Are AHLT and GLD in the same category?

AHLT is an alternatives ETF and GLD is a commodity ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

Which returned more over the last year, AHLT or GLD?

In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AHLT returned +19.3% and GLD +2.8%.

Which is cheaper, AHLT or GLD?

GLD is cheaper, by 0.56 percentage points a year. That is about $56 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Across categories

AHLT vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, AHLT returned +19.3% to GLD's +2.8%, and GLD charges 0.40% to AHLT's 0.96%.

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Net assets: $131m on Jul 31, 2026 for AHL Trend ETF, and $131.3bn on Nov 3, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares.

AHLT on its own →GLD on its own →

At a glance

+19.3%

AHLT total return, 1 year

+2.8%

GLD total return, 1 year

0.96%

AHLT expense ratio

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

GLD costs 0.56 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.5 points.

AHLT vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AHLT	GLD
Return
Measure	AHLT	GLD
Total return, 1 year	+19.3%	+2.8%
Total return, 52 weeks	+18.3%
Drawdown
Measure	AHLT	GLD
Below its high		24.9%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Against its benchmark
Measure	AHLT	GLD
What it tracks	not published	Gold
Treasury bills, 52 weeks	+3.7%
Against cash	14.7 points ahead
Cost and size
Measure	AHLT	GLD
Expense ratio	0.96%	0.40%
Net assets, AHLT as of Jul 31, 2026 and GLD as of Nov 3, 2026	$131m	$131.3bn
Holdings
Measure	AHLT	GLD
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	AHLT	GLD
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns	+0.47
Beta to the S&P 500	+0.58: about 0.58% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell	fell 0.88%
Down-week capture	81.7%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell	26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

AHLT AHL Trend ETF GLD SPDR Gold Shares

Where it sits Alternatives ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer American Beacon State Street

What it is Managed futures Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +19.3% +2.8%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +2.9% (IAU)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.1 pts vs IAU

Expense ratio 0.96% 0.40%

Net assets, AHLT as of Jul 31, 2026 and GLD as of Nov 3, 2026 $131m $131.3bn

AHLT and GLD on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

AHLT

AHLT is a managed futures fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.47 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.58, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.58% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks AHLT fell 0.88% on average, a down-week capture of 81.7%. Over the same 52 weeks AHLT returned +18.3% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 14.7 percentage points ahead of cash.

GLD

Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

GLD holds gold. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 it returned +2.8% with distributions reinvested, against +2.9% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.9% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Nov 4, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are AHLT and GLD in the same category?: AHLT is an alternatives ETF and GLD is a commodity ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, AHLT or GLD?: In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AHLT returned +19.3% and GLD +2.8%.
Which is cheaper, AHLT or GLD?: GLD is cheaper, by 0.56 percentage points a year. That is about $56 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

AHLT vs VOO AHLT vs BND AHLT vs QQQ AHLT vs SPY GLD vs RSBT GLD vs TFPN GLD vs WTMF FMF vs GLD

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →SPY, the S&P 500 fund these are measured against →AHLT on its own →GLD on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AHLT dividend history →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AHLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AHLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

American Beacon website ↗

State Street website ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

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ETFIQ, AHLT against GLD, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ahlt-vs-gld

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