Interested in Bond ETFs? SCHQ and SPLB Offer Different Ways to Play Long-Duration Loans.

The State Street SPDR Portfolio Long Term Corporate Bond ETF(NYSEMKT:SPLB) and Schwab Long-Term U.S. Treasury ETF(NYSEMKT:SCHQ) differ most in yield, sector exposure, and risk, with SCHQ offering Treasuries focus at a marginally lower cost and SPLB emphasizing corporate bonds with higher income potential.

Both SPLB and SCHQ target long-duration bonds, appealing to investors seeking interest rate sensitivity or duration bets, but their underlying holdings and risk profiles diverge. This comparison unpacks how each fund approaches the long-end of the U.S. bond market, factoring in cost, recent returns, risk, and portfolio construction.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year weekly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months.

SCHQ is marginally more affordable with a 0.03% expense ratio versus SPLB’s 0.04%, but SPLB stands out for a higher yield, offering a 0.6 percentage point advantage as of early 2026.

Performance & risk comparison

What’s inside

SCHQ tracks the long-term U.S. Treasury bond market, holding 98 positions with a heavy tilt toward government securities—91% classified as cash & others, with smaller allocations to technology and communication services. The fund has a 6.3-year track record and its sector mix reflects a pure play on U.S. government credit risk, with little exposure to corporate credit events.

In contrast, SPLB invests across nearly 3,000 long-term, investment-grade U.S. corporate bonds, offering broad issuer diversification and higher credit risk than Treasuries. Its top holdings include loans to Anheuser Busch InBev, Meta Platforms, and CVS Health. SPLB’s sector allocation is almost entirely cash & others, highlighting its focus on the corporate bond universe, and its high number of holdings helps spread out individual issuer risk.

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What this means for investors

Investing in the SCHQ and SPLB ETFs means investing in debt. With SCHQ, you’re putting your money into U.S. Treasury bonds, which have high credit quality and serve as a hedge against the volatility of equity markets. This ETF is well suited for investors looking for safety, income, and capital preservation.

SPLB, on the other hand, holds U.S. corporate bonds. These loans are considered riskier than U.S. Treasuries, so in turn they often have higher interest rates. That means you’ll probably collect more income from a fund holding corporate bonds than you would from one holding Treasuries (SPLB offers a slightly higher dividend yield and one-year return over SCHQ), but you’ll also open yourself up to the risk of a company defaulting on the loan entirely. Given the ETF structure and the long-duration nature of the corporate bonds, this ETF is still a relatively safe investment for those looking to add some diversity and income generation to their portfolios.

Indeed, investors looking for some diversity and reliable dividend income may be well served by investing in both the SCHQ and the SPLB ETF. That said, both of these funds focus on long-duration bonds, which tend to be more volatile and sensitive to interest rates than short-duration bonds. Both of these ETFs have lost value over the last five years, likely due to the changes in interest rates.

Sarah Sidlow has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool recommends CVS Health. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.