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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and IAU +2.7%.

Which is cheaper, DFUS or IAU?

DFUS is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

DFUS vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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DFUS is an actively managed equity fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DFUS returned +13.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $20.9bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

DFUS on its own →IAU on its own →

At a glance

+13.8%

DFUS total return, 1 year

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

0.09%

DFUS expense ratio

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

DFUS costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.1 points.

DFUS vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	DFUS	IAU
Return
Measure	DFUS	IAU
Total return, 1 year	+13.8%	+2.7%
Drawdown
Measure	DFUS	IAU
Below its high		24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	DFUS	IAU
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	DFUS	IAU
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.25%
Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026	$20.9bn	$60.1bn
Holdings
Measure	DFUS	IAU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	89%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	34.6%

Method

Side by side

DFUS Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer Dimensional iShares

What it is Actively managed Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +13.8% +2.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (IWV) +2.5% (GLD)

Gap to its benchmark +0.5 pts vs IWV +0.2 pts vs GLD

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.25%

Holdings 2236 not counted

Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $20.9bn $60.1bn

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

Alert

About each fund

DFUS

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.

DFUS is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 89% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,236 positions, with the top ten at 34.6%.

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, DFUS or IAU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, DFUS or IAU?: DFUS is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

DFUS vs GLDM DFUS vs GLD DFUS vs SLV DFUS vs SIVR DYNF vs IAU IAU vs SCHB DIA vs IAU IAU vs QUAL

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

DFUS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

DFUS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Dimensional website ↗

iShares page for IAU ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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