The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) bounced back after sharp declines during the 2020 pandemic crash and the 2022 market crash.
SCHD reached $35.31 on Aug. 24, 2026, before pulling back to $33.26, a roughly 6% retreat that mirrors past recoverable drawdowns, The Motley Fool reported.
Since its launch in October 2011, SCHD has delivered an average annual return of 13.11%, including periods of market turmoil during the pandemic and the 2022 bear market.
The fund charges a 0.06% expense ratio and, as of Oct. 12, 2026, manages more than $111 billion in net assets, making it one of the largest dividend-focused exchange-traded funds.
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SCHD still triples the S&P 500’s yield after 15 years
The yield gap between SCHD and the broader market is the main reason retirees and income investors hold the fund. SCHD currently pays a 30-day Securities and Exchange Commission yield of 3.23%, more than triple the S&P 500’s 1.04%, The Motley Fool reported.
Quarterly distributions have grown from $0.12 per share in late 2011 to about $0.26 in early 2026, doubling shareholder payouts, according to 24/7 Wall St.
That growth tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index, which selects companies based on cash flow, debt levels, return on equity, dividend yield, and dividend growth over five years.
Only companies with at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments qualify, a requirement designed to favor established dividend-paying businesses, 24/7 Wall St noted.
Over the past year through October, SCHD has delivered a total return of roughly 23.4% by net asset value.
That gain outpaced the S&P 500 over the same period as investors rotated toward dividend-paying value stocks through much of 2026, the Motley Fool confirmed.
For investors calculating how much income SCHD can generate each month, the lower entry price means every new dollar deployed earns a higher starting yield.
Defensive sector tilts cushioned a 2022 loss to just 3.2%
Healthcare and consumer staples together account for more than 40% of the fund’s holdings, giving SCHD a defensive lean absent from the S&P 500. According to the SCHD product page, healthcare represents 20.72% of the portfolio, consumer staples 20.38%, and energy 14.07%.
That sector mix limited the damage during the most recent bear market, when SCHD posted a total return loss of just 3.23% in 2022. The S&P 500 fell 18.1% in 2022 on a total return basis, a gap of nearly 15 percentage points in SCHD’s favor, The Motley Fool reported.
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In March 2026, the index added 25 companies and dropped 22, changing its list of 100 holdings, 24/7 Wall St reported. UnitedHealth Group, Abbott Laboratories, Procter & Gamble, and Qualcomm entered the fund, while AbbVie and Cisco Systems exited the portfolio.
Energy exposure fell from about 20% to close to 15% after the reshuffle, while healthcare climbed to the fund’s largest sector, the report found. The changes increased SCHD’s exposure to pharmaceutical and consumer companies, sectors that include businesses with a history of generating cash and maintaining dividend payments during economic downturns.
SCHD’s top 10 holdings carry 42% of the fund’s weight
The top 10 positions hold roughly 42% of SCHD’s net assets, well above the 30% typical among large-cap dividend peers. Texas Instruments currently leads the fund at 4.62%, followed by Procter & Gamble at 4.34%, Qualcomm at 4.29%, and Coca-Cola at 4.25%, the product page confirmed as of Oct. 12, 2026.
Tony Dong, lead ETF analyst at ETF Central and founder of ETF Portfolio Blueprint, cautioned that SCHD’s heavy sector focus means its performance can rise and fall with market cycles, 24/7 Wall St noted.
<strong>The same value and sector tilts driving today’s outperformance can just as easily become headwinds in another environment</strong>.
The March 2026 rebalance changed roughly a quarter of SCHD’s holdings, meaning the fund’s largest positions could look different after its next annual review.
This turnover also creates uncertainty about which individual stocks will account for the largest shares of the portfolio, 24/7 Wall St explained.
How retirees drawing income can evaluate this pullback
The 24/7 Wall St analysis found that SCHD pairs cleanly with an S&P 500 index fund because the dividend screen excludes most mega-cap growth stocks.
The fund’s ex-dividend calendar adds a timing layer to any portfolio change, since selling before the next quarterly distribution means forfeiting that payout.
Schwab’s distribution records show that SCHD typically pays quarterly dividends, with its fourth-quarter ex-dividend date historically falling in December. Investors who sell before the next ex-dividend date would not receive that quarter’s distribution on the shares sold.
Investors whose entire equity allocation sits in SCHD face a different set of risks than those who pair it with a broad-market index fund, the 24/7 Wall St analysis noted.
Related: SCHD puts dividend investors at critical crossroads
