forays into direct indexing—which customizes separate accounts through tax-loss harvesting, values-based requests, or other client preferences—as well as some new launches, such as Schwab Municipal Bond ETF, fit the firm's strategic focus and are natural extensions of its capabilities. However, other recent launches in more-niche asset classes, including Schwab Crypto Thematic ETF, contrast previous refusals to enter trendy markets. 

Schwab benefits from its association with its parent's brokerage business. This arrangement and efficient operation allow funds to grow quickly and keep fees in line with larger competitors. Historically, Schwab has been quick to match competitor fee cuts and now sports a 0.09% asset-weighted average fee across its mutual funds and ETFs.

Parent

Schwab Intermediate-Term US Treasury ETF

SCHR tracks a market-value-weighted index of investment grade debt issued by the US Treasury with remaining maturity of 3-10 years.

SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF

Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury ETF

BlackRock Enhanced Government Fund

iShares U.S. Fixed Income Balanced Risk Factor ETF

Goldman Sachs TreasuryAccess 0-1 Year ETF

iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 25+ Year Treasury STRIPS Bond ETF

Invesco Ultra Short Duration ETF

iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF

First Trust Long Duration Opportunities ETF

ProShares UltraShort 7-10 Year Treasury

Schwab Short-Term US Treasury ETF

Schwab Long-Term US Treasury ETF

iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF

SPDR Portfolio Long Term Treasury ETF

SPDR Portfolio Short Term Treasury ETF

Proshares Short 20+ Year Treasury

ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury

ProShares Short 7-10 Year Treasury

iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3X Shares

It generally takes a few years for changes in Federal Reserve rates to fully impact bond fund dividends. Bond funds are still benefitting from prior rate hikes. Perhaps by enough to cancel out any future rate cuts. By my estimations, and under current Fed guidance, most bond funds would only start to see declining dividends in 2025, at the earliest.

Estimating The Impact Of Lower Rates On Bond Fund Dividends

The inverted Treasury yield curve has begun to dis-invert. Long-duration bonds will be hardest hit, but intermediate-term Treasuries likely won't be spared either. Investors aren't getting adequate compensation for the duration or reinvestment risks associated with intermediate-term Treasury ETFs.

SCHR: Fade Intermediate-Term Treasuries

Schwab 5-10 Year Corporate Bond ETF

Schwab 1-5 Year Corporate Bond ETF

Schwab US TIPS ETF

Charles Schwab

Schwab US Aggregate Bond ETF

Schwab Municipal Bond ETF

Schwab High Yield Bond ETF

WESTLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Schwab Asset Management™, the asset management arm of The Charles Schwab Corporation and the fifth-largest provider1 of ETFs, today announced the reduction of operating expense ratios for the Schwab High Yield Bond ETF (SCYB) and the Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF (SCHP), bringing the fees for Schwab Asset Management's entire lineup of fixed income ETFs to only three basis points. All of Schwab Asset Management's fixed income ETFs are now among the lowest-priced ETFs in.

Schwab Asset Management Reduces Fees on Two Fixed Income ETFs, Pricing Its Entire Fixed Income Lineup at Three Basis Points

JPMorgan BetaBuilders 1-5 Year US Aggregate Bond ETF

SPDR Bloomberg 3-12 Month T-Bill ETF

SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF

iShares MSCI Japan ETF

ClearShares Ultra-Short Maturity ETF

Invesco 1-30 Laddered Treasury ETF

Invesco QQQ

ProShares Inflation Expectations ETF

iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF

The market is showing signs of weakness and lacks sustainable upside momentum. The recent sell-off has broken key moving averages, indicating a potential shift in market sentiment.

Selling Time? Oil, Inflation, Debt Concerns And A T-Bill Portfolio

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF

Vanguard Intermediate-Term Treasury ETF

Inflation remains above the Fed's target in 2023, leading to uncertainty about soft and hard-landing scenarios. Comparing the look of the stock/bond ratio in 2023 to historical hard-landing cases provides insight into present day bull/bear odds, as well as what to monitor in the weeks ahead.

If This Ratio Flips, It May Be Time To Sell Stocks And Buy Bonds

iShares Russell 2000 ETF

Rates Are Close Peaking; I Am Cautious On Equities.

Rates Are Close Peaking; I Am Cautious On Equities

SCHR invests in intermediate-term U.S. treasuries. The fund offers a solid yield of 4%.

SCHR: Downside Risk Is Limited, But A Meaningful Rebound In The Near Term Is Unlikely

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF

iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF

SPDR Bloomberg High Yield Bond ETF

Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund

The two-year Treasury yield closed above the 5% mark for the first time since June 18, 2007, on Tuesday. For the fund flows week, conventional taxable bond funds witnessed $1.0 billion in net redemptions, while their ETF counterparts attracted $4.9 billion.

ETF And Conventional Fund Investors Became More Risk Averse During The Fund Flows Week

iShares National Muni Bond ETF

iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF

Investors were net purchasers of fund assets for the second week in a row, but they injected only a net $853 million for the week. Equity ETFs experienced net inflows for the first week in three, taking in a little less than $3.2 billion for the most recent fund-flows week.

U.S. Weekly FundFlows Insight Report: Investors Embrace Both Fixed Income And Equity ETFs While Turning A Cold Shoulder To Conventional Funds

Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF

iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

iShares Russell 1000 ETF

iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF

Trading activity on the Tradeweb European ETF marketplace reached EUR52.3 billion in November. Total consolidated U.S. ETF notional value traded in November 2022 amounted to USD 52.4 billion, the platform's fifth-best performance on record.

Tradeweb Exchange-Traded Funds Update - November 2022

iShares MSCI Chile ETF

First Trust Natural Gas ETF

Franklin FTSE Brazil ETF

First Trust Dorsey Wright Focus 5 ETF

AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF

Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF

Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF

Pacer Trendpilot US Large Cap ETF

Invesco Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production ETF

FolioBeyond Rising Rates ETF

iShares MSCI Turkey ETF

Sprott Uranium Miners ETF

Despite a positive start early on, stock and bond markets ended August deep in the red. The search for best ETFs is on.

What Investors Rattled By August Selling Should Do Now

iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF

 SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ETF

Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF

July was another strong month for the Tradeweb European ETF marketplace, with trading activity amounting to EUR 58.7 billion. Total consolidated U.S. ETF notional value traded in July 2022 reached USD 44.1 billion.

Tradeweb Exchange-Traded Funds Update - July 2022

iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Value ETF

IJJ and SCHR saw massive trading volumes yesterday.

2 ETFs to Watch for Outsized Volume on Mid Cap and Treasury

Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETF

Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index ETF

Throughout June, trading activity on Tradeweb European ETF marketplace reached EUR 55.1b, while the proportion of transactions processed via Tradeweb's Automated Intelligent Execution tool was 82.8%. All asset classes saw net selling for the second consecutive month. Activity in commodity ETFs, where ‘sells' outstripped ‘buys' by 34 percentage points, increased to 8% of the total platform flow in June.

Tradeweb Exchange-Traded Funds Update - June 2022

The single basis point cuts will take effect as of July 1.

Schwab Shaves Prices On Fixed Income ETFs

Schwab Asset Management today announced that it would reduce the operating expense ratios of 10 passively managed ETFs and actively managed mutual funds. “We continually review our cost-effective product suite to find new opportunities to lower expenses for investors,” said David Botset, managing director, head of equity product management and innovation at Schwab Asset Management.

Charles Schwab Reduces Fees on 7 Passive ETFs and 3 Active Mutual Funds

WESTLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Schwab Asset Management announces the reduction of operating expense ratios of 10 passively managed ETFs and actively managed mutual funds.

Schwab Asset Management Reduces Fees on 10 Funds

Barclays Bank iPath US Treasury 5-Year Bear Exchange Traded   Note 2011-12.7.21 Ser -A- Lkd to BC 2Y US Trsry Futs Trgtd Expsre

Barclays Bank iPath US Treasury 2-year Bull Exchange Traded   Notes 2010-13.8.20 Ser -A- Lnk to BC 2Y US Treasury Futures Trg Ex

Barclays Bank iPath US Treasury 2 Yr Bear Exchange Traded

Barclays Bank iPath US Treasury 10 Yr Bull Exchange Traded    Notes 2010-13.8.20 Sr-A Lk Barclays Cap 10Y US Trs Fut Trgt Exp Id

iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF

Barclays Inverse US Treasury Composite ETN

Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bear 3X Shares

ProShares UltraPro Short 20+ Year Treasury

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bull 3x Shares

Direxion Daily 7-10 Year Treasury Bear 3x Shares

ProShares Ultra 20+ Year Treasury

ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury

Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF

PIMCO 25+ Year Zero Coupon US Treasury Index ETF

While there is upward pressure on market rates in 2022, it's not coming from higher net supply. In fact, lower net supply can help to richen government bonds. On top of that, we should see flatter curves over the whole of 2022. We also anticipate some upward pressure on USD Libor.

Rates Outlook: Swap Spreads To See Widening Pressure

CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF

iShares Agency Bond ETF

Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF

Xtrackers Harvest CSI 500 China A-Shares Small Cap ETF

Xtrackers MSCI China A Inclusion Equity ETF

Global X China Biotech Innovation ETF

Global X MSCI China Communication Services ETF

Global X China Energy ETF

Global X MSCI China Health Care ETF

Global X China Industrials

Global X MSCI China Information Technology ETF

Global X MSCI China Large Cap 50 ETF

Global X China Materials ETF

Global X China Consumer ETF

Global X MSCI China Real Estate ETF

Global X MSCI China Consumer Staples ETF

Global X MSCI China Utilities ETF

Global X China Financials ETF

Loncar China Biopharma ETF

Xtrackers MSCI All China Equity ETF

VanEck Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF

iShares MSCI China A ETF

Invesco China Technology ETF

WisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund

iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF

iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF

iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF

First Trust China AlphaDEX Fund

Franklin FTSE China ETF

Franklin FTSE Hong Kong ETF

Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF

Franklin Short Duration U.S. Government ETF

iShares China Large-Cap ETF

SPDR S&P China ETF

KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A Share ETF

KraneShares CICC China 5G & Semiconductor Index ETF

KraneShares CICC China Leaders 100 Index ETF

Kraneshares MSCI China Environment Index ETF

KraneShares SSE STAR Market 50 Index ETF

KraneShares Hang Seng Tech Index ETF

KraneShares MSCI All China Health Care Index ETF

KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF

First Trust Low Duration Opportunities ETF

iShares MSCI China ETF

Rayliant Quantamental China Equity ETF

Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bearish Fund

WisdomTree Bloomberg US Dollar Bullish Fund

Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund

The deficit spending that supported the economy in 2020 is showing up in hot inflation numbers in 2021. While I think the inflation numbers will get better in 2022, I do not believe they will get back to pre-pandemic levels because of owners' equivalent rents and wage gains in the CPI.

Mind The Bond Market

PIMCO 15+ Year US TIPS ETF

Invesco PureBeta 0-5 Yr US TIPS ETF

SPDR Portfolio TIPS ETF

iShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF

PIMCO 1-5 Year US TIPS ETF

FlexShares iBoxx 5 Year Target Duration TIPS Index Fund

FlexShares iBoxx 3 Year Target Duration TIPS Index Fund

iShares TIPS Bond ETF

SPDR Bloomberg 1-10 Year TIPS ETF

PIMCO Broad US TIPS Index ETF

Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities ETF

At the November FOMC meeting, the Fed officially announced that it would begin tapering its bond purchase program, starting in mid-November. When the Fed began tapering its QE3 program over the course of 2014, the coupon supply from the U.S. Treasury was stable, leading to an increase in net supply takedown from the private market.

Tapering Impact On Treasury Supply

Inflation expectation is a key metric the Fed watches closely. Housing costs - based on different measures of rents - account for one-third of CPI.

Inflation Expectations Come Unanchored

Xtrackers MSCI Europe Hedged Equity ETF

Higher rates are ongoing, but we wouldn't blame it on the, very moderate in our view, central bank tone. Improving economic data after the Covid 19-induced soft patch is a more credible, and durable, driver for higher rates.

Rates Spark: The Long Way Up

News for Schwab Intermediate-Term US Treasury ETF ETF (SCHR)