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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SCHF +17.6%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SCHF?

SCHF is cheaper, by 0.22 percentage points a year. That is about $22 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 SCHF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and SCHF an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SCHF returned +17.6% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $69.7bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab International Equity ETF.

IAU on its own →SCHF on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+17.6%

SCHF total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.03%

SCHF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SCHF costs 0.22 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.9 points.

IAU vs SCHF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	SCHF
Return
Measure	IAU	SCHF
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+17.6%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	SCHF
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	4.4%, high on Aug 25, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	SCHF
What it tracks	Gold	FTSE Developed ex US Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	SCHF
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.03%
Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SCHF as of Aug 31, 2026	$60.1bn	$69.7bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	SCHF
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		13.8%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust SCHF Schwab International Equity ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Schwab

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of International Equity

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +17.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +12.1% (EFA)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +5.5 pts vs EFA

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 1475

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SCHF as of Aug 31, 2026 $60.1bn $69.7bn

IAU and SCHF 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.

SCHF

SCHF tracks an index of International Equity. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the MSCI EAFE Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,475 positions, with the top ten at 13.8%. It sat 4.4% below its high of Aug 25, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SCHF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SCHF +17.6%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SCHF?: SCHF is cheaper, by 0.22 percentage points a year. That is about $22 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs IXUS IAU vs IDEV IAU vs VXUS IAU vs IEFA SCHF vs SLV SCHF vs USO BWET vs SCHF GLD vs SCHF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

SCHF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SCHF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Schwab website ↗

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

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

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