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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BIL returned +3.7% and IAU +2.7%.

Which is cheaper, BIL or IAU?

BIL 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

BIL vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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BIL is a short-term Treasury fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BIL returned +3.7% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $48.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

BIL on its own →IAU on its own →

At a glance

+3.7%

BIL total return, 1 year

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

0.14%

BIL expense ratio

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

BIL costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point; IAU is 1.2 times larger.

BIL vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BIL	IAU
Return
Measure	BIL	IAU
Total return, 1 year	+3.7%	+2.7%
Drawdown
Measure	BIL	IAU
Below its high		24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	BIL	IAU
What it tracks	Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	BIL	IAU
Expense ratio	0.14%	0.25%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$48.7bn	$60.3bn
Holdings
Measure	BIL	IAU
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

BIL SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust

Where it sits Bond ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer State Street iShares

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

Total return, 1 year +3.7% +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 0.14% 0.25%

Holdings 26 not counted

Net assets, BIL as of Oct 27, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $48.7bn $60.1bn

BIL and IAU 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.

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, BIL or IAU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BIL returned +3.7% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, BIL or IAU?: BIL 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

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

Where to next

BIL on its own →IAU 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 ↗

iShares page for IAU ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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