Are GLD and TOAK in the same category?

GLD is a commodity ETF and TOAK 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 TOAK?

In the year to Oct 27, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +1.4% and TOAK +3.6%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or TOAK?

TOAK is cheaper, by 0.14 percentage points a year. That is about $14 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 27, 2026.

Across categories

GLD vs TOAK: Differences, Returns & Fees

Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, GLD returned +1.4% to TOAK's +3.6%, and TOAK charges 0.26% to GLD's 0.40%.

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Net assets: $134.6bn on Oct 26, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $90m on May 31, 2026 for Manager Directed Portfolios Twin Oak Short Horizon Absolute Return ETF.

GLD on its own →TOAK on its own →

At a glance

+1.4%

GLD total return, 1 year

+3.6%

TOAK total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.26%

TOAK expense ratio

Pair scorecard

TOAK costs 0.14 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.2 points.

GLD vs TOAK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	TOAK
Return
Measure	GLD	TOAK
Total return, 1 year	+1.4%	+3.6%
Total return, 52 weeks		+3.6%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	TOAK
Below its high	24.9%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Against its benchmark
Measure	GLD	TOAK
What it tracks	Gold	not published
Treasury bills, 52 weeks		+3.7%
Against cash		0.1 points behind
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	TOAK
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.26%
Net assets, GLD as of Oct 26, 2026 and TOAK as of May 31, 2026	$134.6bn	$90m
Holdings
Measure	GLD	TOAK
Holdings in common	not published
Risk
Measure	GLD	TOAK
Correlation with the S&P 500’s weekly returns		+0.17
Beta to the S&P 500		+0.04: about 0.04% for each 1%
Its average week when the S&P 500 fell		fell 0.02%
Down-week capture		1.9%
Weeks the S&P 500 fell		25 of 52, by 1.10% on average

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares TOAK Manager Directed Portfolios Twin Oak Short Horizon Absolute Return ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Alternatives ETF

Issuer State Street Manager Directed Portfolios

What it is Holds gold Hedged equity

Total return, 1 year +1.4% +3.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +1.6% (IAU) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU not measured

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.26%

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 26, 2026 and TOAK as of May 31, 2026 $134.6bn $90m

GLD and TOAK on the fields both publish, as of Oct 27, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

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 27, 2026 it returned +1.4% with distributions reinvested, against +1.6% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.9% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 27, 2026.

TOAK

TOAK is a hedged equity fund. ETFIQ measures what every alternatives fund is sold on: whether it moves differently from the stock market. Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, its weekly returns had a correlation of +0.17 with the S&P 500’s and a beta of +0.04, so for each 1% the index moved it moved about 0.04% the same way. The S&P 500 fell in 25 of those 52 weeks, by 1.10% on average. In the same weeks TOAK fell 0.02% on average, a down-week capture of 1.9%. Over the same 52 weeks TOAK returned +3.6% and a Treasury bill fund +3.7%, so it finished 0.1 percentage points behind cash.

Questions people ask

Are GLD and TOAK in the same category?: GLD is a commodity ETF and TOAK 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 TOAK?: In the year to Oct 27, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +1.4% and TOAK +3.6%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or TOAK?: TOAK is cheaper, by 0.14 percentage points a year. That is about $14 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

ATTR vs GLD GLD vs QBER GLD vs TAIL GLD vs THEQ TOAK vs VOO QQQ vs TOAK SPY vs TOAK IVV vs TOAK

Where to next

BIL, the T-bill fund these are measured against →SPY, the S&P 500 fund these are measured against →GLD on its own →TOAK on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

TOAK filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

TOAK prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, GLD against TOAK, data as of Oct 27, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-toak

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