Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
HGER vs IAU: Differences, Returns & Fees
HGER is an equity index fund and IAU a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, HGER returned +46.9% against +2.7%.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $5.0bn for Harbor Commodity All-Weather Strategy ETF and $60.1bn for iShares Gold Trust.
Pair scorecard
IAU costs 0.43 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 44.2 points; IAU is 12.0 times larger.
| Measure | HGER | IAU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +46.9% | +2.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Quantix Commodity Index | Gold |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.68% | 0.25% |
| Net assets | $5.0bn | $60.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Holdings dated | Jul 31, 2026 | |
Risk and return
Feb 18, 2022 to Oct 23, 2026 · 244 weekly returnsHGER returned slightly more: +114.7% to +108.4%. HGER and IAU swung about the same: 17.0% and 17.2%. HGER fell less at its worst: −18.2% to −24.1%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | HGER | IAU | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +114.7% | +108.4% | HGER (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +17.7% | +16.9% | HGER (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +79.8% | +108.4% | IAU | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.0% | 17.2% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.0% | 11.1% | HGER (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −18.2% | −24.1% | HGER | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.80 | 0.75 | HGER (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.35 | 1.17 | HGER | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.97 | 0.70 | HGER | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 244 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
HGER and IAU on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
HGER and IAU do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. HGER follows Quantix Commodity Index and IAU follows Gold.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 HGER returned +46.9% and IAU +2.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 44.2 points.
- Cost. HGER charges 0.68% of assets a year and IAU 0.25%, a gap of 0.43 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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HGER
HGER tracks an index of Harbor Commodity All-Weather Strategy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +46.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.68% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 0 positions, with the top ten at not published.
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, HGER or IAU?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, HGER returned +46.9% and IAU +2.7%.
- Which is cheaper, HGER or IAU?
- IAU is cheaper, by 0.43 percentage points a year. That is about $43 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, HGER against IAU, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hger-vs-iau
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). HGER against IAU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/hger-vs-iau
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