SCHP Dividend: Next Ex-Date, History & Total Return

The Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF (SCHP) has a goal of tracking, as closely as possible before fees and expenses, the total return of an index composed of inflation-protected U.S. Treasury securities. The fund generally invests in securities included in the Bloomberg US Treasury Inflation-Linked Bond Index (Series-L), and under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in them. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) are U.S. Government securities whose principal and interest payments are linked to the Consumer Price Index, or CPI.¹

The index includes all publicly issued TIPS that have at least one year remaining to maturity, are rated investment grade and have $500 million or more of outstanding face value, and they must be dollar-denominated, fixed-rate and non-convertible. The index is market capitalization weighted and updates its TIPS on the last business day of each month. SCHP's adviser typically seeks to track the index by replicating it.¹

For TIPS, Schwab's explainer says inflation is measured by the not seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), and a TIPS bond's principal value adjusts upward or downward as inflation rises or falls. Because the coupon rate is applied to that adjusted principal, its coupon income can vary. SCHP's distribution payment is calculated based on the CPI-U as well.²

Schwab's TIPS explainer points out that distributions from TIPS ETFs can be different from payments from individual TIPS. Although the majority of TIPS ETFs, including SCHP, intend to pay monthly distributions, there have been several months in which negative changes in the CPI-U have resulted in no distribution payments. Over the short term, particularly during periods of sharply rising interest rates or declining inflation, there is the potential that SCHP may pay no distribution and that its value can decline.²

A hypothetical four-month example shows the timing. In Month 2, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases official inflation results for Month 1, and the principal value of individual TIPS is adjusted, effective in Month 3. The fund accrues interest income in Month 3 and evaluates it, less expenses and other adjustments, for distribution in Month 4.²

In that example, a negative change in inflation in Month 1 means the fund does not issue a distribution in Month 4. There are also cases in which a decline in the CPI-U can result in a net distribution, and a rise can result in a zero distribution, depending on the degree of change in the CPI-U and the coupon rate of the fund's underlying securities.²

Dividend Stacker's record of past SCHP payments covers completed calendar years, with per-share amounts adjusted for any share splits or reverse splits. The annual total fell from $0.7809 per share in 2011 to $0.4623 in 2012, then dropped 61.9% to $0.1759 in 2013. It rose 100.4% to $0.3526 in 2014.³

The record shows a single distribution in 2015, totaling $0.0732 per share, down 79.3% from 2014. Totals then climbed to $0.3782 in 2016, $0.5272 in 2017 and $0.6025 in 2018. The total fell to $0.5706 in 2019, then dropped 39.5% to $0.3453 in 2020.³

The total rose 299.9% to $1.38 per share in 2021, then rose 34.9% to $1.86 in 2022, a year with 12 distributions. It fell 57.6% to $0.7892 in 2023 and 2.2% to $0.7721 in 2024. In 2025, 11 distributions totaled $1.07 per share, up 39.2% from 2024.³

The value of TIPS generally will fluctuate with changes in real interest rates, which are nominal rates reduced by the expected impact of inflation, generally decreasing when real rates rise and increasing when they fall. Interest payments on TIPS will generally vary up or down with the rate of inflation.¹

A rise in interest rates generally causes SCHP's share price to fall, and even the anticipation of a change in rates may affect it. A sudden or unpredictable rise in rates may cause volatility and a decline in the value of the fixed-income securities the fund holds.¹

The value of an investment in SCHP will fluctuate, which means an investor could lose money over short or long periods. As an index fund, SCHP follows the securities included in its index during upturns as well as downturns, and it does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market.¹

The adviser may use sampling, investing in a limited number of index securities expected to perform similarly to the index as a whole, if it believes that will best help the fund track its index or is otherwise in the fund's best interest. There is no guarantee that SCHP's performance will closely match its index, and the prospectus says this tracking error can be caused by many factors and may be significant.¹

SCHP shares trade on exchanges at market prices. The market price is expected to approximate the fund's net asset value (NAV), but there may be times when the two vary significantly, particularly during periods of market volatility or market disruption. A buyer may pay more than NAV, and a seller may receive less.¹