Wealthy PotSCHF vs VXUS: The Cheaper Fund Leaves Out a Third of the Market
SCHF is Schwab's developed-markets fund: about 1,450 large and mid-sized companies in developed countries outside the US. VXUS is Vanguard's total international fund: about 8,800 companies of every size, in developed and emerging markets. Nearly everything SCHF holds is also in VXUS (99.2% of SCHF's weight). But SCHF covers only two-thirds of VXUS. The missing third is mostly emerging markets, including Taiwan, China and India, plus small companies. SCHF is cheaper, 0.03% against 0.05%, and it returned more over the ten years to 30 June 2026: 10.63% a year against 9.97%. Choose SCHF if you want developed markets only, or plan to add an emerging-markets fund yourself. Choose VXUS if you want all of international in one fund.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- Overlap: 66.5%. 99.2% of SCHF's money is in companies VXUS also holds. Only 66.6% of VXUS's money is in companies SCHF holds.
- Fees: 0.03% vs 0.05%. On $10,000 that is $3 against $5 a year. SCHF's fee was cut from 0.06% to 0.03% on 10 June 2025.
- Holdings: 1,444 vs 8,790. SCHF's index is large and mid caps in 24 developed countries. VXUS's index adds emerging markets and small caps.
- VXUS had 26.2% in emerging markets at 31 August 2026, according to Vanguard. SCHF has none, apart from South Korea, which its index provider classes as developed.
- Ten-year returns to 30 June 2026: SCHF 10.63% a year, VXUS 9.97% at NAV. SCHF also led over one, three and five years.
- Do not hold both. SCHF would just double your developed-market weight inside VXUS.
How Much of VXUS Is Already SCHF
We matched SCHF's SEC portfolio filing for 31 May 2026 (1,470 positions) with VXUS's for 31 July 2026 (8,674 positions). The two dates are two months apart because those were the most recent filings in our dataset. The result:
| Overlap measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Shared holdings | 1,461 |
| Overlap (sum of the smaller weight of each shared holding) | 66.5% |
| Share of SCHF's weight also in VXUS | 99.2% |
| Share of VXUS's weight also in SCHF | 66.6% |
Read the two percentages together. SCHF is almost entirely contained in VXUS: 1,461 of its 1,470 positions are VXUS positions. VXUS, going the other way, has a third of its money in things SCHF does not own. The shared names are familiar developed-market giants: Samsung Electronics, ASML, SK hynix, HSBC, Roche, Royal Bank of Canada, Novartis, Nestle, Shell and AstraZeneca. SCHF holds each at a higher weight because it has fewer companies to spread across.
SCHF vs VXUS Side by Side
| SCHF | VXUS | |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Schwab International Equity ETF | Vanguard Total International Stock ETF |
| Index | FTSE Developed ex US Index | FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index |
| Markets | Developed only (24 countries) | Developed and emerging |
| Company size | Large and mid caps | Large, mid and small caps |
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.05% |
| Prospectus cost on $10,000, 10 years | $39 | $64 |
| Holdings | 1,444 (1 Oct 2026) | 8,790 (31 Aug 2026) |
| Indexing method | Sampling | Replication |
| Turnover | 4% | 4% |
| Assets | $67.9bn (2 Oct 2026) | ETF class $163.2bn; whole fund $665.7bn (31 Aug 2026) |
| Inception | 3 Nov 2009 | 26 Jan 2011 |
| Exchange | NYSE Arca | Nasdaq |
| 10-year return, NAV, to 30 Jun 2026 | 10.63% | 9.97% |
Both funds are cheap enough that the fee gap is small: two hundredths of a percentage point, or $25 over ten years on $10,000 according to the two prospectus cost examples. The index difference matters far more than the fee.
What SCHF Leaves Out
SCHF's prospectus defines its index as "large and mid capitalization companies in developed countries outside the United States," covering "approximately the top 90% of the eligible universe." At 31 August 2025 that was 1,428 stocks in 24 developed countries. Two things are excluded by design.
- Emerging markets. Vanguard reported 26.2% of VXUS in emerging markets at 31 August 2026. That includes VXUS's single largest holding, Taiwan Semiconductor (4.3% at 30 June 2026). In VXUS's country list, Taiwan is 9.1%, China 6.7% and India 4.4%. None of those markets is in SCHF's index.
- Small caps. VXUS's "all cap" index reaches down to small companies. SCHF stops at mid caps. Thousands of small companies, together with the emerging-market stocks, explain the gap between 1,444 holdings and 8,790.
That is where the "two-thirds" figure comes from. SCHF is not a cheaper copy of VXUS. It is a narrower fund. If you want SCHF's coverage from Vanguard, the close match is VEA, compared in VEA vs VXUS. To add the emerging-market slice back, see VWO vs VXUS.
The Korea Quirk
"Developed only" does not mean what some people assume. FTSE, which runs both funds' indexes, classes South Korea as a developed market. Schwab's own product page says SCHF "provides developed international markets exposure, including exposure to South Korea and Canada."
That puts Samsung Electronics and SK hynix among SCHF's largest positions: 3.32% and 2.81% of the fund in its 31 May 2026 filing, against 1.83% and 1.43% in VXUS's 31 July filing. Korea was 7.5% of VXUS at 30 June 2026. The MSCI EAFE fund EFA, by contrast, held neither company in its 31 July 2026 filing, because MSCI counts Korea as emerging. So SCHF is not free of the chip-heavy Asian names that dominate the top of VXUS. It owns the Korean ones at a larger weight, and leaves out the Taiwanese and Chinese ones.
Returns to 30 June 2026
| Average annual, NAV, to 30 Jun 2026 | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCHF | 29.35% | 19.39% | 10.32% | 10.63% |
| FTSE Developed ex US Index (Net) | 29.19 | 19.21 | 10.14 | 10.48 |
| VXUS | 27.42% | 18.73% | 8.81% | 9.97% |
| Spliced Total International Stock Index | 26.74 | 18.60 | 8.67 | 9.97 |
| SCHF minus VXUS | +1.93 | +0.66 | +1.51 | +0.66 |
Both funds tracked their own indexes closely. The gap between them comes from the indexes. Because SCHF's holdings are almost all inside VXUS, the difference had to come from VXUS's extra third, its emerging-market and small-cap stocks, which lagged developed large caps over these windows. Two further points matter. First, that has not held in every period, and no filing tells you whether it will continue. Second, SCHF's 0.03% fee only applies from June 2025, so most of its ten-year record was earned at 0.06%.
For scale, $10,000 compounding at SCHF's ten-year rate would have become about $27,462, and at VXUS's rate about $25,867. (Hypothetical arithmetic on the published ten-year rates, ignoring taxes and trading costs. Not a forecast.)
Which One Fits You
Want international covered with one fund and no further decisions? VXUS. It holds everything outside the US at market weight, including emerging markets and small caps. That is the "total international" piece in a three-fund portfolio.
Want developed markets only, or prefer to set your own emerging-market weight? SCHF. It is the cheapest way here to hold developed markets. Pair it with a separate emerging-markets fund if you want that exposure back at a weight you choose.
Your account is at Schwab? Both trade as ordinary ETFs, so either works anywhere. Some people simply keep to one fund family. If that is you, Schwab's version is SCHF plus an emerging-markets ETF, and Vanguard's is VXUS alone.
Taxable account? Both funds hold foreign stocks that have tax withheld abroad, and both can pass that through for the foreign tax credit described in IRS Publication 514. Schwab publishes foreign tax credit information for SCHF on its site, and Vanguard reports VXUS's on Form 1099-DIV. We walk through the credit in VOO vs VXUS.
Already own one of them? Switching in a taxable account means selling and possibly realizing a gain. The difference between these funds is coverage, not quality. If you hold SCHF and want emerging markets, adding a small emerging-markets fund is usually simpler than selling.
Comparing other total-international funds? iShares' version is in IXUS vs VXUS, Fidelity's index mutual fund in FTIHX vs VXUS, and Vanguard's own mutual fund share class in VTIAX vs VXUS.
This is educational information, not personalized investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and all investing carries the risk of loss.
Sources & Methodology
- SCHF summary prospectus, 27 February 2026: objective, fee table, cost example, index definition, the 1,428-stock and 24-country figures, sampling method and turnover.
- Schwab Strategic Trust Form N-CSR, year ended 31 August 2025: the 10 June 2025 fee reduction.
- Schwab SCHF product page: holdings count, net assets, the South Korea statement, and quarterly returns as of 30 June 2026.
- VXUS summary prospectus, 27 February 2026, the VXUS fact sheet as of 30 June 2026 and the Vanguard VXUS profile page: fee, index, replication, holdings, country and region weights, returns.
- IRS Publication 514 (2025): the foreign tax credit for fund shareholders.
How the overlap was computed. Our Portfolio Overlap Checker reads each fund's Form N-PORT holdings and adds up the smaller of the two weights for every shared holding. The SCHF filing is for 31 May 2026 and the VXUS filing for 31 July 2026. Prices moved between those dates, so individual weights are approximate.
What we did not verify. SCHF's latest summary prospectus shows returns only through 31 December 2024, so we used Schwab's product page for current returns. We did not capture both funds' SEC yields for the same date, so we have not compared yields. Neither issuer explains the return gap between the two indexes; our explanation is arithmetic, not an issuer statement.
This article is for general education and is not investment, tax or legal advice. Fund data changes daily, index returns cannot be invested in directly, and past performance does not guarantee future results. International investing carries currency and political risks. Figures were checked against the sources above on 4 October 2026; confirm current figures with Schwab and Vanguard before acting.
FAQ: SCHF vs VXUS
Is SCHF or VXUS better?
They cover different things. SCHF is developed markets, large and mid caps, at 0.03%. VXUS is all of international, including emerging markets and small caps, at 0.05%. SCHF returned more over the ten years to 30 June 2026 (10.63% a year against 9.97%). For one-fund international coverage, VXUS is the complete option.
Does SCHF include emerging markets?
No. It tracks the FTSE Developed ex US Index, which covered 24 developed countries at 31 August 2025. It does include South Korea, which FTSE classes as developed. It does not include Taiwan, China or India, which together were over 20% of VXUS at 30 June 2026.
How much do SCHF and VXUS overlap?
66.5%, measured by summing the smaller weight of each shared holding in their SEC filings. 99.2% of SCHF's weight is in companies VXUS also owns, but only 66.6% of VXUS's weight is in companies SCHF owns.
Should I hold SCHF and VXUS together?
Usually not. VXUS already contains almost everything in SCHF, so holding both just overweights developed markets. If that is the tilt you want, set it on purpose with SCHF plus a separate emerging-markets fund.
What is the SCHF expense ratio?
0.03%, per its February 2026 summary prospectus. Schwab cut the advisory fee from 0.06% to 0.03% effective 10 June 2025. VXUS charges 0.05%.
Is SCHF the same as VEA?
Close, not identical. Both are developed-markets funds built on FTSE indexes, but VEA holds far more stocks: 3,846 positions in its 30 June 2026 SEC filing against 1,470 in SCHF's 31 May 2026 filing. Our VEA vs VXUS page covers Vanguard's developed-markets fund.
What would I add to SCHF to match VXUS?
An emerging-markets fund and, if you want them, international small caps. VXUS had 26.2% in emerging markets at 31 August 2026, which gives a rough idea of the market-weight share. Holding VXUS alone is simpler.
Cite This Page
Journalists, educators and bloggers are welcome to cite this comparison. Please link back so readers can reach the underlying filings.
"SCHF vs VXUS: The Cheaper Fund Leaves Out a Third of the Market." Wealthy Pot, 2026. https://wealthypot.com/schf-vs-vxus/
Related comparisons: VEA vs VXUS · VWO vs VXUS · IXUS vs VXUS · VTIAX vs VXUS · FTIHX vs VXUS · VT vs VXUS · All ETF comparisons
