Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF October Sentiment Turns Negative

The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) is one of the largest and most commonly held in the US, but investors are starting to sour on the ETF in October. From X, to Reddit, to forums, the change in tone is clear.

The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF is popular with income investors. With nearly $72b in AUM and a dividend yield of 3.83% it’s been considered a ‘safe haven’ income source. The ETF has a broad number of holdings, but the top three are all healthcare related (AbbVie, Merck, Amgen).

But in October many investors are realizing that safety has come at a price: underperformance. 24/7 Wall St.’s sentiment tracker noted SCHD was an 8/10 for most of 2025, but starting in October things have moved decidedly bearish, with the ETF scoring 3/10 for investors.

Year to date the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF has returned basically 0%. Zoom out to a full LTM and shares have fallen slightly, down 3%. Compare that to the Nasdaq which is up 19% YTD and 28% in the LTM and it’s easy to see where the frustration has come from.

Basically, no amount of dividend income is enough to offset that. What’s worse, the dividend income from the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF is taxed, so the effective yield is actually a bit lower.

See what investors were saying about SCHD recently:

From Reddit, a post outlining “The Path to $1,000,000 with $SCHD!”. Commenters responded that:

“For now, I’m accumulating SCHD and will wait for VOO to come back to earth.”

And another, with a poster planning to hit $700 – $800 in monthly dividends

“Age 34. Planning on retiring in 15 years. Next goal $1000 a month main holdings schd, jepi, jepq. Drip is always on, buy some every month.”

Users from X, chat rooms, and Yahoo Finance had similar sentiment.

But today, there has been a notable souring on the Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF from investors.

This post from just a few days ago titled “No more SCHD for me SOLD” declares that:

i had it with SCHD it was my largest holding in this particular account. added to o, main, mo, bti, xom rtx, txn, sbux and some growth stocks. anyone else out on SCHD?

And they were not alone. Commenters shared their frustration in response

This ..! I’m done with SCHD as well, look at the Sharp ratio for this dog. Historically It substantially lags the general market while managing to capture most of the downside.

X users piled in as well. @palmBTCx threw down the gauntlet and said SCHD will not outpace inflation. That is a damming claim for an investment meant to provide steady income to investors.