What Is SCHR? Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF

SCHR is the Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF, a bond fund that holds U.S. Treasury notes with remaining maturities of roughly 3 to 10 years. It tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury 3-10 Year Index and is issued by Schwab Asset Management, the fund arm of Charles Schwab.

The fund exists to give investors clean, government-backed bond exposure in the middle of the maturity curve. Because it holds only Treasuries, there is no credit risk, and its 0.03% expense ratio makes it one of the cheapest bond funds on the market. Income is paid monthly.

Approximate weights as of mid-2026; refresh quarterly from Schwab Asset Management's fund page. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

SCHR holds around 100 individual U.S. Treasury notes, all investment grade and backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government. Positions are spread across the 3-to-10-year maturity band, and the fund rolls and reinvests to keep that target range as bonds age out.

There are no corporate bonds, no mortgage-backed securities, and no agency debt in SCHR. This purity is the point: it is a single-asset-class Treasury sleeve, which makes its behavior easy to predict relative to interest-rate moves.

The most common comparison is to SCHZ, Schwab's total U.S. bond market fund. SCHZ is broader, holding corporate, mortgage, and agency bonds across all maturities, so it takes on some credit risk in exchange for a slightly higher yield. SCHR strips that back to pure intermediate Treasuries.

Against SCHO (Schwab Short-Term U.S. Treasury ETF), SCHR holds longer bonds, so it offers more income potential but greater price swings when rates move. Choosing among the three is largely a question of how much interest-rate and credit risk you want.

SCHR's returns are driven by Treasury interest income plus price changes tied to interest rates. When rates fall, the fund's intermediate bonds appreciate; when rates rise, prices decline. Its effective duration of roughly 5 to 6 years sets the magnitude of those moves.

The mid-2026 yield of around 3.9% reflects prevailing Treasury rates. As a Treasury-only fund, SCHR tends to hold up or gain during equity-market stress, which is why many investors use it as ballast rather than a growth engine.

SCHR can fit investors who want low-cost, high-credit-quality bond exposure with moderate interest-rate sensitivity, often as a core defensive holding or a counterweight to stocks. It suits those who value government-backed safety over the extra yield of corporate bonds.

Walnut is not an investment adviser and does not make recommendations. Whether SCHR belongs in your portfolio depends on your goals, timeline, and tolerance for interest-rate risk. Consider consulting a licensed financial professional before investing.

SCHR trades on NYSE Arca and is available through essentially every brokerage, including Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, and Public. Most offer commission-free trading and fractional shares, so you can buy in with a small amount.

If you want to track SCHR alongside a thesis-driven basket, you can connect your brokerage account to Walnut. Your login stays with your broker, the connection is read-only for tracking, and you approve any trade at your broker.

SCHR is one of the cheapest ways to own intermediate U.S. Treasuries, at 0.03%. It offers credit safety and monthly income with moderate duration risk. It works as a core defensive holding or a ballast sleeve against stock volatility, not a high-yield or growth play.

Whether SCHR is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is SCHR a buy?

SCHR yields ~3.9% as of mid-2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see SCHR dividend: yield and schedule.