Data as of Sep 19, 2026.
ASGM vs GLD: how they differ
Over the year ASGM returned more, +28.4% to GLD's +19.5%, and GLD charges 0.40% to ASGM's 0.86%.
Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Macro ETF and SPDR Gold Shares.
| ASGM Virtus AlphaSimplex Global Macro ETF | GLD SPDR Gold Shares | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Alternatives ETF | Core fund |
| Issuer | Virtus | State Street |
| What it is | Global macro | Holds gold |
| Total return, 1 year | +28.4% | +19.5% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +16.6% | +16.6% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | +11.8 pts | +3.0 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.86% | 0.40% |
| Net assets | $8m | $147.8bn |
ASGM in plain words
ASGM is a global macro fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.81 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.86, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.86% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 22 of those 52 weeks, by 1.24% on average. In the same weeks ASGM fell 0.80% on average, a down-week capture of 64.2%. Over the same 52 weeks ASGM returned +28.3% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 24.6 percentage points ahead of cash.
GLD in plain words
GLD holds gold. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 it returned +19.5% with distributions reinvested, against +16.6% for the S&P 500 and +21.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% a year. It sat 19.1% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Sep 18, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, ASGM or GLD?
- In the year to Sep 19, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ASGM returned +28.4% and GLD returned +19.5%, so ASGM returned more.
- Which is cheaper, ASGM or GLD?
- ASGM charges 0.86% a year and GLD charges 0.40%, so GLD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- Are ASGM and GLD the same kind of fund?
- No. ASGM is an alternatives ETF and GLD is a commodity 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.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, ASGM against GLD, data as of Sep 19, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/asgm-vs-gld Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources