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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BIL returned +3.7% and GLD +2.5%.

Which is cheaper, BIL or GLD?

BIL is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

BIL vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees

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BIL is a short-term Treasury fund and GLD a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BIL returned +3.7% against +2.5%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $48.7bn for SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF and $135.8bn for SPDR Gold Shares.

BIL on its own →GLD on its own →

At a glance

+3.7%

BIL total return, 1 year

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

0.14%

BIL expense ratio

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

BIL costs 0.26 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.2 points; GLD is 2.8 times larger.

BIL vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BIL	GLD
Return
Measure	BIL	GLD
Total return, 1 year	+3.7%	+2.5%
Drawdown
Measure	BIL	GLD
Below its high		24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	BIL	GLD
What it tracks	Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	BIL	GLD
Expense ratio	0.14%	0.40%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$48.7bn	$135.8bn
Holdings
Measure	BIL	GLD
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

BIL SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF GLD SPDR Gold Shares

Where it sits Bond ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

What it is Tracks an index of 1-3 month T-bills Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +3.7% +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 0.14% 0.40%

Holdings 26 not counted

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $48.7bn $135.8bn

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

Alert

About each fund

BIL

BIL tracks an index of 1-3 month T-bills. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.7% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.14% a year.

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, BIL or GLD?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BIL returned +3.7% and GLD +2.5%.
Which is cheaper, BIL or GLD?: BIL is cheaper, by 0.26 percentage points a year. That is about $26 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

BIL vs IAU BIL vs BWET BIL vs GLDM BIL vs SLV GLD vs SHV GLD vs PULS GLD vs USFR GLD vs MINT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

BIL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BIL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.