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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and SCHD +34.5%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or SCHD?

SCHD is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 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 SCHD: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and SCHD an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SCHD returned +34.5% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $112.3bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF.

GLD on its own →SCHD on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+34.5%

SCHD total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.06%

SCHD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SCHD costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 32.0 points.

GLD vs SCHD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	SCHD
Return
Measure	GLD	SCHD
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+34.5%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	SCHD
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	SCHD
What it tracks	Gold	Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	SCHD
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.06%
Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and SCHD as of Aug 31, 2026	$135.8bn	$112.3bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	SCHD
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		95%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		41.7%

Method

Risk and return

Oct 28, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 782 weekly returns

GLD SCHD

Return

Total return edge SCHD +116.1% +554.4%

Annualized edge SCHD +5.3% +13.3%

Price return edge SCHD +116.1% +306.8%

Risk

Volatility edge SCHD (slight) 15.6% 14.8%

Max drawdown edge SCHD −41.8% −31.5%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SCHD 0.30 0.80

Sortino edge SCHD 0.43 1.15

Calmar edge SCHD 0.13 0.42

Reading

SCHD returned more: +554.4% to +116.1%. SCHD swung slightly less: 14.8% to 15.6%. SCHD fell less at its worst: −31.5% to −41.8%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GLD vs SCHD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	SCHD	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+116.1%	+554.4%	SCHD	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+5.3%	+13.3%	SCHD	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+116.1%	+306.8%	SCHD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	15.6%	14.8%	SCHD (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	10.9%	10.4%	SCHD (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−41.8%	−31.5%	SCHD	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.30	0.80	SCHD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.43	1.15	SCHD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.13	0.42	SCHD	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 782 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares SCHD Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Schwab

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of US dividend

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +34.5%

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% 0.06%

Holdings not counted 99

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and SCHD as of Aug 31, 2026 $135.8bn $112.3bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-05E2CD956C

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

What each follows. GLD follows Gold and SCHD follows Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and SCHD +34.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 32.0 points.
Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and SCHD 0.06%, a gap of 0.34 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.

SCHD

SCHD tracks an index of US dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +34.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 95% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 99 positions, with the top ten at 41.7%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or SCHD?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and SCHD +34.5%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or SCHD?: SCHD is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs IWD GLD vs VYM GLD vs VTV GLD vs PVAL IAU vs SCHD GLDM vs SCHD SCHD vs SLV SCHD vs SIVR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

SCHD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SCHD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Schwab website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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