Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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DYNF vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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DYNF is an actively managed equity fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DYNF returned +14.5% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $42.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

At a glance
+14.5%
DYNF total return, 1 year
+2.7%
IAU total return, 1 year
0.26%
DYNF expense ratio
0.25%
IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.8 points; IAU is 1.4 times larger.

DYNF vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureDYNFIAU
Return
Total return, 1 year+14.5%+2.7%
Drawdown
Below its high24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
What it tracksNo index, actively managedGold
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.26%0.25%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026$42.7bn$60.3bn
Holdings
Holdings in commonnot published
In the S&P 500, by weight95%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund40.7%

Method

Risk and return

Mar 29, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 395 weekly returns
DYNF IAU
Return
Total return edge Tie +202.7% +203.5%
Annualized edge Tie +15.7% +15.7%
Price return edge IAU +170.1% +203.5%
Risk
Volatility edge IAU 19.3% 16.6%
Max drawdown edge IAU −32.7% −24.1%
Downside capture 102.2% 100.0%
Beta 1.03 1.00
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe edge IAU 0.71 0.79
Sortino edge IAU 1.02 1.21
Treynor 0.132 0.098
Calmar edge IAU 0.48 0.65
Against the benchmark
Alpha −0.1% a year +0.1% a year
Alpha t-stat −0.05 0.67
Information ratio 0.09 0.18
Tracking error 3.9% 0.7%

Each against its own benchmark: DYNF against PBUS, Mar 29, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026; IAU against GLD, Feb 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

DYNF and IAU returned about the same: +202.7% and +203.5%. IAU swung less: 16.6% to 19.3%. IAU fell less at its worst: −24.1% to −32.7%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured
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Risk and return: DYNF vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureDYNFIAUEdgeHow it is measured
Return
Total return+202.7%+203.5%TiePrice change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized+15.7%+15.7%TieTotal return as a yearly rate.
Price return+170.1%+203.5%IAUPrice change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility19.3%16.6%IAUSpread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation13.4%10.9%IAULike volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown−32.7%−24.1%IAUDeepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture104.8%100.4%Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture102.2%100.0%Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta1.031.00Not an edgeHow far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared0.961.00Not an edgeShare of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe0.710.79IAUReturn above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino1.021.21IAUReturn above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor0.1320.098Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar0.480.65IAUAnnualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
BenchmarkPBUSGLDThe ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha−0.1% a year+0.1% a yearNot significantYearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat−0.050.67Not an edgeHow sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range−2.9% to +2.7%−0.2% to +0.4%Includes zeroThe 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio0.090.18Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error3.9%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, 395 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

DYNF iShares U.S. Equity Factor Rotation Active ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust
Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF
What it is Actively managed Holds gold
Total return, 1 year +14.5% +2.7%
Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (PBUS) +2.5% (GLD)
Gap to its benchmark +1.2 pts vs PBUS +0.2 pts vs GLD
Expense ratio 0.26% 0.25%
Holdings 262 not counted
Net assets, DYNF as of Oct 27, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $42.7bn $60.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-2B7AFE9FA8

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

  1. What each follows. DYNF follows No index, actively managed and IAU follows Gold.
  2. One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DYNF returned +14.5% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.8 points.
  3. Cost (similar). DYNF charges 0.26% of assets a year and IAU 0.25%, a gap of 0.01 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund
DYNF

DYNF is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.5% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.26% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 95% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 262 positions, with the top ten at 40.7%.

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, DYNF or IAU?
In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DYNF returned +14.5% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, DYNF or IAU?
IAU is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
Other comparisons
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ETFIQ, DYNF against IAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dynf-vs-iau

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