Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

vsaskIQ about these two fundsAsk the committee about these two funds
Across categories

GLD vs HFMF: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share
Share on XDownload as PDF

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, GLD returned +2.8% to HFMF's +8.0%, and GLD charges 0.40% to HFMF's 0.97%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about GLD and HFMF

Net assets: $131.3bn on Nov 3, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $25m on Aug 31, 2026 for Unlimited HFMF Managed Futures ETF.

At a glance
+2.8%
GLD total return, 1 year
+8.0%
HFMF total return, 1 year
0.40%
GLD expense ratio
0.97%
HFMF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

GLD costs 0.57 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.2 points.

GLD vs HFMF: Differences, Returns & Fees
MeasureGLDHFMF
Return
Total return, 1 year+2.8%+8.0%
Total return, 52 weeks+8.3%
Drawdown
Below its high24.9%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Against its benchmark
What it tracksGoldnot published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks+3.7%
Against cash4.6 points ahead
Cost and size
Expense ratio0.40%0.97%
Net assets, GLD as of Nov 3, 2026 and HFMF as of Aug 31, 2026$131.3bn$25m
Holdings
Holdings in commonnot published
Risk
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns+0.18
Beta to the S&P 500+0.24: about 0.24% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fellfell 0.60%
Down-week capture56.2%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell26 of 52, by 1.07% on average

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares HFMF Unlimited HFMF Managed Futures ETF
Where it sits Commodity ETF Alternatives ETF
What it is Holds gold Managed futures
Total return, 1 year +2.8% +8.0%
Its benchmark over the same days +2.9% (IAU) not measured
Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs IAU not measured
Expense ratio 0.40% 0.97%
Net assets, GLD as of Nov 3, 2026 and HFMF as of Aug 31, 2026 $131.3bn $25m

GLD and HFMF on the fields both publish, as of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

GLD flows, by email on Sundays.

One-click unsubscribe. See Privacy.

About each fund
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 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.

HFMF

HFMF is a managed futures 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 +0.18 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.24, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.24% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 26 of those 52 weeks, by 1.07% on average. In the same weeks HFMF fell 0.60% on average, a down-week capture of 56.2%. Over the same 52 weeks HFMF returned +8.3% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 4.6 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are GLD and HFMF in the same category?
GLD is a commodity ETF and HFMF 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 HFMF?
In the year to Nov 4, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.8% and HFMF +8.0%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or HFMF?
GLD is cheaper, by 0.57 percentage points a year. That is about $57 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
Other comparisons
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, GLD against HFMF, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-hfmf

Open data →

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