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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVDV returned +22.8% and IAU +2.7%.

Which is cheaper, AVDV or IAU?

IAU is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

AVDV vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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AVDV is an actively managed equity fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVDV returned +22.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $20.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

AVDV on its own →IAU on its own →

At a glance

+22.8%

AVDV total return, 1 year

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

0.36%

AVDV expense ratio

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 20.1 points; IAU is 3.0 times larger.

AVDV vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AVDV	IAU
Return
Measure	AVDV	IAU
Total return, 1 year	+22.8%	+2.7%
Drawdown
Measure	AVDV	IAU
Below its high	5.7%, high on Sep 4, 2026	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	AVDV	IAU
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	AVDV	IAU
Expense ratio	0.36%	0.25%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$20.0bn	$60.3bn
Holdings
Measure	AVDV	IAU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	6.2%

Method

Side by side

AVDV Avantis International Small Cap Value ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer Avantis iShares

What it is Actively managed Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +22.8% +2.7%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +2.5% (GLD)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +0.2 pts vs GLD

Expense ratio 0.36% 0.25%

Holdings 1732 not counted

Net assets, AVDV as of Oct 27, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $20.0bn $60.1bn

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

Alert

About each fund

AVDV

AVDV is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +22.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.36% 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 1,732 positions, with the top ten at 6.2%. It sat 5.7% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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, AVDV or IAU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVDV returned +22.8% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, AVDV or IAU?: IAU is cheaper, by 0.11 percentage points a year. That is about $11 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

AVDV vs GLDM AVDV vs SLV AVDV vs GLD AVDV vs USO IAU vs VYMI EWJ vs IAU EWY vs IAU EMXC vs IAU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

AVDV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AVDV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Avantis website ↗

iShares page for IAU ↗

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

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

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