Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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DGRW vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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DGRW is an equity index fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DGRW returned +11.1% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $16.6bn on Jun 30, 2026 for WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

At a glance
+11.1%
DGRW total return, 1 year
+2.7%
IAU total return, 1 year
0.28%
DGRW expense ratio
0.25%
IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.03 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.4 points.

DGRW vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureDGRWIAU
Return
Total return, 1 year+11.1%+2.7%
Drawdown
Below its high24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
What it tracksWisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth IndexGold
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.28%0.25%
Net assets, DGRW as of Jun 30, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026$16.6bn$60.1bn
Holdings
Holdings in commonnot published
In the S&P 500, by weight97%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund36.1%

Method

Risk and return

May 31, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 699 weekly returns
DGRW IAU
Return
Total return edge DGRW +418.8% +179.2%
Annualized edge DGRW +13.0% +7.9%
Price return edge DGRW +299.2% +179.2%
Risk
Volatility edge DGRW (slight) 14.7% 15.5%
Max drawdown edge IAU −29.8% −24.6%
Downside capture 92.1% 100.0%
Beta 0.89 1.00
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge DGRW 0.78 0.45
Sortino edge DGRW 1.11 0.66
Treynor 0.128 0.098
Calmar edge DGRW 0.44 0.32
Against the benchmark
Alpha +0.2% a year +0.1% a year
Alpha t-stat 0.19 0.67
Information ratio −0.29 0.18
Tracking error 4.0% 0.7%

Each against its own benchmark: DGRW against VOO, May 31, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026; IAU against GLD, Feb 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

DGRW returned more: +418.8% to +179.2%. DGRW swung slightly less: 14.7% to 15.5%. IAU fell less at its worst: −24.6% to −29.8%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
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Risk and return: DGRW vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureDGRWIAUEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+418.8%+179.2%DGRWPrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+13.0%+7.9%DGRWTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return+299.2%+179.2%DGRWPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility14.7%15.5%DGRW (slight)Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation10.3%10.5%DGRW (slight)Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−29.8%−24.6%IAUDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture85.5%100.4%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture92.1%100.0%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta0.891.00Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.941.00Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.780.45DGRWReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino1.110.66DGRWReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.1280.098Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.440.32DGRWAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkVOOGLDThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha+0.2% a year+0.1% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat0.190.67Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−1.7% to +2.1%−0.2% to +0.4%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio−0.290.18Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error4.0%0.7%Not an edgeHow far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 699 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

DGRW WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund IAU iShares Gold Trust
Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF
What it is Tracks an index of U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Holds gold
Total return, 1 year +11.1% +2.7%
Its benchmark over the same days +13.7% (VOO) +2.5% (GLD)
Gap to its benchmark −2.6 pts vs VOO +0.2 pts vs GLD
Expense ratio 0.28% 0.25%
Holdings 197 not counted
Net assets, DGRW as of Jun 30, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $16.6bn $60.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-BC90ECF6A0

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

  1. What each follows. DGRW follows WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index and IAU follows Gold.
  2. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DGRW returned +11.1% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 8.4 points.
  3. Cost (similar). DGRW charges 0.28% of assets a year and IAU 0.25%, a gap of 0.03 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
DGRW

DGRW tracks an index of U.S. Quality Dividend Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +11.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.28% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 197 positions, with the top ten at 36.1%.

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, DGRW or IAU?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DGRW returned +11.1% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, DGRW or IAU?
IAU is cheaper, by 0.03 percentage points a year. That is about $3 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, DGRW against IAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dgrw-vs-iau

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