# EDGAR Filing Document

**Accession Number:** 0001454889
**File Stem:** 0001104659-26-020708
**Filing Date:** 2026-2
**Character Count:** 24080
**Document Hash:** 82ba2f6d920ccedb522ecee2a840e56c
**Contains OCR:** False
**Source Format:** 

## Filing Content

## Filing Summary
**0001104659-26-020708.hdr.sgml**: 20260227

**ACCESSION NUMBER**: 0001104659-26-020708

**CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE**: 497K

**PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT**: 3

**FILED AS OF DATE**: 20260227

**DATE AS OF CHANGE**: 20260226

**EFFECTIVENESS DATE**: 20260227

**FILER**: 

**COMPANY DATA:**
- **COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:** SCHWAB STRATEGIC TRUST
- **CENTRAL INDEX KEY:** 0001454889

**ORGANIZATION NAME:**
- **EIN:** 000000000
- **STATE OF INCORPORATION:** DE
- **FISCAL YEAR END:** 1231
- **LEGAL ENTITY IDENTIFIER:** 549300NAZEQOIX80E226

**FILING VALUES:**
- **FORM TYPE:** 497K
- **SEC ACT:** 1933 Act
- **SEC FILE NUMBER:** 333-160595
- **FILM NUMBER:** 26690916

**BUSINESS ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 9800 SCHWAB WAY
- **CITY:** LONE TREE
- **STATE:** CO
- **ZIP:** 80124
- **BUSINESS PHONE:** 1-800-648-5300

**MAIL ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 9800 SCHWAB WAY
- **CITY:** LONE TREE
- **STATE:** CO
- **ZIP:** 80124

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** Schwab Strategic Trust
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 20090127

## Series and Classes Contracts Data

### Schwab Ariel Opportunities ETF (Series ID: S000072244)

| Class ID   | Class Name                     | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000228159 | Schwab Ariel Opportunities ETF | SAEF            |

**![[MISSING IMAGE: log-csamctr299c.jpg]](log-csamctr299c.jpg)

Summary Prospectus \| February 27, 2026

Schwab<sup>®</sup> Ariel Opportunities ETF (formerly, Schwab Ariel ESG ETF)

Ticker Symbol: SAEF

THIS FUND IS DIFFERENT FROM TRADITIONAL ETFs

Traditional ETFs tell the public what assets they hold each day. This fund will not. This may create additional risks for your investment. For example:

• You may have to pay more money to trade the fund's shares. This fund will provide less information to traders, who tend to charge more for trades when they have less information.

• The price you pay to buy fund shares on an exchange may not match the value of the fund's portfolio. The same is true when you sell shares. These price differences may be greater for this fund compared to other ETFs because it provides less information to traders.

• These additional risks may be even greater in bad or uncertain market conditions.

• The ETF will publish on its website each day a "Proxy Portfolio" designed to help trading in shares of the ETF. While the Proxy Portfolio includes some of the ETF's holdings, it is not the ETF's actual portfolio.

The differences between this fund and other ETFs may also have advantages. By keeping certain information about the fund secret, this fund may face less risk that other traders can predict or copy its investment strategy. This may improve the fund's performance. If other traders are able to copy or predict the fund's investment strategy, however, this may hurt the fund's performance.

For additional information regarding the unique attributes and risks of the fund, see *Proxy Portfolio Risk*, *Premium/Discount Risk*, *Trading Halt Risk*, *Authorized Participant Concentration Risk*, *Tracking Error Risk* and *Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV* in the *Principal Risks* and *Proxy Portfolio and Proxy Overlap* sections of the prospectus and/or the Statement of Additional Information.

Before you invest, you may want to review the fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund's prospectus, Statement of Additional Information (SAI), reports to shareholders and other information about the fund online at www.schwabassetmanagement.com/prospectus. You can also obtain this information at no cost by calling 1-866-414-6349 or by sending an email request to orders@mysummaryprospectus.com. If you purchase or hold fund shares through a financial intermediary, the fund's prospectus, SAI, reports to shareholders and other information about the fund are available from your financial intermediary.

The fund's prospectus and SAI, both dated July 28, 2025, as supplemented, include a more detailed discussion of fund investment policies and the risks associated with various fund investments. The prospectus and SAI are incorporated by reference into the summary prospectus, making them legally a part of the summary prospectus.

Investment Objective

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Fund Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.

<u> Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)</u> <br> None

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
|  Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)  | Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)  |
| Management fees | 0.59  |
| Other expenses |  |
| Total annual fund operating expenses | 0.59  |

---

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 sell 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. Your actual costs may be higher or lower.

Schwab Ariel Opportunities ETF \| Summary Prospectus1

REG116066-09 00323005

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| | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| **Expenses on a $10,000 Investment**  | **Expenses on a $10,000 Investment**  | | |
| **1 Year**  | **3 Years**  | **5 Years**  | **10 Years**  |
| $60 | $189 | $329 | $738 |

---

#### 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 15% of the average value of its portfolio.

#### Principal Investment Strategies
**The fund invests primarily in exchange-traded equity securities of U.S.** small- and mid-capitalization companies which are companies with capitalizations within the range of the Russell 2500™ Index, as measured at the time of purchase; however, the fund may invest in exchange-traded securities of companies outside the stated range.

In selecting securities, the fund's subadviser seeks to invest in companies that it believes exhibit attributes that will result in capital appreciation including: high barriers to entry, enduring competitive advantage, predictable fundamentals that allow for the potential for double-digit earnings growth (at time of initial purchase), skilled management teams, and solid financials. In addition, the fund's subadviser generally seeks to invest in companies that are trading at a low valuation relative to potential earnings and/or a low valuation relative to intrinsic value.

In addition, during unusual economic or market conditions or for liquidity purposes, the fund may take temporary defensive positions, whether managed by the investment adviser or subadviser, that are inconsistent with the fund's principal investment strategy. When the fund engages in such activities, it may not achieve its investment objective.

The fund also may lend portfolio securities to earn additional income. Any income realized through securities lending may help fund performance.

The fund is an actively managed, non-transparent exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. In lieu of publishing its portfolio contents (Actual Portfolio) daily, the fund publishes a proxy portfolio (Proxy Portfolio) each day on its website. The fund's Proxy Portfolio is designed to closely track the daily performance of the fund but is not the fund's Actual Portfolio. The fund will also publish certain related information about the Proxy Portfolio and the Actual Portfolio on its website daily. There is no minimum overlap required between the Actual Portfolio and the Proxy Portfolio.

#### Principal Risks
The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund's principal risks include:

**Proxy Portfolio Risk.** Unlike traditional ETFs that disclose their portfolio holdings on a daily basis, the fund does not disclose its holdings daily, rather it discloses a Proxy Portfolio. The goal of the Proxy Portfolio, during all market conditions, is to track closely the daily performance of the Actual Portfolio and minimize intra-day misalignment between the performance of the Proxy Portfolio and the performance of the Actual Portfolio. The Proxy Portfolio is designed to reflect the economic exposures and the risk characteristics of the Actual Portfolio on any given trading day.

The Proxy Portfolio is intended to provide authorized participants and other market participants with enough information to support an effective arbitrage mechanism that keeps the market price of the fund at or close to the underlying net asset value (NAV) per share of the fund. The Proxy Portfolio methodology is novel and not yet proven as an effective arbitrage mechanism. The effectiveness of the Proxy Portfolio as an arbitrage mechanism is contingent upon, among other things, the fund's factor model analysis creating a Proxy Portfolio that performs in a manner substantially identical to the performance of the Actual Portfolio and the willingness of authorized participants and other market participants to trade based on a Proxy Portfolio. There is no guarantee that this arbitrage mechanism will operate as intended. Further, while the Proxy Portfolio may include some of the fund's holdings, it is not the fund's Actual Portfolio. ETFs trading on the basis of a published Proxy Portfolio may exhibit wider premiums and discounts, bid/ask spreads, and tracking error than other ETFs using the same investment strategies that publish their portfolios on a daily basis, especially during periods of market disruption or volatility. Therefore, shares of the fund may cost investors more to trade than shares of a traditional ETF.

• Each day the fund calculates the overlap between the holdings of the prior Business Day's Proxy Portfolio compared to the Actual Portfolio (Proxy Overlap) and the difference, in percentage terms, between the Proxy Portfolio per share NAV and that of the Actual Portfolio (Tracking Error). If the Tracking Error becomes large, there is a risk that the performance of the Proxy Portfolio may deviate from the performance of the Actual Portfolio.

• The fund's Board of Trustees (the Board) monitors its Tracking Error, bid/ask spread and premiums/discounts. If deviations become too large, the Board will consider the continuing viability of the fund, whether shareholders are being harmed, and what, if any, corrective measures would be appropriate. See the Statement of Additional Information for further discussion of the Board's monitoring responsibilities.

• Although the fund seeks to benefit from keeping its portfolio information secret, market participants may attempt to use the Proxy Portfolio to identify a fund's trading strategy, which if successful, could result in such market participants engaging in certain predatory trading practices that may have the potential to harm the fund and its shareholders. The Proxy Portfolio and any related disclosures have been designed to minimize the risk of predatory trading practices, but they may not be successful in doing so.

**Premium/Discount Risk.** Publication of the Proxy Portfolio is not the same level of transparency as the publication of the Actual Portfolio by a fully transparent ETF. Although the Proxy Portfolio is

2Schwab Ariel Opportunities ETF \| Summary Prospectus

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intended to provide authorized participants and other market participants with enough information to allow for an effective arbitrage mechanism that is intended to keep the market price of the fund at or close to the underlying NAV per share of the fund, there is a risk (which may increase during periods of market disruption or volatility) that market prices will vary significantly from NAV per share of the fund. This means the price paid to buy shares on an exchange may not match the value of the fund's portfolio. The same is true when shares are sold.

**Trading Halt Risk.** If securities representing 10% or more of the fund's Actual Portfolio do not have readily available market quotations, the fund will promptly request that the listing exchange halt trading in the fund's shares which means that investors would not be able to trade their shares. Trading halts may have a greater impact on the fund compared to other ETFs due to the fund's non-transparent structure. If the trading of a security held in the fund's Actual Portfolio is halted, or otherwise does not have readily available market quotations, and the investment adviser believes that the lack of any such readily available market quotations may affect the reliability of the Proxy Portfolio as an arbitrage vehicle, or otherwise determines it is in the best interest of the fund, the investment adviser will promptly disclose on the fund's website the identity and weighting of such security for so long as such security's trading is halted or otherwise does not have readily available market quotations and remains in the Actual Portfolio.

**Authorized Participant Concentration Risk.** Only an authorized participant may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the fund. The fund may have a limited number of institutions that act as authorized participants, none of which are obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the fund and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced during periods of market volatility or market disruptions. The fact that the fund is offering a novel and unique structure may affect the number of entities willing to act as authorized participants.

**Tracking Error Risk.** Although the Proxy Portfolio is designed to reflect the economic exposure and risk characteristics of the fund's Actual Portfolio on any given trading day, there is a risk that the performance of the Proxy Portfolio will diverge from the performance of the Actual Portfolio, potentially materially.

**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.

**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.

**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.

**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.

**Management Risk.** As with all actively managed funds, the fund is subject to the risk that its investment adviser and/or subadviser will select investments or allocate assets in a manner that could cause the fund to underperform or otherwise not meet its investment objective. The fund's investment adviser and/or subadviser applies its own investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the fund, but there can be no guarantee that they will produce the desired results.

**Value Investing Risk.** Value investing attempts to identify undervalued companies with characteristics for improved valuations. Securities that exhibit value characteristics tend to perform differently and shift in and out of favor with investors depending on changes in market and economic conditions. As a result, the fund's performance may at times fall behind the performance of other funds that invest more broadly or in securities that exhibit different characteristics.

**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.

**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.

**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.

**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 NAV, there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. In addition,

Schwab Ariel Opportunities ETF \| Summary Prospectus3

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due to the fund's novel and unique structure, shares of the fund may trade at a larger premium or discount to the NAV of shares of traditional ETFs that disclose their portfolio holdings daily. As a result, an investor may pay more than NAV when buying shares of the fund in the secondary market, and an investor may receive less than NAV when selling those shares in the secondary market. The market price of fund shares may deviate, sometimes significantly, from NAV during periods of market disruptions or volatility.

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 one or more indices. The S&P 500<sup>®</sup> Index serves as the fund's regulatory index and provides a broad measure of market performance. The Russell 2500<sup>TM</sup> Index is the fund's additional index and is more representative of the fund's investment universe than the regulatory 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.schwabassetmanagement.com/prospectus**.

#### Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31
![[MISSING IMAGE: past-performance.jpg]](past-performance.jpg)

#### Best Quarter: 14.82% Q4 2023

#### Worst Quarter: (15.89%) Q2 2022

#### Year-to-date performance (before taxes) as of 6/30/25: (4.12%)

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/24**  | **Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/24**  | **Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/24**  |
|  | **1 Year**  | **Since <br> Inception <br> (11/16/21)**  |
| Before taxes | 16.03% | 3.00% |
| After taxes on distributions | 15.89% | 2.86% |
| After taxes on distributions and sale of shares  | 9.57% | 2.28% |
|  **Comparative Indices** (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)  |  |  |
| S&P 500<sup>®</sup> Index | 25.02% | 9.24% |
| Russell 2500™ Index | 12.00% | 0.85% |

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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, an individual retirement account (IRA) or other tax-advantaged account.

#### Investment Adviser
Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., dba Schwab Asset Management<sup>®</sup>

#### Subadviser
Ariel Investments, LLC (Ariel)

#### Portfolio Managers
**John W. Rogers, Jr.,** Chairman, Co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer, of Ariel, is responsible for the day-to-day co-management of the fund. He has managed the fund since 2021.

**Kenneth E. Kuhrt, CPA,** Executive Vice President, of Ariel, is responsible for the day-to-day co-management of the fund. He has managed the fund since 2021.

#### Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The fund issues and redeems shares at its NAV only in large blocks of shares (Creation Units). These transactions are usually in exchange for a basket of securities and/or an amount of cash. As a practical matter, only Authorized Participants purchase or redeem Creation Units.

Individual shares may only be purchased and sold in the secondary market (i.e., on a national securities exchange) through a broker or dealer at market prices. Because fund shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, fund shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the fund (ask) (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information regarding the fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at www.schwabassetmanagement.com.

#### Tax Information
Dividends and capital gains distributions received from the fund will generally be taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged account (in which case you may be taxed later, upon withdrawal of your investment from such account).

#### Payments to Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the adviser and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

4Schwab Ariel Opportunities ETF \| Summary Prospectus

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