Which returned more over the last year, FLKR or GLD?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FLKR returned +79.7% and GLD +2.5%.

Which is cheaper, FLKR or GLD?

FLKR is cheaper, by 0.31 percentage points a year. That is about $31 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

FLKR vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

FLKR is an equity index fund and GLD a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, FLKR returned +79.7% against +2.5%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about FLKR and GLD

Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF, and $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares.

FLKR on its own →GLD on its own →

At a glance

+79.7%

FLKR total return, 1 year

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

0.09%

FLKR expense ratio

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

FLKR costs 0.31 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 77.2 points; GLD is far larger, $134.6bn against $1.7bn.

FLKR vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FLKR	GLD
Return
Measure	FLKR	GLD
Total return, 1 year	+79.7%	+2.5%
Drawdown
Measure	FLKR	GLD
Below its high	24.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	FLKR	GLD
What it tracks	FTSE South Korea RIC Capped Index	Gold
Cost and size
Measure	FLKR	GLD
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.40%
Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026	$1.7bn	$134.6bn
Holdings
Measure	FLKR	GLD
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Holdings dated	Jun 30, 2026
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	64.6%

Method

Risk and return

Nov 17, 2017 to Oct 23, 2026 · 466 weekly returns

FLKR GLD

Return

Total return edge GLD +144.1% +198.4%

Annualized edge GLD +10.5% +13.0%

Price return edge GLD +92.4% +198.4%

Risk

Volatility edge GLD 29.4% 15.7%

Max drawdown edge GLD −50.1% −24.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge GLD 0.39 0.68

Sortino edge GLD 0.58 1.04

Calmar edge GLD 0.21 0.54

Reading

GLD returned more: +198.4% to +144.1%. GLD swung less: 15.7% to 29.4%. GLD fell less at its worst: −24.2% to −50.1%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: FLKR vs GLD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	FLKR	GLD	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+144.1%	+198.4%	GLD	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.5%	+13.0%	GLD	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+92.4%	+198.4%	GLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	29.4%	15.7%	GLD	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	20.0%	10.4%	GLD	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−50.1%	−24.2%	GLD	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.39	0.68	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.58	1.04	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.21	0.54	GLD	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 466 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

FLKR Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF GLD SPDR Gold Shares

Where it sits Stock ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer Franklin State Street

What it is Tracks the FTSE South Korea Holds gold

Total return, 1 year +79.7% +2.5%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +2.7% (IAU)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.2 pts vs IAU

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.40%

Holdings 156 not counted

Net assets, FLKR as of Oct 28, 2026 and GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 $1.9bn $135.8bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-986A4A7FF6

FLKR and GLD do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. FLKR follows FTSE South Korea RIC Capped Index and GLD follows Gold.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 FLKR returned +79.7% and GLD +2.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 77.2 points.
Cost. FLKR charges 0.09% of assets a year and GLD 0.40%, a gap of 0.31 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

Alert

About each fund

FLKR

FLKR tracks the FTSE South Korea. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +79.7% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 156 positions, with the top ten at 64.6%. It sat 24.1% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

GLD

Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

GLD holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, FLKR or GLD?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, FLKR returned +79.7% and GLD +2.5%.
Which is cheaper, FLKR or GLD?: FLKR is cheaper, by 0.31 percentage points a year. That is about $31 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

FLKR vs IAU FLKR vs GLDM FLKR vs SLV FLKR vs SIVR EWY vs GLD GLD vs VT GLD vs ILF FXI vs GLD

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

FLKR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

FLKR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Franklin website ↗

State Street website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FLKR against GLD, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/flkr-vs-gld

Open data →

Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.