Schwab Short-Term Bond Index Fund (SWSBX)

Schwab Short-Term Bond Index Fund is an open-end mutual fund that seeks to mirror the total return of a benchmark of U.S. investment‑grade bonds with remaining maturities between one and five years. It tracks the Bloomberg US Government/Credit 1–5 Year Index, providing diversified exposure to U.S. Treasury, government‑related, and corporate debt while maintaining limited interest‑rate sensitivity through a short effective duration around 2.6 years. Designed as a low‑cost, passive option, it features a 0.06% expense ratio and no investment minimum, aiming to serve as a core fixed‑income building block for diversified portfolios. The portfolio holds thousands of securities and emphasizes high‑quality bonds, with characteristics such as a weighted average maturity near 2.8 years and a distribution yield around 4% in recent disclosures. By focusing on the short end of the investment‑grade curve, the fund targets steady income with relatively muted price volatility compared with longer‑duration bond strategies. Assets under management are in the mid‑billion range, and turnover reflects routine index rebalancing in a systematic, rules‑based process.