Risk Table - Schwab Fundamental Global Real Estate Index Fund
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Risk [Text Block] |
| Principal Risks |
The
fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal
risks include:
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| Risk Lose Money [Member] |
The
fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money.
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| Market Risk |
Market Risk —
Financial markets rise and fall in response to a variety of factors, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably.
Markets may be impacted by economic, political, regulatory, and other conditions, including economic
sanctions, tariffs, and other government actions. In addition, the occurrence of global events, such
as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters and epidemics, may also negatively affect
the financial markets. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of
an investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that an investor could lose money over short or
long periods.
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| Investment Style Risk |
Investment Style Risk
— The fund is an index fund. 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 may be below that of the index. Errors relating to the index may occur
from time to time and may not be identified by the index provider for a period of time. In addition,
market disruptions could cause delays in the index’s rebalancing schedule. Such errors and/or market
disruptions may result in losses for the fund.
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| Equity Risk |
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.
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| Market Capitalization Risk |
Market
Capitalization Risk — Securities issued by companies of different
market capitalizations tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. During
a period when securities of a particular market capitalization fall behind other types of investments,
the fund’s performance could be impacted.
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| Large-Cap Company Risk |
Large-Cap
Company Risk — Large-cap companies are generally more mature and the
securities issued by these companies may not be able to reach the same levels of growth as the securities
issued by small- or mid-cap companies.
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| Mid-Cap Company Risk |
Mid-Cap
Company Risk — Mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business
or economic events than larger, more established companies and the value of securities issued by these
companies may move sharply.
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| Small-Cap Company Risk |
Small-Cap Company Risk — Securities issued by small-cap companies may be riskier than those issued
by larger companies, and their prices may move sharply, especially during market upturns and downturns.
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| Real Estate Investment Risk |
Real Estate Investment Risk —
Due to the composition of the index, the fund will concentrate its investments in real estate companies
and companies related to the real estate industry. As such, the fund is subject to risks associated with
the direct ownership of real estate securities and an investment in the fund will be closely linked to
the performance of the real estate markets. These risks include, among others: declines in the value
of (or income generated by) real estate; risks related to general and local economic conditions; possible
lack of availability of mortgage funds or other limits to accessing the credit or capital markets; defaults
by borrowers or tenants, particularly during an economic downturn; and changes in interest rates.
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| REITs Risk |
REITs Risk — In addition to the risks
associated with investing in securities of real estate companies and real estate related companies, REITs
are subject to certain additional risks. Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the
underlying properties owned by the trusts, and mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit
extended. Further, REITs are dependent upon specialized management skills and cash flows, and may have
their investments in relatively few properties, or in a small geographic area or a single property type.
Failure of a company to qualify as a REIT under federal tax law may have
adverse consequences to the fund. In addition, REITs have their own expenses,
and the fund will bear a proportionate share of those expenses. The value of a REIT may be affected by
changes in interest rates.
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| Foreign Investment Risk |
Foreign Investment Risk
— The fund’s investments in securities of foreign issuers involve certain risks that may be 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); the
imposition of economic sanctions or other government restrictions; differing accounting, auditing, financial
reporting and legal standards and practices; differing securities market structures; and higher transaction
costs. These risks may negatively impact the value or liquidity of the fund’s investments and could
impair the fund’s ability to meet its investment objective or invest in accordance with its investment
strategy. There is a risk that investments in securities denominated in, and/or receiving revenues in,
foreign currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar. Foreign securities also include
ADRs, GDRs and EDRs, which may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market,
and GDRs, in particular, many of which are issued by companies in emerging markets, may be more volatile.
Foreign securities may also include investments in variable interest entities (VIEs) structures, which
are created by China-based operating companies in jurisdictions outside of China to obtain indirect financing
due to Chinese regulations that prohibit non-Chinese ownership of those companies. To the extent the
fund’s investments in a single country or a limited number of countries represent a large percentage
of the fund’s assets, the fund’s performance may be adversely affected by the economic, political,
regulatory, and social conditions in those countries, and the fund’s price may be more volatile than
the price of a fund that is geographically diversified.
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| Emerging Markets Risk |
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, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, which may limit the quality and availability of financial information, and greater risk
associated with the custody of securities. In addition, the financial stability of issuers (including
governments) in emerging market countries may be more precarious than in developed countries. As a result,
there may be an increased risk of illiquidity and 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.
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| Sampling Index Tracking Risk |
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 investment
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 the index.
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| Tracking Error and Correlation Risk |
Tracking Error and Correlation Risk
— As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of the index, although it may not be successful
in doing so. Further, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation
between the fund’s performance and that of its index. The correlation between the performance of the
fund and that of its index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can
be caused by many factors and it may be significant.
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| Concentration Risk |
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,country or
asset class (including the real estate industry, as described above), the fund may be adversely affected
by the performance of those securities, may be subject to increased price volatility and may be more
vulnerable to adverse economic, market, political or regulatory occurrences affecting that market, industry,
group of industries, sector,country or asset class.
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| Derivatives Risk |
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. The fund’s use of derivatives could reduce the fund’s performance,
increase the fund’s volatility, and could cause the fund to lose more than the initial amount invested.
In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets
invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately large impact on the fund.
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| Liquidity Risk |
Liquidity Risk — The fund may be unable to sell certain
securities, such as illiquid securities, readily at a favorable time or price, or the fund may have to
sell them at a loss.
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| Securities Lending Risk |
Securities Lending Risk —
Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in, or delay in recovery of, the loaned securities
if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent.
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| Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk |
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) Risk — The fund may purchase
shares of ETFs to gain exposure to a particular portion of the market while awaiting an opportunity to
purchase securities directly. When the fund invests in an ETF, in addition to directly bearing the expenses
associated with its own operations, it will bear a proportionate share of the ETF’s expenses. Therefore,
it may be more costly to own an ETF than to own the underlying securities directly. In addition, while
the risks of owning shares of an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities
the ETF holds, lack of liquidity in the market for an ETF’s shares can result in its value being more
volatile than the underlying portfolio of securities
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