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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and URTH +13.1%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or URTH?

URTH is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 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 URTH: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and URTH an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, URTH returned +13.1% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $8.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares MSCI World ETF.

GLD on its own →URTH on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+13.1%

URTH total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.24%

URTH expense ratio

Pair scorecard

URTH costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.6 points; GLD is 15.4 times larger.

GLD vs URTH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	URTH
Return
Measure	GLD	URTH
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+13.1%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	URTH
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	URTH
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI World Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	URTH
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.24%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$135.8bn	$8.8bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	URTH
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		69%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		27.2%

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares URTH iShares MSCI World ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the MSCI World

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +13.1%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) +13.4% (ACWI)

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU −0.3 pts vs ACWI

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.24%

Holdings not counted 1254

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and URTH as of Oct 28, 2026 $135.8bn $8.9bn

GLD and URTH on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 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 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.

URTH

URTH tracks the MSCI World. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 69% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,254 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or URTH?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and URTH +13.1%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or URTH?: URTH is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs VT ACWI vs GLD GLD vs INDA GLD vs VGK IAU vs URTH GLDM vs URTH SLV vs URTH SIVR vs URTH

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

URTH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

URTH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for URTH ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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