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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and JAAA +4.7%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or JAAA?

JAAA is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

GLD vs JAAA: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and JAAA an actively managed bond fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, JAAA returned +4.7% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $32.5bn on Oct 28, 2026 for Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF.

GLD on its own →JAAA on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+4.7%

JAAA total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.20%

JAAA expense ratio

Pair scorecard

JAAA costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.2 points; GLD is 4.2 times larger.

GLD vs JAAA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	JAAA
Return
Measure	GLD	JAAA
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+4.7%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	JAAA
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	JAAA
What it tracks	Gold	No index, actively managed
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	JAAA
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.20%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$135.8bn	$32.5bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	JAAA
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Risk and return

Oct 30, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026 · 312 weekly returns

GLD JAAA

Return

Total return edge GLD +108.1% +31.1%

Annualized edge GLD +13.0% +4.6%

Price return edge GLD +108.1% +1.6%

Risk

Volatility edge JAAA 16.5% 1.3%

Max drawdown edge JAAA −24.2% −2.5%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge JAAA 0.62 0.93

Sortino edge JAAA 0.94 1.24

Calmar edge JAAA 0.54 1.82

Reading

GLD returned more: +108.1% to +31.1%. JAAA swung less: 1.3% to 16.5%. JAAA fell less at its worst: −2.5% to −24.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GLD vs JAAA: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	JAAA	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+108.1%	+31.1%	GLD	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+13.0%	+4.6%	GLD	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+108.1%	+1.6%	GLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	16.5%	1.3%	JAAA	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.0%	1.0%	JAAA	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−24.2%	−2.5%	JAAA	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.62	0.93	JAAA	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.94	1.24	JAAA	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.54	1.82	JAAA	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 312 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares JAAA Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street Janus Henderson

What it is Holds gold Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +4.7%

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

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU not measured

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.20%

Holdings not counted 598

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and JAAA as of Oct 28, 2026 $135.8bn $32.5bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-F1A03A5F66

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

What each follows. GLD follows Gold and JAAA follows No index, actively managed.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and JAAA +4.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.2 points.
Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and JAAA 0.20%, a gap of 0.20 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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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 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.

JAAA

JAAA is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.7% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or JAAA?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and JAAA +4.7%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or JAAA?: JAAA is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs TIP GLD vs VBIL GLD vs PFF GLD vs LQD IAU vs JAAA GLDM vs JAAA JAAA vs SLV JAAA vs SIVR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

JAAA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

JAAA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Janus Henderson page for JAAA ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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