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

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

Which is cheaper, IAU or IXUS?

IXUS is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 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 IXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees

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

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $57.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF.

IAU on its own →IXUS on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+14.1%

IXUS total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.07%

IXUS expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IXUS costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.4 points.

IAU vs IXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	IXUS
Return
Measure	IAU	IXUS
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+14.1%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	IXUS
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	4.9%, high on Sep 4, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	IXUS
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	IXUS
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.07%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$57.6bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	IXUS
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		13.5%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust IXUS iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the MSCI Total International Stock

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +14.1%

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

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

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.07%

Holdings not counted 4584

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and IXUS as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $57.6bn

IAU and IXUS 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.

IXUS

IXUS tracks the MSCI Total International Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +14.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% 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 4,584 positions, with the top ten at 13.5%. It sat 4.9% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or IXUS?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and IXUS +14.1%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or IXUS?: IXUS is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs IEFA IAU vs VEU IAU vs SCHF EFA vs IAU IXUS vs SLV IXUS vs USO BWET vs IXUS GLD vs IXUS

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

IXUS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IXUS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IXUS ↗

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

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

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