Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
CGBL vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
CGBL is an actively managed equity fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, CGBL returned +7.1% against +2.7%.
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Net assets: $7.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Capital Group Core Balanced ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.
Pair scorecard
IAU costs 0.08 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.4 points; IAU is 7.6 times larger.
| Measure | CGBL | IAU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +7.1% | +2.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 3.4%, high on Aug 13, 2026 | 24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | No index, actively managed | Gold |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.33% | 0.25% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $7.9bn | $60.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 48% | |
| Holdings dated | Jun 30, 2026 | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 59.3% | |
Risk and return
Oct 6, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026 · 159 weekly returnsIAU returned more: +116.9% to +55.6%. CGBL swung less: 10.4% to 18.8%. CGBL fell less at its worst: −10.0% to −24.1%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | CGBL | IAU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +55.6% | +116.9% | IAU | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.6% | +28.8% | IAU | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +46.8% | +116.9% | IAU | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 10.4% | 18.8% | CGBL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 6.7% | 11.9% | CGBL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −10.0% | −24.1% | CGBL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 1.02 | 1.20 | IAU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.58 | 1.91 | IAU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 1.55 | 1.19 | CGBL | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 159 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
CGBL and IAU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
CGBL and IAU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. CGBL follows No index, actively managed and IAU follows Gold.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 CGBL returned +7.1% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 4.4 points.
- Size. CGBL has $7.9bn in net assets and IAU $60.3bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); IAU is 7.6 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.1% with distributions reinvested, against +7.5% for its benchmark, the 60%/40% S&P 500 Index/Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index.
CGBL is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.33% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 48% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 77 positions, with the top ten at 59.3%. It sat 3.4% below its high of Aug 13, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
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, CGBL or IAU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CGBL returned +7.1% and IAU +2.7%.
- Which is cheaper, CGBL or IAU?
- IAU is cheaper, by 0.08 percentage points a year. That is about $8 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, CGBL against IAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgbl-vs-iau
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). CGBL against IAU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgbl-vs-iau
[CGBL against IAU (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cgbl-vs-iau)
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