SCHD vs SPHQ: which ETF won each year?

Yearly returns side by side, one winner per year — dividends included, priced as you'd actually buy them.

SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 IndexSPHQ tracks the S&P 500 Quality Index

What did the last 10 years do to $10,000?

You invest $10,000 at the start of the window and touch nothing — dividends reinvested, the running year not counted.

SCHD turned it into
$29,781
+11.53% per year on average · 2016–2025
SPHQ turned it into
$37,666
+14.18% per year on average · 2016–2025
Difference
−$7,885
SPHQ made more of the same money

SCHD vs SPHQ, year by year

Calendar-year total returns (dividends included) side by side, and who took the crown each year. A dash means the fund did not exist yet.

Years compared
16
where both funds were trading
SCHD won
7
years
SPHQ won
9
years
YearSCHDSPHQWinner
2026 (so far)+21.51%+12.92%SCHD
2025+4.34%+13.25%SPHQ
2024+11.66%+25.44%SPHQ
2023+4.54%+24.83%SPHQ
2022-3.26%-15.76%SCHD
2021+29.88%+27.59%SCHD
2020+15.03%+16.93%SPHQ
2019+27.29%+33.63%SPHQ
2018-5.56%-7.09%SCHD
2017+20.85%+19.10%SCHD
2016+16.45%+14.30%SCHD
2015-0.30%+1.64%SPHQ
2014+11.68%+16.08%SPHQ
2013+32.88%+32.73%SCHD
2012+11.39%+14.32%SPHQ
2011+5.31%+6.28%SPHQ
2010—+20.50%—
2009—+12.59%—
2008—-46.35%—
2007—+16.77%—
2006—+4.58%—
2005—-2.05%—

SCHD vs SPHQ in plain words

SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index while SPHQ follows the S&P 500 Quality Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. SCHD charges 0.06% a year in running costs and SPHQ charges 0.15% — SCHD is the cheaper fund to hold.

Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically. Across the 16 calendar years both funds were trading, SCHD finished the year ahead 7 times and SPHQ 9 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $29,781 in SCHD versus $37,666 in SPHQ by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested.

Fund facts: SCHD vs SPHQ

FactSCHDSPHQ
FundSchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETFInvesco S&P 500 Quality ETF
TracksDow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 IndexS&P 500 Quality Index
Yearly cost (TER)0.06%0.15%
DividendsDistributing — dividends paid outDistributing — dividends paid out
Launched20 Oct 20116 Dec 2005
$10,000 investedWhat $10,000 in SCHD becameWhat $10,000 in SPHQ became

How bumpy the ride was: SCHD vs SPHQ

These head-to-head figures use only the 3,761 trading days both funds were listed: 20 Oct 2011 to 6 Oct 2026, roughly 14.9 years.

SPHQ swung more than SCHD: annualised volatility of 15.3% for SCHD against 16.3% for SPHQ, with SCHD moving 1% or more on 19.9% of trading days and SPHQ on 21.8%. SCHD's worst day was -9.95% on 12 Mar 2020; SPHQ's was -10.30% on 16 Mar 2020.

SCHD had the deeper drawdown: it fell -33.37% from its peak on 23 Jan 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 2 Sept 2020, 5 months after the low; SPHQ fell -31.59% from its peak on 12 Feb 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 4 Aug 2020, 4 months after the low.

Day to day the two usually move together: the correlation of their daily returns is 0.87, and they closed in opposite directions on 16.4% of the 3,760 days measured. The widest single-day gap came on 9 Nov 2020, when SCHD moved +4.76% and SPHQ +0.45%.

MeasureSCHDSPHQ
Annualised volatility15.3%16.3%
Worst day-9.95% on 12 Mar 2020-10.30% on 16 Mar 2020
Best day+8.79% on 13 Mar 2020+10.30% on 24 Mar 2020
Days moving 1% or more19.9% of days21.8% of days
Deepest drawdown-33.37%-31.59%
Peak to trough23 Jan 2020 → 23 Mar 202012 Feb 2020 → 23 Mar 2020
Back above the old peak2 Sept 2020 · 5 months4 Aug 2020 · 4 months

Years SCHD and SPHQ parted ways

In 5 of the 15 completed calendar years both funds were trading, the two returns ended more than 5 points apart. The widest split was 2023: SCHD returned +4.54% and SPHQ +24.83%, a gap of 20.3 points. They rose together in 12 years, fell together in 2 years and went opposite ways in 1 year.

YearSCHDSPHQGap (SCHD − SPHQ)
2025+4.34%+13.25%-8.9 pts
2024+11.66%+25.44%-13.8 pts
2023+4.54%+24.83%-20.3 pts
2022-3.26%-15.76%+12.5 pts
2019+27.29%+33.63%-6.3 pts

How often SCHD beat SPHQ over any 12 months

Across the 168 rolling 12-month windows since October 2011, measured month-end to month-end, SCHD finished ahead in 41.7% of them (70) and SPHQ in 58.3% (98).

12-month windows
168
month-end to month-end, overlapping
SCHD ahead
41.7%
70 of 168 windows
SPHQ ahead
58.3%
98 of 168 windows

$200 a month into each, 2012–2025

Putting $200 into each fund at the start of every month from January 2012 to December 2025 (168 payments, $33,600 in total) would have grown to $76,130 in SCHD and $98,138 in SPHQ, leaving SPHQ $22,008 ahead.

OutcomeSCHDSPHQ
Paid in$33,600$33,600
Value at the end of 2025$76,130$98,138
Gain on the money paid in+$42,530+$64,538
Gain in %+126.58%+192.08%

Each payment rides the return of the month it lands in, dividends reinvested. Only calendar years with all twelve months of data for both funds count, so the plan may start later than the shared history.

Frequently asked

Is SCHD or SPHQ better?

Across the 16 calendar years both funds were trading, SCHD finished the year ahead 7 times and SPHQ 9 times. $10,000 invested at the start of 2016 was worth $29,781 in SCHD versus $37,666 in SPHQ by the end of 2025, dividends reinvested. Past returns don't promise future ones — but this is what actually happened.

What is the difference between SCHD and SPHQ?

SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index while SPHQ follows the S&P 500 Quality Index, so they own different slices of the market and their years can look very different. SCHD charges 0.06% a year in running costs and SPHQ charges 0.15% — SCHD is the cheaper fund to hold. Both funds distribute: dividends land in your account as cash instead of being reinvested automatically.

Which is more volatile, SCHD or SPHQ?

SPHQ swung more than SCHD: annualised volatility of 15.3% for SCHD against 16.3% for SPHQ, with SCHD moving 1% or more on 19.9% of trading days and SPHQ on 21.8%. SCHD's worst day was -9.95% on 12 Mar 2020; SPHQ's was -10.30% on 16 Mar 2020.

Which had the deeper drawdown, SCHD or SPHQ?

SCHD had the deeper drawdown: it fell -33.37% from its peak on 23 Jan 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 2 Sept 2020, 5 months after the low; SPHQ fell -31.59% from its peak on 12 Feb 2020 to a low on 23 Mar 2020, then closed back above the old peak on 4 Aug 2020, 4 months after the low.

How often did SCHD beat SPHQ over a 12-month period?

Across the 168 rolling 12-month windows since October 2011, measured month-end to month-end, SCHD finished ahead in 41.7% of them (70) and SPHQ in 58.3% (98).

What would $10,000 in SCHD have become?

$10,000 invested in SCHD at the start of 2016 grew to $29,781 by the end of 2025, with dividends reinvested — an average of 11.5% per year.

Related comparisons

More head-to-heads featuring SCHD or SPHQ.

Source: Yahoo Finance daily adjusted closes for the US primary listings, dividends reinvested. Prices through · refreshed 7 Oct 2026, 08:49 UTC. How every number is calculated.