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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVEM returned +17.9% and GLD +2.5%.

Which is cheaper, AVEM or GLD?

AVEM is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

AVEM vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees

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AVEM is an actively managed equity fund and GLD a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVEM returned +17.9% against +2.5%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $27.3bn for Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF and $135.8bn for SPDR Gold Shares.

AVEM on its own →GLD on its own →

At a glance

+17.9%

AVEM total return, 1 year

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

0.33%

AVEM expense ratio

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AVEM costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.4 points; GLD is 5.0 times larger.

AVEM vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AVEM	GLD
Return
Measure	AVEM	GLD
Total return, 1 year	+17.9%	+2.5%
Drawdown
Measure	AVEM	GLD
Below its high	10.2%, high on Jun 22, 2026	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	AVEM	GLD
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	AVEM	GLD
Expense ratio	0.33%	0.40%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$27.3bn	$135.8bn
Holdings
Measure	AVEM	GLD
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	28.7%

Method

Side by side

AVEM Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF GLD SPDR Gold Shares

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer Avantis State Street

What it is Actively managed Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +17.9% +2.5%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +2.7% (IAU)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.2 pts vs IAU

Expense ratio 0.33% 0.40%

Holdings 4088 not counted

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $27.3bn $135.8bn

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

Alert

About each fund

AVEM

AVEM is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.33% 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 4,088 positions, with the top ten at 28.7%. It sat 10.2% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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 Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AVEM or GLD?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVEM returned +17.9% and GLD +2.5%.
Which is cheaper, AVEM or GLD?: AVEM is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

AVEM vs IAU AVEM vs BWET AVEM vs GLDM AVEM vs SLV EEM vs GLD GLD vs VWO GLD vs IEMG EMXC vs GLD

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

AVEM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AVEM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Avantis website ↗

State Street website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, AVEM against GLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avem-vs-gld

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