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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EEM returned +16.3% and IAU +2.7%.

Which is cheaper, EEM or IAU?

IAU is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

EEM vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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EEM is an equity index fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EEM returned +16.3% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $29.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.

EEM on its own →IAU on its own →

At a glance

+16.3%

EEM total return, 1 year

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

0.72%

EEM expense ratio

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.6 points; IAU is 2.1 times larger.

EEM vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EEM	IAU
Return
Measure	EEM	IAU
Total return, 1 year	+16.3%	+2.7%
Drawdown
Measure	EEM	IAU
Below its high	10.8%, high on Jun 22, 2026	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	EEM	IAU
What it tracks	MSCI Emerging Markets Index	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	EEM	IAU
Expense ratio	0.72%	0.25%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$29.1bn	$60.3bn
Holdings
Measure	EEM	IAU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	37.2%

Method

Risk and return

Feb 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,133 weekly returns

EEM IAU

Return

Total return edge IAU +314.4% +805.4%

Annualized edge IAU +6.7% +10.6%

Price return edge IAU +170.8% +805.4%

Risk

Volatility edge IAU 23.5% 17.4%

Max drawdown edge IAU −62.6% −44.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IAU 0.32 0.56

Sortino edge IAU 0.46 0.82

Calmar edge IAU 0.11 0.24

Reading

IAU returned more: +805.4% to +314.4%. IAU swung less: 17.4% to 23.5%. IAU fell less at its worst: −44.4% to −62.6%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: EEM vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	EEM	IAU	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+314.4%	+805.4%	IAU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+6.7%	+10.6%	IAU	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+170.8%	+805.4%	IAU	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.5%	17.4%	IAU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.3%	11.9%	IAU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−62.6%	−44.4%	IAU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.32	0.56	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.46	0.82	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.11	0.24	IAU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,133 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

EEM iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF IAU iShares Gold Trust

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks an index of Emerging markets Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +16.3% +2.7%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +2.5% (GLD)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +0.2 pts vs GLD

Expense ratio 0.72% 0.25%

Holdings 1186 not counted

Net assets, EEM as of Oct 27, 2026 and IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 $29.1bn $60.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-BDDB6580E9

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

What each follows. EEM follows MSCI Emerging Markets Index and IAU follows Gold.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EEM returned +16.3% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 13.6 points.
Cost. EEM charges 0.72% of assets a year and IAU 0.25%, a gap of 0.47 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

EEM

EEM tracks an index of Emerging markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.72% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,186 positions, with the top ten at 37.2%. It sat 10.8% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

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, EEM or IAU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EEM returned +16.3% and IAU +2.7%.
Which is cheaper, EEM or IAU?: IAU is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

EEM vs GLDM EEM vs GLD EEM vs SLV EEM vs SIVR IAU vs VWO IAU vs IEMG EMXC vs IAU AVEM vs IAU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

EEM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

EEM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for EEM ↗

iShares page for IAU ↗

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

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

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