Which is cheaper, IAU or LYTE?

IAU charges 0.25% a year and LYTE charges 0.65%, so IAU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Are IAU and LYTE the same kind of fund?

No. IAU is an index ETF and LYTE is a thematic ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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 LYTE: how they differ

IAU and LYTE are measured over different days, and IAU charges 0.25% against 0.65%.

iShares Gold Trust and Roundhill Photonics & Optics ETF.

IAU and LYTE on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	IAU iShares Gold Trust	LYTE Roundhill Photonics & Optics ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Thematic ETF
Issuer	iShares	Roundhill
What it is	Gold	Photonics and optics
Total return, 1 year	+19.2%	−0.4%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	−0.6%
Gap to the S&P 500	+1.7 pts	+0.1 pts
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.65%

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.

LYTE in plain words

LYTE has no public holdings filing captured yet. Since it launched on Aug 6, 2026 the fund returned −0.4% with distributions reinvested against −0.6% for the S&P 500, so a holder was about even. It sits 11.4% below its all-time high of Aug 17, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which is cheaper, IAU or LYTE?: IAU charges 0.25% a year and LYTE charges 0.65%, so IAU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Are IAU and LYTE the same kind of fund?: No. IAU is an index ETF and LYTE is a thematic ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources