Index Funds at Schwab
Key points:
• Investors at Charles Schwab have access to many index funds.
• Besides index funds from Schwab itself, Schwab offers index funds from other fund families.
• Many index funds at Schwab can be traded with no transaction fees and no loads.
If you’re looking for a brokerage firm that offers trading in index funds, look no further than Charles Schwab. This famous investment house delivers lots of index funds with lots of fund tools. Here’s the full scoop:
Overview of Index Funds at Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab offers mutual and exchange-traded funds that follow indexes with passive management. These funds, unlike actively-managed funds, don’t try to beat an index. Rather, they try to mimic an index with the lowest possible management cost. Thus, index funds typically have lower management fees than active funds. With a brokerage account at Schwab, it’s possible to trade these mutual funds and ETFs. Of course, Schwab offers index funds managed by Schwab itself; it also offers index funds from a variety of other fund families.
Locating Index Funds at Schwab
Finding index funds at Schwab is as simple as logging into the website and opening the fund screener. It is available in mutual-fund and ETF modes. To launch the search wizard, click on the Research tab in the main menu and select the link for mutual funds or ETFs. Clicking on either link produces the same page. On the search page, there is a row of sub-tabs underneath the main menu. Click on ETFs or Mutual Funds for the screener you want.
On the scanner for mutual funds, expand the menu for Basic criteria. Here, there is a check box for index funds. Put a check mark here, and the search engine will return only index funds.
On the scanner for ETFs, you need to expand the Portfolio menu. This time, put a check mark next to Actively Managed. You’ll see two options (yes and no); select no to display only passive funds.
During our testing, we received 2,106 index ETFs and 494 index mutual funds.
Researching Index Funds
In the results from either search engine, click on a fund to produce a pop-up window with trade buttons and a small graph. Here, there is just brief information about the fund. To get the full picture, click on the title of the fund that appears at the top of the window.
Now you’ll have the complete profile of the fund. Scroll down to the section on Fund Strategy. Here, the specific index that the fund tracks will be mentioned. There are lots of indexes today; we’ll look at one of them now.
S&P 500 Funds at Schwab
One of the most popular indexes in the world is the S&P 500 Index. This is the major index that tracks large-cap companies in the United States, many of which have operations around the world; so it’s a major global index, too.
On the ETF screener we just looked at, there is a checkbox for underlying index. It is located under the Basic category. Put a check mark here and you’ll be able to specify the index. There are many sub-indexes for the S&P 500, such as S&P 500 Growth and S&P 500 Value.
It’s also possible to enter a ticker symbol in the search box at the top of the website or mobile app and get the fund you seek. Here are some S&P 500 index funds available to trade at Schwab:
VOO
This ETF is Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF. It has an expense ratio of just 0.03%, so it’s extremely cheap to own. The fund has over a trillion dollars in assets, making it one of the world’s largest funds. Besides the ticker symbol VOO, the fund shows an intraday indicative value with ticker symbol VOO.IV. Intraday indicative value trails market price by at least 15 seconds and calculates the fund’s Net Asset Value based on recent share prices of the underlying 500 stocks.
On Schwab’s profile for VOO we see very high Morningstar ratings across multiple timeframes.
SPY
If high volume is of paramount importance to your trading regimen, there is SPY. This is an S&P 500 fund from the SPDR family of funds. SPY, though, has a higher expense ratio of 0.0945%.
SPX
SPX is not a fund. It is the ticker symbol for the S&P 500 Index itself. Type this in to get the performance of the index; a fund can be compared to this index if desired on Schwab’s software.
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Other Index Funds at Schwab
The S&P 500 isn’t the only index in the world. There are many others, including bond and global indexes. Here’s another index fund available to Schwab clients:
SFENX
SFENX is Schwab’s Fundamental Emerging Markets Equity Index Fund. It has no load, and when traded at Schwab, it has no transaction fee. The fund tracks the RAFI Fundamental High Liquidity Emerging Markets Index with a moderate expense ratio (39 basis points).
How to Buy Index Funds at Schwab
To trade any index fund at Schwab on any software platform, simply head to a fund’s profile and click or tap on a trade button (mutual funds cannot be traded on the thinkorswim platforms). For exchange-traded funds, enter the desired number of shares. For mutual funds, enter the desired dollar amount. ETFs, but not mutual funds, can be shorted if desired. Mutual funds are easier to trade, so beginners may want to consider starting with them.
Cost of Index Funds at Schwab
ETFs at Schwab, whether index or actively-managed, have $0 online commissions and no loads. Mutual funds, on
the other hand, may have either. Of the 494 index mutual funds we found, 190 had neither a load nor a
transaction fee. Funds that have loads could have them on the buy side or sell side. Any fund that has
a transaction fee will cost up to $49.95 or $74.95, depending on the exact fund. The transaction fee is
assessed only on the buy side.
A $49.95 short-term redemption fee applies to Mutual Fund OneSource funds sold within 90 days of purchase, although certain funds are exempt.
Charles Schwab Index Funds Judgment
Charles Schwab offers lots of index funds, most of which have no loads and no commissions. With no
account fees and many tax-sheltered accounts to choose from, this broker is an easy pick.
Best Index Funds at Charles Schwab
Visit Schwab Website
Updated on 10/2/2026.
Chad Morris has been analyzing investment firms for Brokerage-Review.com since 2015. Backed by FINRA Series 65, 66, and SIE credentials, his work reflects a deep knowledge of the retail brokerage industry and digital trading tools.
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