Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GDX vs GDXY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDX returned +19.0% to GDXY's +4.7%, and GDX charges 0.51% to GDXY's 1.00%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.6bn for VanEck Gold Miners ETF and $274m for YieldMax Gold Miners Option Income Strategy ETF.
Pair scorecard
GDX costs 0.49 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.3 points; GDX is far larger, $25.6bn against $274m.
| Measure | GDX | GDXY |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +19.0% | +4.7% |
| Price change, 1 year | rose 18.2% | fell 38.8% |
| Latest payout, annualized | 42.4% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 92% of the Oct 30, 2026 payment | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 27.5%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold miners | Benchmark: Gold miners, measured through GDX |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 5.6 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.51% | 1.00% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25.6bn | $274m |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 100% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 12% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 60% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
May 31, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 125 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GDX against ACWI, Apr 4, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; GDXY against GDX, May 31, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026.
GDX returned more: +131.5% to +51.2%. GDXY swung less: 33.7% to 43.3%. GDXY fell slightly less at its worst: −36.8% to −38.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDX | GDXY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +131.5% | +51.2% | GDX | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +41.8% | +18.8% | GDX | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +127.2% | −52.8% | GDX | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 43.3% | 33.7% | GDXY | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 26.5% | 22.9% | GDXY | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −38.4% | −36.8% | GDXY (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 50.2% | 44.0% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 74.9% | 93.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.76 | 0.76 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.13 | 0.97 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.92 | 0.55 | GDX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.51 | 0.81 | GDX | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.127 | 0.244 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 1.09 | 0.51 | GDX | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | GDX | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +3.4% a year | −11.9% a year | GDX not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.41 | −2.93 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −13.0% to +19.9% | −20.0% to −3.9% | GDX includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.04 | −1.79 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 36.4% | 11.9% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 125 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, GDX and GDXY hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
GDX and GDXY on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
GDX and GDXY do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. GDX follows Gold miners and GDXY is measured against Gold miners through GDX.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GDX returned +19.0% and GDXY +4.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 14.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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GDX
By weight, 12% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 60% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +19.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. It sits 27.5% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.
GDXY
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDXY paid 47.5% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 38.8%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned +4.7%. Gold miners (GDX) returned +19.0% over the same days, so a holder was behind by 14.3 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 42.4%, paid weekly. YieldMax estimates that 92% of the distribution paid Oct 30, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
Questions people ask
- Are GDX and GDXY in the same category?
- GDX is a thematic ETF and GDXY is an option-income ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, GDX or GDXY?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDX returned +19.0% and GDXY +4.7%.
- Which is cheaper, GDX or GDXY?
- GDX is cheaper, by 0.49 percentage points a year. That is about $49 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, GDX against GDXY, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gdx-vs-gdxy
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). GDX against GDXY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gdx-vs-gdxy
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