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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IJS +19.3%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IJS?

IJS is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 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 IJS: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and IJS an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IJS returned +19.3% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $7.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF.

IAU on its own →IJS on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+19.3%

IJS total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.18%

IJS expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IJS costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 16.6 points; IAU is 7.8 times larger.

IAU vs IJS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IJS
Return
Measure	IAU	IJS
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+19.3%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IJS
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	5.7%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IJS
What it tracks	Gold	S&P SmallCap 600 Value Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IJS
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.18%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$7.7bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IJS
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		8.8%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IJS iShares S&P Small-Cap 600 Value ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P Small-Cap 600 Value

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +19.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +19.2% (SLYV)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +0.1 pts vs SLYV

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.18%

Holdings not counted 477

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and IJS as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $7.7bn

IAU and IJS 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.

IJS

IJS tracks the S&P Small-Cap 600 Value. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +19.3% with distributions reinvested, against +19.2% for its benchmark, the S&P SmallCap 600 Value Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 477 positions, with the top ten at 8.8%. It sat 5.7% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IJS?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IJS +19.3%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IJS?: IJS is cheaper, by 0.07 percentage points a year. That is about $7 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs VBR AVUV vs IAU IAU vs IWO IAU vs VBK IJS vs SLV GLD vs IJS IJS vs SIVR IJS vs USO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IJS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IJS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IJS ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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