Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GDX vs MTUM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDX returned +19.0% to MTUM's +18.4%, and MTUM charges 0.15% to GDX's 0.51%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.6bn for VanEck Gold Miners ETF and $18.7bn for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF.
Pair scorecard
MTUM costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.6 points; GDX is 1.4 times larger.
| Measure | GDX | MTUM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +19.0% | +18.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 27.5%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | |
| Below its high | 11.9%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold miners | MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant Index |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 5.6 pts | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.51% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25.6bn | $18.7bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 100% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 60% | 35.5% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026 · 704 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GDX against ACWI, Apr 4, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; MTUM against MLRG, Apr 26, 2013 to Oct 23, 2026.
MTUM returned more: +554.7% to +207.5%. MTUM swung less: 19.0% to 37.5%. MTUM fell less at its worst: −31.9% to −55.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDX | MTUM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +207.5% | +554.7% | MTUM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.7% | +14.9% | MTUM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +172.2% | +459.1% | MTUM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 37.5% | 19.0% | MTUM | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 25.6% | 13.0% | MTUM | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −55.7% | −31.9% | MTUM | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 50.2% | 106.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 74.9% | 101.7% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.76 | 1.02 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.13 | 0.76 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.36 | 0.73 | MTUM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.53 | 1.07 | MTUM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.127 | 0.135 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 0.47 | MTUM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +3.4% a year | +1.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.41 | 0.53 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −13.0% to +19.9% | −3.7% to +6.3% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.04 | 0.17 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 36.4% | 9.3% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 704 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, GDX and MTUM hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
GDX and MTUM on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GDX and MTUM do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. GDX follows Gold miners and MTUM follows MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant Index.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- Cost. GDX charges 0.51% of assets a year and MTUM 0.15%, a gap of 0.36 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.
MTUM
MTUM tracks the MSCI USA Momentum Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 126 positions, with the top ten at 35.5%. It sat 11.9% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are GDX and MTUM in the same category?
- GDX is a thematic ETF and MTUM is a stock 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 MTUM?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDX returned +19.0% and MTUM +18.4%.
- Which is cheaper, GDX or MTUM?
- MTUM is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 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 MTUM, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gdx-vs-mtum
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