Are GLD and MKTN the same kind of fund?

GLD is a commodity ETF and MKTN is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each holds.

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

In the year to Oct 1, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +7.1% and MKTN +12.5%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or MKTN?

GLD is cheaper, by 1.54 percentage points a year. On $10,000 held for a year that difference is about $154. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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GLD vs MKTN: how they differ

Over the year GLD returned +7.1% to MKTN's +12.5%, and GLD charges 0.40% to MKTN's 1.94%. SPDR Gold Shares and Federated Hermes MDT Market Neutral ETF.

+7.1%

GLD total return, 1 year

+12.5%

MKTN total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

1.94%

MKTN expense ratio

On the same fields

GLD

SPDR Gold Shares

MKTN

Federated Hermes MDT Market Neutral ETF

Where it sits Core fund Alternatives ETF

Issuer State Street Federated Hermes

What it is Holds gold Market neutral

Total return, 1 year +7.1% +12.5%

S&P 500 over the same days +15.7% +15.7%

Gap to the S&P 500 −8.6 pts −3.2 pts

Expense ratio 0.40% 1.94%

Net assets $141.7bn $107m

GLD and MKTN on the fields both publish, as of Oct 1, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

GLD in plain words

GLD holds gold. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026 it returned +7.1% with distributions reinvested, against +15.7% for the S&P 500 and +23.8% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.40% a year. It sat 23.2% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Sep 30, 2026.

MKTN in plain words

MKTN is a market neutral fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of −0.01 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of 0.00, so on average it did not move with the index at all. The S&P 500 fell in 25 of those 52 weeks, by 1.15% on average. In the same weeks MKTN rose 0.40% on average, a down-week capture of −35.0%. Over the same 52 weeks MKTN returned +13.9% and a Treasury bill fund +3.6%, so it finished 10.2 percentage points ahead of cash.

Questions people ask

Are GLD and MKTN the same kind of fund?: GLD is a commodity ETF and MKTN is an alternatives ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each holds.
Which returned more over the last year, GLD or MKTN?: In the year to Oct 1, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +7.1% and MKTN +12.5%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or MKTN?: GLD is cheaper, by 1.54 percentage points a year. On $10,000 held for a year that difference is about $154. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

GLD vs SPMO GLD vs SPSB GLD vs SPY GLD vs SPYD IVV vs MKTN MKTN vs QQQ MKTN vs SPY MKTN vs TLT

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →GLD on its own →MKTN on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

State Street website ↗MKTN filings on SEC EDGAR ↗MKTN prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Federated Hermes website ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, GLD against MKTN, data as of Oct 1, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-mktn

Open data

Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.