{"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld","section":"compare","title":"CTA vs GLD: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees | ETFIQ","description":"CTA vs GLD to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +2.5%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.40%. One alternatives ETF and one commodity ETF.","as_of":"Oct 28, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Are CTA and GLD in the same category?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"CTA is an alternatives ETF and GLD is a commodity ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which returned more over the last year, CTA or GLD?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, CTA returned +18.4% and GLD +2.5%."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which is cheaper, CTA or GLD?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"GLD is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"CTA vs GLD","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"CTA vs GLD: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"CTA vs GLD to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +2.5%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.40%. One alternatives ETF and one commodity ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld","dateModified":"2026-10-28","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"}},{"@type":"Dataset","name":"ETFIQ comparison of CTA and GLD","description":"CTA vs GLD to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +2.5%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.40%. One alternatives ETF and one commodity ETF.","dateModified":"2026-10-28","creator":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","isAccessibleForFree":true,"url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"inLanguage":"en","creativeWorkStatus":"Published","distribution":[{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/alternatives.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/core.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/crypto.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/funds.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/income.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/leverage.json"},{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/thematic.json"}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Compare ETFs","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"CTA vs GLD","item":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"CTA vs GLD: ETF Differences, Returns & Fees","description":"CTA vs GLD to Oct 28, 2026: one-year total return +18.4% against +2.5%, expense ratio 0.75% against 0.40%. One alternatives ETF and one commodity ETF.","url":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld","dateModified":"2026-10-28","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".verdict",".lede",".faq"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":4027,"truncated":true,"content":"ETFIQ / Compare ETFs / CTA vs GLD \n \n Data as of Oct 28, 2026.\n ETFIQ etfiq.com \u00b7 independent ETF data \n CTA vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees\n Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, CTA returned +18.4% to GLD's +2.5%, and GLD charges 0.40% to CTA's 0.75%.\n Copy this for sharing \n GLD costs 0.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.9 points; GLD is far larger, $135.8bn against $1.4bn.\n CTA and GLD at a glance. As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. CTA GLD \n Expense ratio 0.75% 0.40% \n Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.4bn $135.8bn \n Total return, 1 year +18.4% +2.5% \n What it tracks ","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, CTA against GLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld","a":{"ticker":"CTA","name":"Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF","issuer":"Simplify","desk":"alternatives","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, CTA returned 18.4%. When the S&P 500 fell, it rose 0.40% a week.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/cta","key_facts":[{"label":"Correlation with the S&P 500","value":"\u22120.19","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Beta to the S&P 500","value":"\u22120.36","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Down-week capture","value":"\u221236.1%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Against T-bills, 52 weeks","value":"+13.7 pts","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"12-month yield, capital gains included, on its starting price","value":"5.8%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and distributions"},{"label":"Last payment (paid monthly), ex-date Oct 27, 2026","value":"$0.13","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"Tiingo end-of-day distributions"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$1.4bn","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"issuer page, as of Oct 27, 2026"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.75%","as_of":"2025-10-31","source":"497 XBRL, Oct 31, 2025"}]},"b":{"ticker":"GLD","name":"SPDR Gold Shares","issuer":"State Street","desk":"core","as_of":"2026-10-28","verdict":"GLD holds gold and returned +2.5% over the past year.","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/gld","key_facts":[{"label":"Total return, 1 year","value":"+2.5%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices"},{"label":"Expense ratio","value":"0.40%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":null},{"label":"Below its high","value":"\u221224.7%","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ"},{"label":"Net assets","value":"$135.8bn","as_of":"2026-10-27","source":"the issuer\u2019s own daily fund list, as of Oct 27, 2026"},{"label":"Benchmark","value":"The price of gold, measured by IAU, which also holds gold","as_of":"2026-10-28","source":"ETFIQ, from its filings"}]},"overlap_pct":null,"overlap_note":"ETFIQ does not publish a holdings overlap for this pair. Either the funds are not compared on holdings, or one book is incomplete.","full_text_at":"https://etfiq.com/compare/any/cta-vs-gld"}