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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWF +0.9%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IWF?

IWF 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 IWF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and IWF an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against +0.9%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $124.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF.

IAU on its own →IWF on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+0.9%

IWF total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.18%

IWF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IWF costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.8 points; IWF is 2.1 times larger.

IAU vs IWF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IWF
Return
Measure	IAU	IWF
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+0.9%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IWF
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	4.8%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IWF
What it tracks	Gold	Russell 1000 Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IWF
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.18%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$124.7bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IWF
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		94%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		57.5%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IWF iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the Russell 1000 growth

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +0.9%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +1.1% (VONG)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD −0.2 pts vs VONG

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.18%

Holdings not counted 374

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and IWF as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $124.7bn

IAU and IWF 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.

IWF

IWF tracks the Russell 1000 growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +0.9% with distributions reinvested, against +1.1% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.18% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 94% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 374 positions, with the top ten at 57.5%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IWF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWF +0.9%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IWF?: IWF 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 QQQM IAU vs VUG IAU vs QQQ IAU vs SCHG IWF vs SLV IWF vs USO IWF vs SIVR BWET vs IWF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IWF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IWF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IWF ↗

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

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

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