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

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +19.2% and SPHQ returned +17.4%, so IAU returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SPHQ?

IAU charges 0.25% a year and SPHQ charges 0.15%, so SPHQ 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 SPHQ: how they differ

IAU is a commodity fund and SPHQ an equity index fund, and over the year IAU returned more, +19.2% against +17.4%.

iShares Gold Trust and Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF.

IAU and SPHQ on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	IAU iShares Gold Trust	SPHQ Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF
Where it sits	Core index fund	Core index fund
Issuer	iShares	Invesco
What it is	Gold	S&P 500 Quality
Total return, 1 year	+19.2%	+17.4%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	+1.7 pts	−0.1 pts
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.15%
Holdings	not filed	99

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.

SPHQ in plain words

SPHQ is an index equity fund tracking the S&P 500 Quality. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +17.4% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings filed for Apr 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 99 positions, with the top ten at 40.7%. It sat 6.1% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SPHQ?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +19.2% and SPHQ returned +17.4%, so IAU returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SPHQ?: IAU charges 0.25% a year and SPHQ charges 0.15%, so SPHQ 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 SPHQ, 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 SPHQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/IAU-SPHQ Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources