Long-Duration ETFs Diverge: SPLB’s Higher Income vs. SCHQ’s Cheaper Treasury Hedge

Overview

• SPLB led on recent performance and payouts, posting a 6.47% 1‑year total return and a 5.2% dividend yield versus SCHQ’s 4.17% return and 4.6% yield as of Jan. 30, 2026.
• SCHQ remains marginally cheaper to hold with a 0.03% expense ratio compared with SPLB’s 0.04%.
• Portfolio construction differs sharply: SCHQ tracks long‑term U.S. Treasuries across about 98 holdings, emphasizing high credit quality and potential equity‑volatility hedging.
• SPLB spans nearly 3,000 long‑term, investment‑grade corporate bonds, increasing credit exposure while diversifying issuer risk; top exposures include Anheuser‑Busch InBev, Meta Platforms, and CVS Health.
• Risk profiles vary, with betas of 0.52 for SCHQ and 0.66 for SPLB, and five‑year metrics showing max drawdowns of roughly 46.1% for SCHQ and 34.4% for SPLB and growth of $1,000 at $599 and $706, respectively.