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Investment objective Fund fees and expenses The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market IndexSM. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Example Expenses on a $10,000 investment This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 19% of the average value of its portfolio. Portfolio turnover Principal investment strategies The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 4% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal risks Principal investment strategies Performance 0.036 The fund does not have a full calendar year of performance history. Once the fund has completed a full calendar year of operations a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing the variability of the fund’s returns and comparing the fund’s performance to the index. 0.036 0.0317 0.0284 0.0379 0.0894 0.0851 0.0761 0.0917 Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. 2009-12-11 2009-12-11 2009-12-11 2009-12-11 Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) Example 0 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabU.S.Large-CapValueETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div> To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in securities that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market IndexSM1. 1 Index ownership — “Standard & Poor’s” and “S&P” are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and “Dow Jones” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and sublicensed for certain purposes by CSIM. The “Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by CSIM. The Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, nor their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. The index includes the mid-cap portion of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index actually available to investors in the marketplace. The Dow Jones U.S. Mid-Cap Total Stock Market Index includes the components ranked 501-1000 by full market capitalization. The index is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 499 stocks. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in securities included in the index. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. The fund will generally give the same weight to a given security as the index does. However, when the 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 security, the adviser may cause the fund’s weighting of a security to be more or less than the index’s weighting of the security. 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the adviser anticipates will be added to or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, 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 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, timing variances, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs) and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Mid-Cap Risk. Historically, mid-cap stocks have been riskier than large-cap stocks. Mid-cap companies themselves may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. Stock prices of mid-sized companies may be based in substantial part on future expectations rather than current achievements and may move sharply, especially during market upturns and downturns. During a period when mid-cap stocks fall behind other types of investments — bonds or large-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s mid-cap holdings could reduce performance. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap ETFTM <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedSchwabU.S.Large-CapValueETF column period compact * ~</div> Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 8% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal investment strategies 0.19 Investment objective The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Value Total Stock Market IndexSM. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Principal risks Example Performance This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The fund does not have a full calendar year of performance history. Once the fund has completed a full calendar year of operations a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing the variability of the fund’s returns and comparing the fund’s performance to the index. 0.0004 0 Principal investment strategies 0.0004 4 13 23 51 0 0.0007 0 0.0007 7 23 40 90 Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF™ Principal risks Performance Investment objective The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Broad Stock Market IndexSM. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. -0.0067 0.1684 Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 5% of the average value of its portfolio. Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 Performance Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. Principal investment strategies Principal risks Best quarter: 12.86% Q3 2010 Worst quarter: (15.48%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 17.95% Performance The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. Best quarter: 12.08% Q4 2011 Worst quarter: (15.03%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 15.96% -0.0067 -0.0083 -0.0024 -0.0056 0.0892 0.0877 0.0762 0.0907 The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. 0 0.0004 Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 0 The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. 0.0004 Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Value ETFTM Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Value Total Stock Market IndexSM1. 1 Index ownership — “Standard & Poor’s” and “S&P” are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and “Dow Jones” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and sublicensed for certain purposes by CSIM. The “Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Value Total Stock Market Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by CSIM. The Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Value ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, nor their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. The index includes the large-cap value portion of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index actually available to investors in the marketplace. The Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Value Total Stock Market Index includes the components ranked 1-750 by full market capitalization and that are classified as “value” based on a number of factors. The index is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 324 stocks. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. The fund will generally give the same weight to a given stock as the index does. However, when the 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 Adviser may cause the fund’s weighting of a stock to be more or less than the index’s 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, 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 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Large-Cap Risk. The fund will principally invest in large-cap segments of the U.S. stock market. Large-cap stocks tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. During a period when large-cap U.S. stocks fall behind other types of investments — mid- or small-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s large-cap holdings could reduce performance. Value Investing Risk. The fund emphasizes a “value” style of investing, which targets undervalued companies with characteristics for improved valuations. This style of investing is subject to the risk that the valuations never improve or that the returns on “value” securities may not move in tandem with the returns on other styles of investing or the stock market in general. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. 0.08 Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. 0.0161 0.013 0.014 0.0171 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. 0.1168 0.0986 0.1123 0.1153 The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. 0.014 0.011 0.0127 0.0118 0.1219 0.1189 0.1043 0.1224 Best quarter: 2010-09-30 0.1286 Worst quarter: 2011-09-30 -0.1548 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 2012-09-30 0.1795 0.08 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. 0.1589 0.0161 Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 0 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Large-Cap Risk. The fund will principally invest in large-cap segments of the U.S. stock market. Large-cap stocks tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. During a period when large-cap U.S. stocks fall behind other types of investments — mid- or small-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s large-cap holdings could reduce performance. Growth Investing Risk. Growth stocks can be volatile. Growth companies usually invest a high portion of earnings in their businesses and may lack the dividends of value stocks that can cushion stock prices in a falling market. The prices of growth stocks are based largely on projections of the issuer’s future earnings and revenues. If a company’s earnings or revenues fall short of expectations, its stock price may fall dramatically. Growth stocks may also be more expensive relative to their earnings or assets compared to value or other stocks. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. Best quarter: 2011-12-31 0.1262 Worst quarter: 0.001 2011-09-30 -0.1338 0 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 0.001 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2012-09-30 0.1445 10 32 57 128 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabU.S.Large-CapGrowthETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div> -0.0295 -0.0291 0.1653 0.1674 To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market IndexSM1. 1 Index ownership — “Standard & Poor’s” and “S&P” are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and “Dow Jones” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and sublicensed for certain purposes by CSIM. The “Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by CSIM. The Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, nor their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. The index includes the large-cap growth portion of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index actually available to investors in the marketplace. The Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index includes the components ranked 1-750 by full market capitalization and that are classified as “growth” based on a number of factors. The index is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 426 stocks. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. The fund will generally give the same weight to a given stock as the index does. However, when the 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 Adviser may cause the fund’s weighting of a stock to be more or less than the index’s 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, 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 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. 2009-12-11 2009-12-11 2009-12-11 2009-12-11 4 13 23 51 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabU.S.Large-CapETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div> 0.1711 0.014 Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETFTM Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETFTM Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) 0.149 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market IndexSM. 0.2832 -0.0295 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabU.S.Small-CapETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div> Investment objective The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Total Stock Market IndexSM. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Large-Cap Risk. The fund will principally invest in large-cap segments of the U.S. stock market. Large-cap stocks tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. During a period when large-cap U.S. stocks fall behind other types of investments — mid- or small-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s large-cap holdings could reduce performance. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Total Stock Market IndexSM1. 1Index ownership — “Standard & Poor’s” and “S&P” are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and “Dow Jones” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and sublicensed for certain purposes by CSIM. The “Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by CSIM. The Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, nor their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. The index includes the large-cap portion of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market IndexSM actually available to investors in the marketplace. The Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Total Stock Market Index includes the components ranked 1-750 by full market capitalization. The index is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 750 stocks. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. The fund will generally give the same weight to a given stock as the index does. However, when the 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 Adviser may cause the fund’s weighting of a stock to be more or less than the index’s 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, 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 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 12% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal investment strategies Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Principal risks Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) Performance The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 8% of the average value of its portfolio. The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. Investment objective To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Broad Stock Market IndexSM1. 1 Index ownership — “Standard & Poor’s®” and “S&P®” are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and “Dow Jones®” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and sublicensed for certain purposes by CSIM. The “Dow Jones U.S. Broad Stock Market Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by CSIM. The Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, nor their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. The index includes the largest 2,500 publicly traded U.S. companies for which pricing information is readily available. The index is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that reflects the shares of securities actually available to investors in the marketplace. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 2,510 stocks. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, and may lend its securities to minimize the difference in performance that naturally exists between an index fund and its corresponding index. Because it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the stocks in the index, the Adviser seeks to track the total return of the index by using statistical sampling techniques. These techniques involve investing in a limited number of index securities which, when taken together, are expected to perform similarly to the index as a whole. These techniques are based on a variety of factors, including performance attributes, tax considerations, capitalization, dividend yield, price/earnings ratio, industry factors, risk factors and other characteristics. The fund generally expects that its portfolio will hold less than the total number of securities in the index, but reserves the right to hold as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the fund’s investment objective. The fund generally expects that its industry weightings, dividend yield and price/earnings ratio will be similar to those of the index. The fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Large-Cap and Mid-Cap Risk. Both large- and mid-cap stocks tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. However, stocks of mid-cap companies tend to be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger more established companies. During a period when large- and mid-cap U.S. stocks fall behind other types of investments — small-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s large- and mid-cap holdings could reduce performance. Small-Cap Risk. Historically, small-cap stocks have been riskier than large- and mid-cap stocks, and their prices may move sharply, especially during market upturns and downturns. Small-cap companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. During a period when small-cap stocks fall behind other types of investments — large-cap and mid-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s small-cap holdings could reduce performance. Sampling Index Tracking Risk. The fund may not fully replicate the index and may hold securities not included in the index. As a result, the fund is subject to the risk that the adviser’s investment management strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. Because the fund utilizes a sampling approach it may not track the return of the index as well as it would if the fund purchased all of the securities in its benchmark index. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Total Stock Market IndexSM1. 1 Index ownership — “Standard & Poor’s” and “S&P” are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and “Dow Jones” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and sublicensed for certain purposes by CSIM. The “Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Total Stock Market Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by CSIM. The Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, nor their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. The index includes the small-cap portion of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index actually available to investors in the marketplace. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Total Stock Market Index includes the components ranked 751-2500 by full market capitalization. The index is a float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 1,760 stocks. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. The fund will generally give the same weight to a given stock as the index does. However, when the 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 Adviser may cause the fund’s weighting of a stock to be more or less than the index’s 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, and may lend its securities to minimize the difference in performance that naturally exists between an index fund and its corresponding index. The adviser typically seeks to track the price and yield performance of the index by replicating the index. This means that the fund generally expects that it will hold the same securities as those included in the index. However, the adviser may use statistical sampling techniques if the adviser believes such use will best help the fund to track its index or is otherwise in the best interest of the fund. Statistical sampling techniques involve investing in a limited number of index securities that, when taken together, are expected to perform similarly to the index as a whole. These techniques are based on a variety of factors, including performance attributes, tax considerations, capitalization, dividend yield, price/earnings ratio, industry factors, risk factors and other characteristics. The fund generally expects that its portfolio will hold less than the total number of securities in the index, but reserves the right to hold as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the fund’s investment objective. The fund generally expects that its industry weightings, dividend yield and price/earnings ratio will be similar to those of the index. The fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. 0.05 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 2012-09-30 0.1596 Best quarter: 2011-12-31 0.1208 Worst quarter: 2011-09-30 -0.1503 0 0.0007 0 0.0007 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Small-Cap Risk. Historically, small-cap stocks have been riskier than large- and mid-cap stocks, and their prices may move sharply, especially during market upturns and downturns. Small-cap companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. During a period when small-cap stocks fall behind other types of investments — large-cap and mid-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s small-cap holdings could reduce performance. Sampling Index Tracking Risk. To the extent the fund uses statistical sampling techniques, the fund will not fully replicate the index and may hold securities not included in the index. As a result, the fund will be subject to the risk that the adviser’s investment management strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesSchwabU.S.BroadMarketETF column period compact * ~</div> 7 23 40 90 Best quarter: <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabU.S.BroadMarketETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div> Investment objective The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 IndexSM. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 17% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal investment strategies Principal risks Performance The fund does not have a full calendar year of performance history. Once the fund has completed a full calendar year of operations a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing the variability of the fund’s returns and comparing the fund’s performance to the index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETFTM Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) Best quarter: 11.74% Q4 2011 Worst quarter: (14.34%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 16.19% Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 Best quarter: Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 2010-12-31 0.1617 Worst quarter: 2011-09-30 0.04 -0.2151 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 2012-09-30 Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. 0.1492 The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. 0.1174 2011-12-31 Worst quarter: -0.1434 2011-09-30 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 2012-09-30 0.1619 Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) 0.12 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 IndexSM1. 1 Index ownership — “Standard & Poor’s” and “S&P” are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and “Dow Jones” is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and sublicensed for certain purposes by CSIM. The “Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by CSIM. The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, or their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P, nor their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product. 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 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 4.5% of the index and no single sector 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 fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. The fund will generally give the same weight to a given stock as the index does. However, when the 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 Adviser may cause the fund’s weighting of a stock to be more or less than the index’s 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index, (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, 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 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. 0 0.0009 0 0.0009 Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) 9 29 51 115 Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 8% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal investment strategies Principal risks Performance The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 Best quarter: 16.22% Q3 2010 Worst quarter: (19.68%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 10.37% -0.1232 -0.1264 -0.0736 -0.1245 -0.0018 -0.0044 -0.0005 0.0001 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 Principal risks Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus Best quarter: 16.17% Q4 2010 Worst quarter: (21.51%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 14.92% Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETFTM The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Investment Style Risk. The fund primarily invests in dividend paying stocks. As a result, fund performance will correlate directly with the performance of the dividend paying stock segment of the stock market, and the fund may underperform funds that do not limit their investments to dividend paying stocks. If stocks held by the fund reduce or stop paying dividends, the fund’s ability to generate income may be affected. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Large- and Mid-Cap Risk. Both large- and mid-cap stocks tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. However, stocks of mid-cap companies tend to be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger more established companies. During a period when large- and mid-cap U.S. stocks fall behind other types of investments — small-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s large- and mid-cap holdings could reduce performance. Small-Cap Risk. Historically, small-cap stocks have been riskier than large- and mid-cap stocks, and their prices may move sharply, especially during market upturns and downturns. Small-cap companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. During a period when small-cap stocks fall behind other types of investments — large-cap and mid-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s small-cap holdings could reduce performance. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Non-Diversification Risk. The fund is non-diversified, which means that it may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. As a result, a single adverse economic, political or regulatory occurrence may have a more significant effect on the fund’s investments, and the fund may experience increased volatility. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus -0.0175 0.1415 Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. 0.17 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. Non-Diversification Risk. The fund is non-diversified, which means that it may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. As a result, a single adverse economic, political or regulatory occurrence may have a more significant effect on the fund’s investments, and the fund may experience increased volatility. The fund does not have a full calendar year of performance history. Once the fund has completed a full calendar year of operations a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing the variability of the fund’s returns and comparing the fund’s performance to the index. -0.0319 0.1626 The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Large-Cap and Mid-Cap Risk. Both large- and mid-cap stocks tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. However, stocks of mid-cap companies tend to be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger more established companies. During a period when large- and mid-cap stocks fall behind other types of investments — small-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s large- and mid-cap holdings could reduce performance. Foreign Investment Risk. The fund’s investments in securities of foreign issuers may involve certain risks that are greater than those associated with investments in securities of U.S. issuers. These include risks of adverse changes in foreign economic, political, regulatory and other conditions; changes in currency exchange rates or exchange control regulations (including limitations on currency movements and exchanges); differing accounting, auditing, financial reporting and legal standards and practices; differing securities market structures; and higher transaction costs. These risks may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets. Foreign securities also include ADRs, GDRs, and EDRs, which are receipts issued by U.S. and foreign banks that represent shares of foreign-based corporations. Investment in ADRs, GDRs and EDRs may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and GDRs, many of which are issued by companies in emerging markets, may be more volatile. Sampling Index Tracking Risk. The fund may not fully replicate the index and may hold securities not included in the index. As a result, the fund is subject to the risk that the adviser’s investment management strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. Because the fund utilizes a sampling approach it may not track the return of the index as well as it would if the fund purchased all of the securities in its benchmark index. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabInternationalEquityETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div> To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the FTSE Developed ex-US Index1. 1 Index ownership — “FTSE” is a trademark of The Financial Times Limited (“FT”) and the London Stock Exchange plc (the “Exchange”) and is used by the fund under license. The Schwab International Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by FT or the Exchange and FT and the Exchange do not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in shares of the fund. Fees payable under the license are paid by the Adviser. The index is comprised of large and mid capitalization companies in developed countries outside the United States, as defined by the index provider. The index defines the large and mid capitalization universe as approximately the top 90% of the eligible universe. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 1,463 stocks in 30 developed market countries. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks, including depositary receipts representing securities of the index; such depository receipts may be in the form of American Depositary receipts (“ADRs”), Global Depositary receipts (“GDRs”) and European Depositary receipts (“EDRs”). The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, and may lend its securities to minimize the difference in performance that naturally exists between an index fund and its corresponding index. The fund does not hedge its exposure to foreign currencies. Because it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the stocks in the index, the Adviser seeks to track the total return of the index by using statistical sampling techniques. These techniques involve investing in a limited number of index securities which, when taken together, are expected to perform similarly to the index as a whole. These techniques are based on a variety of factors, including performance attributes, tax considerations, country weightings, capitalization, industry factors, risk factors and other characteristics. The fund generally expects that its portfolio will hold less than the total number of securities in the index, but reserves the right to hold as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the fund’s investment objective. The fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. 0.08 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. Best quarter: 2010-09-30 0.1622 Worst quarter: 2011-09-30 -0.1968 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 2012-09-30 0.1037 www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) <a name="toc390390_1"></a>Schwab International Equity ETF™ Investment objective The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the FTSE Developed ex-US Index. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. -0.1232 0.086 The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 2009-11-03 Expenses on a $10,000 investment 2009-11-03 0.00 0.002 0.002 0 20 -0.1626 2010-01-14 2010-01-14 2010-01-14 2010-01-14 Best quarter: 12.62% Q4 2011 Worst quarter: (13.38%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 14.45% Schwab International Small-Cap Equity ETF™ The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the FTSE Developed Small Cap ex-US Liquid Index. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 25% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal investment strategies To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the FTSE Developed Small Cap ex-US Liquid Index1. 1 Index ownership — “FTSE” is a trademark of The Financial Times Limited (“FT”) and the London Stock Exchange plc (the “Exchange”) and is used by the fund under license. The Schwab International Small-Cap Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by FT or the Exchange and FT and the Exchange do not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in shares of the fund. Fees payable under the license are paid by the Adviser. The index is comprised of small capitalization companies in developed countries outside the United States, as defined by the index provider. The index defines the small capitalization universe as approximately the bottom 10% of the eligible universe with a minimum free float capitalization of $150 million. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 1,834 stocks in 31 developed market countries. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks, including depositary receipts representing securities of the index; such depository receipts may be in the form of American Depositary receipts (“ADRs”), Global Depositary receipts (“GDRs”) and European Depositary receipts (“EDRs”). The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. 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. The fund generally expects that its country weightings will be similar to those of the index. Under normal circumstances, the fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in securities not included in its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, and may lend its securities to minimize the difference in performance that naturally exists between an index fund and its corresponding index. The fund does not hedge its exposure to foreign currencies. Because it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the stocks in the index, the Adviser seeks to track the total return of the index by using statistical sampling techniques. These techniques involve investing in a limited number of index securities which, when taken together, are expected to perform similarly to the index as a whole. These techniques are based on a variety of factors, including performance attributes, tax considerations, country weightings, capitalization, industry factors, risk factors and other characteristics. The fund generally expects that its portfolio will hold less than the total number of securities in the index, but reserves the right to hold as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the fund’s investment objective. The fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. Principal risks The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Small-Cap Risk. Historically, small-cap stocks have been riskier than large- and mid-cap stocks, and their prices may move sharply, especially during market upturns and downturns. Small-cap companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies. During a period when small-cap stocks fall behind other types of investments — large-cap and mid-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s small-cap holdings could reduce performance. Foreign Investment Risk. The fund’s investments in securities of foreign issuers may involve certain risks that are greater than those associated with investments in securities of U.S. issuers. These include risks of adverse changes in foreign economic, political, regulatory and other conditions; changes in currency exchange rates or exchange control regulations (including limitations on currency movements and exchanges); differing accounting, auditing, financial reporting and legal standards and practices; differing securities market structures; and higher transaction costs. These risks may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets. Foreign securities also include ADRs, GDRs, and EDRs, which are receipts issued by U.S. and foreign banks that represent shares of foreign-based corporations. Investment in ADRs, GDRs and EDRs may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and GDRs, many of which are issued by companies in emerging markets, may be more volatile. Sampling Index Tracking Risk. The fund may not fully replicate the index and may hold securities not included in the index. As a result, the fund is subject to the risk that the adviser’s investment management strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. Because the fund utilizes a sampling approach it may not track the return of the index as well as it would if the fund purchased all of the securities in its benchmark index. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. Performance The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 Best quarter: 3.98% Q1 2011 Worst quarter: (20.93%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 11.73% Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 2012-09-30 0.1173 Best quarter: 2011-03-31 0.0398 Worst quarter: 2011-09-30 -0.2093 Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. 0.25 -0.1626 -0.1683 -0.1013 -0.1636 -0.0044 -0.0102 -0.005 -0.0012 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesSchwabInternationalSmall-CapEquityETF column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesSchwabInternationalSmall-CapEquityETF column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleTransposedSchwabInternationalSmall-CapEquityETF column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabInternationalSmall-CapEquityETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedSchwabInternationalSmall-CapEquityETF column period compact * ~</div> <a name="toc390390_3"></a>Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF™ Investment objective The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the total return of the FTSE Emerging Index. Fund fees and expenses This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. Expenses on a $10,000 investment Portfolio turnover Principal investment strategies Principal risks Performance The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus. Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31 Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/11 The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 9% of the average value of its portfolio. To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in stocks that are included in the FTSE Emerging Index1,2. 1 The name of the index has been updated from FTSE All Emerging Index to reflect the index’s current name. No other changes to the index have occurred. 2 Index ownership — “FTSE” is a trademark of The Financial Times Limited (“FT”) and the London Stock Exchange plc (the “Exchange”) and is used by the fund under license. The Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by FT or the Exchange and FT and the Exchange do not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in shares of the fund. Fees payable under the license are paid by the Adviser. The index is comprised of large and mid capitalization companies in emerging market countries, as defined by the index provider. The index defines the large and mid capitalization universe as approximately the top 90% of the eligible universe. As of August 31, 2012, the index was composed of 792 stocks in 24 emerging market countries. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in these stocks, including depositary receipts representing securities of the index; such depository receipts may be in the form of American Depositary receipts (“ADRs”), Global Depositary receipts (“GDRs”) and European Depositary receipts (“EDRs”). The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. 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 its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the Adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the Adviser anticipates will be added to the index or as necessary to reflect various corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), (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 fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets to help it better track the index. The fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents, and may lend its securities to minimize the difference in performance that naturally exists between an index fund and its corresponding index. The fund does not hedge its exposure to foreign currencies. Because it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the stocks in the index, the Adviser seeks to track the total return of the index by using statistical sampling techniques. These techniques involve investing in a limited number of index securities which, when taken together, are expected to perform similarly to the index as a whole. These techniques are based on a variety of factors, including performance attributes, tax considerations, country weightings, capitalization, industry factors, risk factors and other characteristics. The fund generally expects that its portfolio will hold less than the total number of securities in the index, but reserves the right to hold as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the fund’s investment objective. The fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry, group of industries or sector to approximately the same extent that its index is so concentrated. For purposes of this limitation, securities of the U.S. government (including its agencies and instrumentalities), and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities are not considered to be issued by members of any industry. The Adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, corporate actions (such as mergers and spin-offs), timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include: Market Risk. Stock markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance is normally below that of the index. Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time. Large-Cap and Mid-Cap Risk. Both large- and mid-cap stocks tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. However, stocks of mid-cap companies tend to be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger more established companies. During a period when large- and mid-cap stocks fall behind other types of investments — small-cap stocks, for instance — the fund’s large- and mid-cap holdings could reduce performance. Foreign Investment Risk. The fund’s investments in securities of foreign issuers may involve certain risks that are greater than those associated with investments in securities of U.S. issuers. These include risks of adverse changes in foreign economic, political, regulatory and other conditions; changes in currency exchange rates or exchange control regulations (including limitations on currency movements and exchanges); differing accounting, auditing, financial reporting and legal standards and practices; differing securities market structures; and higher transaction costs. These risks may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets. Foreign securities also include ADRs, GDRs, and EDRs, which are receipts issued by U.S. and foreign banks that represent shares of foreign-based corporations. Investment in ADRs, GDRs and EDRs may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and GDRs, many of which are issued by companies in emerging markets, may be more volatile. Emerging Markets Risk. Emerging market countries may be more likely to experience political turmoil or rapid changes in market or economic conditions than more developed countries. Emerging market countries often have less uniformity in accounting and reporting requirements and greater risk associated with the custody of securities. It is sometimes difficult to obtain and enforce court judgments in such countries and there is often a greater potential for nationalization and/or expropriation of assets by the government of an emerging market country. In addition, the financial stability of issuers (including governments) in emerging market countries may be more precarious than in other countries. As a result, there will tend to be an increased risk of price volatility associated with the fund’s investments in emerging market countries, which may be magnified by currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar, and, at times, it may be difficult to value such investments. Sampling Index Tracking Risk. The fund may not fully replicate the index and may hold securities not included in the index. As a result, the fund is subject to the risk that the adviser’s investment management strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. Because the fund utilizes a sampling approach it may not track the return of the index as well as it would if the fund purchased all of the securities in its benchmark index. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of its benchmark index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and its benchmark index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments and could cause the fund to lose more than the principal amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately larger impact on the fund. Liquidity Risk. A particular investment may be difficult to purchase or sell. The fund may be unable to sell illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Concentration Risk. To the extent that the fund’s or the index’s portfolio is concentrated in the securities of issuers in a particular market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the fund may be adversely affected by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus. Best quarter: 4.20% Q4 2011 Worst quarter: (21.85%) Q3 2011 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 9/30/12: 10.52% 0.09 The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. Lack of Governmental Insurance or Guarantee. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and it is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. www.schwabetfs.com/prospectus The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, IRA or other tax-advantaged account. Best quarter: 2011-12-31 0.042 Worst quarter: 2011-09-30 -0.2185 Year-to-date performance (before taxes) 2012-09-30 0.1052 0 0.0015 0 0.0015 15 48 85 192 -0.1928 -0.1948 -0.1928 -0.1204 -0.1915 -0.0323 -0.0338 -0.0264 -0.0286 2010-01-14 2010-01-14 2010-01-14 2010-01-14 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.schwabetfs.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsSchwabEmergingMarketsEquityETFBarChart column period compact * ~</div>