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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BINC returned +0.5% and IAU +2.7%.

Which is cheaper, BINC or IAU?

IAU is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

BINC vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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BINC is an actively managed equity fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against +0.5%.

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Net assets: $16.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Flexible Income Active ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

BINC on its own →IAU on its own →

At a glance

+0.5%

BINC total return, 1 year

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

0.40%

BINC expense ratio

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.2 points; IAU is 3.6 times larger.

BINC vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BINC	IAU
Return
Measure	BINC	IAU
Total return, 1 year	+0.5%	+2.7%
Drawdown
Measure	BINC	IAU
Below its high		24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	BINC	IAU
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	BINC	IAU
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.25%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$16.8bn	$60.3bn
Holdings
Measure	BINC	IAU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	24.6%

Method

Risk and return

Jun 2, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 177 weekly returns

BINC IAU

Return

Total return edge IAU +21.3% +103.4%

Annualized edge IAU +5.8% +23.2%

Price return edge IAU +0.2% +103.4%

Risk

Volatility edge BINC 3.1% 18.2%

Max drawdown edge BINC −2.7% −24.1%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IAU 0.37 0.99

Sortino edge IAU 0.57 1.55

Calmar edge BINC 2.20 0.96

Reading

IAU returned more: +103.4% to +21.3%. BINC swung less: 3.1% to 18.2%. BINC fell less at its worst: −2.7% to −24.1%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: BINC vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BINC	IAU	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+21.3%	+103.4%	IAU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+5.8%	+23.2%	IAU	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+0.2%	+103.4%	IAU	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	3.1%	18.2%	BINC	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	2.0%	11.6%	BINC	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−2.7%	−24.1%	BINC	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.37	0.99	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.57	1.55	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	2.20	0.96	BINC	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 177 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

BINC iShares Flexible Income Active ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust

Where it sits Bond ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Actively managed Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +0.5% +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 0.40% 0.25%

Holdings 4690 not counted

Net assets, BINC as of Oct 27, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $16.8bn $60.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-53096F9346

BINC and IAU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. BINC follows No index, actively managed and IAU follows Gold.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BINC returned +0.5% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.2 points.
Cost. BINC charges 0.40% of assets a year and IAU 0.25%, a gap of 0.15 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

BINC

BINC is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +0.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% 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 4,690 positions, with the top ten at 24.6%.

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, BINC or IAU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BINC returned +0.5% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, BINC or IAU?: IAU is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

BINC vs GLDM BINC vs SLV BINC vs GLD BINC vs USO IAU vs IEI IAU vs SCHP HYG vs IAU IAU vs TIP

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

BINC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BINC prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for BINC ↗

iShares page for IAU ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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