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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and XLB +18.5%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or XLB?

XLB is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 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 XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and XLB an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLB returned +18.5% against +2.5%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $135.8bn for SPDR Gold Shares and $8.1bn for State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF.

GLD on its own →XLB on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+18.5%

XLB total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.08%

XLB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLB costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.0 points; GLD is 16.8 times larger.

GLD vs XLB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	XLB
Return
Measure	GLD	XLB
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+18.5%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	XLB
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	XLB
What it tracks	Gold	Materials Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	XLB
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$135.8bn	$8.1bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	XLB
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		58.5%

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares XLB State Street Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street State Street

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Materials

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +18.5%

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% 0.08%

Holdings not counted 25

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $135.8bn $8.1bn

GLD and XLB 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.

XLB

XLB tracks an index of Materials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 25 positions, with the top ten at 58.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or XLB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and XLB +18.5%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or XLB?: XLB is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs XHB GLD vs XLE GLD vs XLV GLD vs XLF IAU vs XLB GLDM vs XLB SLV vs XLB SIVR vs XLB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

XLB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLB 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 XLB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-xlb

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