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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWM +14.1%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IWM?

IWM is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 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 IWM: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and IWM an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWM returned +14.1% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $75.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Russell 2000 ETF.

IAU on its own →IWM on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+14.1%

IWM total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.19%

IWM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IWM costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.4 points; IWM is 1.3 times larger.

IAU vs IWM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IWM
Return
Measure	IAU	IWM
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+14.1%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IWM
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	7.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IWM
What it tracks	Gold	Russell 2000 Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IWM
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.19%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$75.5bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IWM
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		3.3%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the Russell 2000

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +14.1%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +14.3% (VTWO)

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

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.19%

Holdings not counted 1977

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and IWM as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $75.5bn

IAU and IWM 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.

IWM

IWM tracks the Russell 2000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.19% 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 1,977 positions, with the top ten at 3.3%. It sat 7.6% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IWM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWM +14.1%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IWM?: IWM is cheaper, by 0.06 percentage points a year. That is about $6 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs VB IAU vs IJR IAU vs IJT IAU vs IWC IWM vs SLV IWM vs USO IWM vs SIVR BWET vs IWM

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IWM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IWM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IWM ↗

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

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

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