Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF

SCHD

Market cap $100B

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has returned about 20% in 2026, ahead of both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100. The fund's index only admits companies with at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments.

SCHD hits a new 52-week high as investors seek high income amid market uncertainty.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has outperformed the S&P 500 year-to-date, silencing the detractors who thought it could never outshine. SCHD offers less aggressive and volatile portfolio positioning with sector allocations favoring Healthcare (20.7%), Consumer Defensive (19%), and Energy (14%), plus +3.2% dividend yield. Top SCHD holdings — Home Depot, Merck, UnitedHealth, Amgen — are A+ rated for profitability, supporting the ETF's focus on dividend quality and stability.

SCHD's focus on defensive, high-quality dividend stocks and sector diversification has delivered robust total return prospects across dividend yield, payout growth, and capital appreciation. Their exposure to inelastic healthcare/household/communication sectors underpin their resilience amid macro/geopolitical uncertainty and higher-for-longer inflation expectations. This is on top of the focus on discounted stocks offering robust dividend yields/payout growth, with further upside possible upon upward valuation re-rating.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) continues to be one of my favorite dividend ETFs.

The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF ( NYSEARCA :SCHD ) made an exceptionally strong comeback earlier this year and has returned more than even the Invesco QQQ Trust ( NASDAQ :QQQ ) , if you count dividends.

Retirement income planning used to mean picking the highest yield you could find and hoping it held up.

Dividend Aristocrats are popular among retirees given their very dependable dividend growth through thick and thin. However, in recent years, many of these stocks have gotten left behind during the AI boom. I detail two opportunities that are beginning to benefit from surprising AI growth catalysts.

The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has been underperforming the growth-stock-driven S&P 500 in recent months. The S&P 500's yield is now just 1% because growth stocks make up so much of the index.

SCHD has returned just under 2% in the past month, outperforming the S&P 500 ETF SPY by almost 100 bps. Year-to-date, almost 30 SCHD holdings have a return that's more than double that of SPY which has returned 9.8% YTD. 31 SCHD holdings look to be trading for an attractive valuation, in that they are at least 10% undervalued but also have a potential future return of above 10%.