Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IEI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IEI −1.1%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IEI?

IEI is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IAU vs IEI: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and IEI a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against −1.1%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $17.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF.

IAU on its own →IEI on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

−1.1%

IEI total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.15%

IEI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IEI costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.8 points; IAU is 3.5 times larger.

IAU vs IEI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IEI
Return
Measure	IAU	IEI
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	−1.1%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IEI
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IEI
What it tracks	Gold	ICE U.S. Treasury 3-7 Year Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IEI
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$17.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IEI
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IEI iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of 3-7 Year Treasury Bond

Total return, 1 year +2.7% −1.1%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD not measured

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.15%

Holdings not counted 82

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and IEI as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $17.0bn

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

Alert

About each fund

IAU

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.

IEI

IEI tracks an index of 3-7 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.1% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IEI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IEI −1.1%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IEI?: IEI is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs SHY IAU vs VGSH IAU vs SCHP IAU vs IGIB IEI vs SLV GLD vs IEI IEI vs USO BWET vs IEI

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IEI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IEI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IEI ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, IAU against IEI, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-iei

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