Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
GLD vs HFGM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, GLD returned +2.8% to HFGM's +2.4%, and GLD charges 0.40% to HFGM's 1.01%.
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Net assets: $131.3bn on Nov 3, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $151m on Aug 31, 2026 for Unlimited HFGM Global Macro ETF.
Pair scorecard
GLD costs 0.61 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points.
| Measure | GLD | HFGM |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.8% | +2.4% |
| Total return, 52 weeks | +2.2% | |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.9%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold | not published |
| Treasury bills, 52 weeks | +3.7% | |
| Against cash | 1.4 points behind | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 1.01% |
| Net assets, GLD as of Nov 3, 2026 and HFGM as of Aug 31, 2026 | $131.3bn | $151m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Risk | ||
| Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns | +0.61 | |
| Beta to the S&P 500 | +1.11: about 1.11% for each 1% | |
| Its average week when the S&P 500 fell | fell 1.87% | |
| Down-week capture | 174.2% | |
| Weeks the S&P 500 fell | 26 of 52, by 1.07% on average | |
Risk and return
Apr 25, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026 · 79 weekly returnsFrom Apr 2025 to Oct 2026, HFGM returned more: +28.8% to +16.8%. HFGM swung less: 17.4% to 22.2%. HFGM fell less at its worst: −13.4% to −26.5%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GLD | HFGM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +16.8% | +28.8% | HFGM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.7% | +18.1% | HFGM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +16.8% | +16.1% | GLD (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 22.2% | 17.4% | HFGM | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 15.1% | 11.0% | HFGM | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −26.5% | −13.4% | HFGM | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.39 | 0.82 | HFGM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.58 | 1.30 | HFGM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.41 | 1.36 | HFGM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 79 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
GLD and HFGM on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Client brief:
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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 Nov 4, 2026 it returned +2.8% with distributions reinvested, against +2.9% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.9% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Nov 4, 2026.
HFGM
HFGM is a global macro fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.61 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +1.11, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 1.11% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks HFGM fell 1.87% on average, a down-week capture of 174.2%. Over the same 52 weeks HFGM returned +2.2% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 1.4 percentage points behind cash.
Questions people ask
- Are GLD and HFGM in the same category?
- GLD is a commodity ETF and HFGM is an alternatives ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, GLD or HFGM?
- In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.8% and HFGM +2.4%.
- Which is cheaper, GLD or HFGM?
- GLD is cheaper, by 0.61 percentage points a year. That is about $61 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, GLD against HFGM, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-hfgm
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). GLD against HFGM. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-hfgm
[GLD against HFGM (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-hfgm)
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