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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWC +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IWC?

IAU is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 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 IWC: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and IWC an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWC returned +16.5% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $1.2bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Micro-Cap ETF.

IAU on its own →IWC on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+16.5%

IWC total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.60%

IWC expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.8 points; IAU is far larger, $60.3bn against $1.2bn.

IAU vs IWC: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IWC
Return
Measure	IAU	IWC
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+16.5%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IWC
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	9.5%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IWC
What it tracks	Gold	Russell Microcap Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IWC
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.60%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$1.2bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IWC
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		92%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		5.9%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IWC iShares Micro-Cap ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the Russell Microcap

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +16.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +13.3% (IWV)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +3.2 pts vs IWV

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.60%

Holdings not counted 1365

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and IWC as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $1.2bn

IAU and IWC 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.

IWC

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.

IWC tracks the Russell Microcap. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.60% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,365 positions, with the top ten at 5.9%. It sat 9.5% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IWC?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWC +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IWC?: IAU is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs IJT IAU vs VB IAU vs IJR IAU vs VTWO IWC vs SLV GLD vs IWC IWC vs SIVR IWC vs USO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IWC filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IWC prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IWC ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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