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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and MTUM +18.4%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or MTUM?

MTUM is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 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 MTUM: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

IAU is a commodity fund and MTUM an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, MTUM returned +18.4% against +2.7%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about IAU and MTUM

Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $18.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF.

IAU on its own →MTUM on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+18.4%

MTUM total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.15%

MTUM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

MTUM costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.7 points; IAU is 3.2 times larger.

IAU vs MTUM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	MTUM
Return
Measure	IAU	MTUM
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+18.4%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	MTUM
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	11.9%, high on Jun 22, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	MTUM
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI USA Momentum SR Variant Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	MTUM
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$18.7bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	MTUM
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		93%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		35.5%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust MTUM iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the MSCI USA Momentum Factor

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +18.4%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +13.6% (MLRG)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +4.8 pts vs MLRG

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.15%

Holdings not counted 126

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and MTUM as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $18.7bn

IAU and MTUM 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.

MTUM

MTUM tracks the MSCI USA Momentum Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 126 positions, with the top ten at 35.5%. It sat 11.9% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or MTUM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and MTUM +18.4%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or MTUM?: MTUM is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs SPHQ IAU vs SPMO AVUS vs IAU IAU vs USMV MTUM vs SLV MTUM vs USO BWET vs MTUM GLD vs MTUM

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

MTUM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

MTUM prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for MTUM ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.