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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and SGOV +3.7%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or SGOV?

SGOV is cheaper, by 0.31 percentage points a year. That is about $31 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 SGOV: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and SGOV a short-term Treasury fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SGOV returned +3.7% against +2.5%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $135.8bn for SPDR Gold Shares and $117.0bn for iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF.

GLD on its own →SGOV on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+3.7%

SGOV total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.09%

SGOV expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SGOV costs 0.31 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.2 points; GLD is 1.2 times larger.

GLD vs SGOV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	SGOV
Return
Measure	GLD	SGOV
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+3.7%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	SGOV
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	SGOV
What it tracks	Gold	ICE 0-3 Month US Treasury Securities Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	SGOV
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$135.8bn	$117.0bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	SGOV
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Risk and return

Jun 5, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026 · 333 weekly returns

GLD SGOV

Return

Total return edge GLD +132.0% +20.8%

Annualized edge GLD +14.0% +3.0%

Price return edge GLD +132.0% +0.6%

Risk

Volatility edge SGOV 16.5% 0.3%

Max drawdown edge SGOV −24.2% 0.0%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge GLD 0.69 −0.46

Sortino edge GLD 1.04 −0.57

Calmar 0.58 Not measured

Reading

GLD returned more: +132.0% to +20.8%. SGOV swung less: 0.3% to 16.5%. SGOV fell less at its worst: 0.0% to −24.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GLD vs SGOV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	SGOV	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+132.0%	+20.8%	GLD	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+14.0%	+3.0%	GLD	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+132.0%	+0.6%	GLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	16.5%	0.3%	SGOV	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	10.9%	0.2%	SGOV	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−24.2%	0.0%	SGOV	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.69	−0.46	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	1.04	−0.57	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.58	Not measured		Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 333 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares SGOV iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of 0-3 month T-bills

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +3.7%

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% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 22

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $135.8bn $117.0bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-99C9F69D52

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

What each follows. GLD follows Gold and SGOV follows ICE 0-3 Month US Treasury Securities Index.
Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and SGOV 0.09%, a gap of 0.31 points.
One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and SGOV +3.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 1.2 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.

SGOV

SGOV tracks an index of 0-3 month T-bills. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.7% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or SGOV?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and SGOV +3.7%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or SGOV?: SGOV is cheaper, by 0.31 percentage points a year. That is about $31 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs PULS GLD vs VUSB GLD vs SHV GLD vs USFR IAU vs SGOV GLDM vs SGOV SGOV vs SLV SGOV vs SIVR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

SGOV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SGOV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SGOV ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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