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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and XLI +10.2%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or XLI?

XLI 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 XLI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and XLI an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLI returned +10.2% against +2.5%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $135.8bn for SPDR Gold Shares and $30.8bn for State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF.

GLD on its own →XLI on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+10.2%

XLI total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.08%

XLI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLI costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.7 points; GLD is 4.4 times larger.

GLD vs XLI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	XLI
Return
Measure	GLD	XLI
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+10.2%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	XLI
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026	9.4%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	XLI
What it tracks	Gold	Industrial Select Sector Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	XLI
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.08%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$135.8bn	$30.8bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	XLI
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		37.8%

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares XLI State Street Industrial 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 Industrials

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +10.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) +13.6% (SPY)

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU −3.4 pts vs SPY

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.08%

Holdings not counted 84

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $135.8bn $30.8bn

GLD and XLI 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.

XLI

XLI tracks an index of Industrials. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. 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 84 positions, with the top ten at 37.8%. It sat 9.4% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or XLI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and XLI +10.2%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or XLI?: XLI 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 XLC GLD vs VHT GLD vs XLF GLD vs XLP IAU vs XLI GLDM vs XLI SLV vs XLI SIVR vs XLI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

XLI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

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

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

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