Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GLDM vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
GLDM and IAU are both commodity funds, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GLDM returned +2.8% against +2.7%.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about GLDM and IAU
Net assets: $30.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust, and $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust.
Pair scorecard
GLDM costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points; IAU is 2.0 times larger.
| Measure | GLDM | IAU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.8% | +2.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.5%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | 24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold | Gold |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.10% | 0.25% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $30.6bn | $60.3bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
Risk and return
Jul 6, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026 · 433 weekly returns · each against GLDGLDM and IAU returned about the same: +215.1% and +212.3%. GLDM and IAU swung about the same: 16.0% and 16.1%. GLDM and IAU fell about the same at their worst: −24.0% and −24.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GLDM | IAU | GLD | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +215.1% | +212.3% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +14.8% | +14.7% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +215.1% | +212.3% | Tie | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 16.1% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 10.5% | 10.6% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −24.0% | −24.1% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 100.0% | 100.2% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 99.6% | 99.9% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Tie | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.77 | 0.76 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.17 | 1.15 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.123 | 0.122 | 0.120 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.62 | 0.61 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | GLD | GLD | GLD | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.3% a year | +0.2% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.42 | 1.03 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.1% to +0.7% | −0.1% to +0.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.43 | 0.33 | GLDM | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 433 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
GLDM and IAU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GLDM and IAU are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Cost. GLDM charges 0.10% of assets a year and IAU 0.25%, a gap of 0.15 points.
- What each follows (similar). Both follow Gold.
- One-year total return (similar). Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLDM returned +2.8% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 0.1 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
Its expense ratio is 0.10% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.
GLDM holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.8% with distributions reinvested, against +2.5% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.5% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Its expense ratio is 0.25% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.
IAU holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.7% with distributions reinvested, against +2.5% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.6% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, GLDM or IAU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLDM returned +2.8% and IAU +2.7%.
- Which is cheaper, GLDM or IAU?
- GLDM is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, GLDM against IAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gldm-vs-iau
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). GLDM against IAU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gldm-vs-iau
[GLDM against IAU (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gldm-vs-iau)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.