Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GLDM vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
GLDM is a commodity fund and TLT a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GLDM returned +2.8% against −7.9%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $30.6bn for SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust and $47.4bn for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.
Pair scorecard
GLDM costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.7 points; TLT is 1.5 times larger.
| Measure | GLDM | TLT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.8% | −7.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.5%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | 42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold | ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.10% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $30.6bn | $47.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
Risk and return
Jul 6, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026 · 433 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GLDM against GLD, Jul 6, 2018 to Oct 23, 2026; TLT against BBLB, Apr 28, 2023 to Oct 23, 2026.
GLDM returned more: +215.1% to −15.6%. TLT swung slightly less: 14.6% to 16.0%. GLDM fell less at its worst: −24.0% to −47.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GLDM | TLT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +215.1% | −15.6% | GLDM | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.8% | −2.0% | GLDM | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +215.1% | −33.7% | GLDM | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 16.0% | 14.6% | TLT (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.5% | 10.7% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −24.0% | −47.8% | GLDM | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.0% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.6% | 101.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.01 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.77 | −0.26 | GLDM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.17 | −0.35 | GLDM | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.123 | −0.072 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.62 | −0.04 | GLDM | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | GLD | BBLB | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.3% a year | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.42 | −0.01 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.1% to +0.7% | −0.8% to +0.8% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.43 | −0.10 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.6% | 0.7% | 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 TLT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GLDM and TLT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. GLDM follows Gold and TLT follows ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLDM returned +2.8% and TLT −7.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.7 points.
- Cost (similar). GLDM charges 0.10% of assets a year and TLT 0.15%, a gap of 0.05 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
TLT
TLT tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −7.9% with distributions reinvested, against −7.8% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. It sat 42.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, GLDM or TLT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLDM returned +2.8% and TLT −7.9%.
- Which is cheaper, GLDM or TLT?
- GLDM is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, GLDM against TLT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gldm-vs-tlt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). GLDM against TLT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gldm-vs-tlt
[GLDM against TLT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gldm-vs-tlt)
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