Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IEFA?

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +19.2% and IEFA returned +18.0%, so IAU returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IEFA?

IAU charges 0.25% a year and IEFA charges 0.07%, so IEFA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

IAU vs IEFA: how they differ

IAU is a commodity fund and IEFA an equity index fund, and over the year IAU returned more, +19.2% against +18.0%.

iShares Gold Trust and iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF.

IAU and IEFA on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	IAU iShares Gold Trust	IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Core index fund
Issuer	iShares	iShares
What it is	Gold	Core MSCI EAFE
Total return, 1 year	+19.2%	+18.0%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	+1.7 pts	+0.5 pts
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.07%
Holdings	not filed	2632

IAU in plain words

IAU is a commodity fund tracking the Gold. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +19.2% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.25% a year. It sat 19.6% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.

IEFA in plain words

IEFA is an index equity fund tracking the Core MSCI EAFE. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2632 positions, with the top ten at 11.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IEFA?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +19.2% and IEFA returned +18.0%, so IAU returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IEFA?: IAU charges 0.25% a year and IEFA charges 0.07%, so IEFA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

IAU against IEFA, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, IAU against IEFA, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/IAU-IEFA Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources