Strategy. To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index . The Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index is designed to measure the performance of high dividend yielding stocks issued by U.S. companies that have a record of consistently paying dividends, selected for fundamental strength relative to their peers, based on financial ratios. The 100-component index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Broad Market Index, excluding real estate investment trusts (REITs), master limited partnerships, preferred stocks and convertibles. It is modified market capitalization weighted. All index eligible stocks must have sustained at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments, have a minimum float-adjusted market capitalization of $500 … Show more… To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index . The Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index is designed to measure the performance of high dividend yielding stocks issued by U.S. companies that have a record of consistently paying dividends, selected for fundamental strength relative to their peers, based on financial ratios. The 100-component index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Broad Market Index, excluding real estate investment trusts (REITs), master limited partnerships, preferred stocks and convertibles. It is modified market capitalization weighted. All index eligible stocks must have sustained at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments, have a minimum float-adjusted market capitalization of $500 million USD and meet minimum liquidity criteria. The index components are then selected by evaluating the highest dividend yielding stocks based on four fundamentals-based characteristics cash flow to total debt, return on equity, dividend yield and 5-year dividend growth rate. Stocks in the index are weighted based on a modified market capitalization approach. No single stock can represent more than 4.0% of the index and no single sector, as defined by the index provider, can represent more than 25% of the index, as measured at the time of index construction, reconstitution and rebalance. The index composition is reviewed annually and rebalanced quarterly. It is the funds policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets (including, for this purpose, any borrowings for investment purposes) in these stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. The fund generally will seek to replicate the performance of the index by giving the same weight to a given stock as the index does. However, when the investment adviser believes it is appropriate to do so, such as to avoid purchasing odd-lots (i.e., purchasing less than the usual number of shares traded for a security), for tax considerations, or to address liquidity considerations with respect to a stock, the investment adviser may cause the funds weighting of a stock to be more or less than the indexs weighting of the stock. The fund may sell securities that are represented in the index in anticipation of their removal from the index, or buy securities that are not yet represented in the index in anticipation of their addition to the index. Under normal circumstances, the fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in securities not included in the index. The principal types of these investments include those that the investment adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the investment adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs); ? ? Index ownership Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (Dow Jones). The Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., dba Schwab Asset Management. The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, or any of their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, nor any of their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. ? (b) other investment companies; and (c) derivatives, principally futures contracts. The fund may use futures contracts and other derivatives primarily to seek returns on the funds otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, including money market funds, and may lend its securities to minimize the difference in performance that naturally exists between an index fund and its corresponding index. The fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold more than 25% of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that the index is so concentrated. Show less