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

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +19.2% and IEMG returned +30.6%, so IEMG returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IEMG?

IAU charges 0.25% a year and IEMG charges 0.09%, so IEMG 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 IEMG: how they differ

IAU is a commodity fund and IEMG an equity index fund, and over the year IEMG returned more, +30.6% against +19.2%.

iShares Gold Trust and iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF.

IAU and IEMG on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	IAU iShares Gold Trust	IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Core index fund
Issuer	iShares	iShares
What it is	Gold	Core MSCI Emerging Markets
Total return, 1 year	+19.2%	+30.6%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	+1.7 pts	+13.1 pts
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.09%
Holdings	not filed	2695

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.

IEMG in plain words

IEMG is an index equity fund tracking the Core MSCI Emerging Markets. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +30.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2695 positions, with the top ten at 34.1%. It sat 4.0% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IEMG?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +19.2% and IEMG returned +30.6%, so IEMG returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IEMG?: IAU charges 0.25% a year and IEMG charges 0.09%, so IEMG 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 IEMG, 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 IEMG, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/IAU-IEMG Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources