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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and XLE +61.2%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or XLE?

XLE 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 XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and XLE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLE returned +61.2% against +2.5%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $135.8bn for SPDR Gold Shares and $45.2bn for State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF.

GLD on its own →XLE on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+61.2%

XLE total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.08%

XLE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLE costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 58.7 points; GLD is 3.0 times larger.

GLD vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	XLE
Return
Measure	GLD	XLE
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+61.2%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	XLE
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	XLE
What it tracks	Gold	Energy Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	XLE
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$135.8bn	$45.2bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	XLE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		78.1%

Method

Risk and return

Nov 26, 2004 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,143 weekly returns

GLD XLE

Return

Total return edge GLD +709.5% +584.8%

Annualized edge GLD (slight) +10.0% +9.1%

Price return edge GLD +709.5% +268.2%

Risk

Volatility edge GLD 17.3% 27.9%

Max drawdown edge GLD −44.7% −68.9%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge GLD 0.53 0.39

Sortino edge GLD 0.77 0.55

Calmar edge GLD 0.22 0.13

Reading

GLD returned more: +709.5% to +584.8%. GLD swung less: 17.3% to 27.9%. GLD fell less at its worst: −44.7% to −68.9%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GLD vs XLE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	XLE	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+709.5%	+584.8%	GLD	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.0%	+9.1%	GLD (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+709.5%	+268.2%	GLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.3%	27.9%	GLD	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	19.9%	GLD	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−44.7%	−68.9%	GLD	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.53	0.39	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.77	0.55	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.22	0.13	GLD	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,143 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares XLE State Street Energy 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 Energy

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +61.2%

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 22

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $135.8bn $45.2bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-F8CA121214

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

What each follows. GLD follows Gold and XLE follows Energy Select Sector Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and XLE +61.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 58.7 points.
Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and XLE 0.08%, a gap of 0.32 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.

XLE

XLE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +61.2% 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 22 positions, with the top ten at 78.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or XLE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and XLE +61.2%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or XLE?: XLE 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 VDE GLD vs XOP GLD vs IYE GLD vs XLV IAU vs XLE GLDM vs XLE SLV vs XLE SIVR vs XLE

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

XLE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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