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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AOR returned +7.8% and IAU +2.7%.

Which is cheaper, AOR or IAU?

AOR is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

AOR vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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AOR is an equity index fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AOR returned +7.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $3.9bn for iShares Core 60/40 Balanced Allocation ETF and $60.1bn for iShares Gold Trust.

AOR on its own →IAU on its own →

At a glance

+7.8%

AOR total return, 1 year

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

0.15%

AOR expense ratio

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AOR costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.1 points; IAU is 15.4 times larger.

AOR vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AOR	IAU
Return
Measure	AOR	IAU
Total return, 1 year	+7.8%	+2.7%
Drawdown
Measure	AOR	IAU
Below its high		24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	AOR	IAU
What it tracks	60/40 Balanced Allocation	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	AOR	IAU
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.25%
Net assets	$3.9bn	$60.1bn
Holdings
Measure	AOR	IAU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Holdings dated	Oct 27, 2026
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	99.9%

Method

Side by side

AOR iShares Core 60/40 Balanced Allocation ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust

Where it sits Allocation ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks an index of 60/40 Balanced Allocation Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +7.8% +2.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.4% (ACWI) +2.5% (GLD)

Gap to its benchmark −5.6 pts vs ACWI +0.2 pts vs GLD

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.25%

Holdings 7 not counted

Net assets $3.9bn $60.1bn

AOR and IAU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

AOR

AOR tracks an index of 60/40 Balanced Allocation. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 7 positions, with the top ten at 99.9%.

IAU

Its expense ratio is 0.25% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

IAU holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.7% with distributions reinvested, against +2.5% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.6% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AOR or IAU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AOR returned +7.8% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, AOR or IAU?: AOR is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

AOR vs GLDM AOR vs SLV AOR vs GLD AOR vs USO CGBL vs IAU IAU vs IYR HYMB vs IAU FXI vs IAU

Where to next

AOR on its own →IAU on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AOR dividend history →AOR holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AOR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AOR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for AOR ↗

iShares page for IAU ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, AOR against IAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/aor-vs-iau

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