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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWO +7.9%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or IWO?

IWO is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 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 IWO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and IWO an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWO returned +7.9% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $14.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF.

IAU on its own →IWO on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+7.9%

IWO total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.24%

IWO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IWO costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.2 points; IAU is 4.3 times larger.

IAU vs IWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IWO
Return
Measure	IAU	IWO
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+7.9%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IWO
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	9.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IWO
What it tracks	Gold	Russell 2000 Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IWO
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.24%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$14.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IWO
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		6.4%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IWO iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the Russell 2000 Growth

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +7.9%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +8.0% (VTWG)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD −0.1 pts vs VTWG

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.24%

Holdings not counted 1122

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and IWO as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $14.0bn

IAU and IWO 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.

IWO

IWO tracks the Russell 2000 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +7.9% with distributions reinvested, against +8.0% for its benchmark, the Russell 2000 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% 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 1,122 positions, with the top ten at 6.4%. It sat 9.9% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IWO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IWO +7.9%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IWO?: IWO is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs VBK IAU vs IJH IAU vs IWF IAU vs MOAT IWO vs SLV GLD vs IWO IWO vs USO BWET vs IWO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IWO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IWO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IWO ↗

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

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

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