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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SCHG +6.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SCHG?

SCHG is cheaper, by 0.21 percentage points a year. That is about $21 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 SCHG: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and SCHG an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SCHG returned +6.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $63.0bn on Aug 31, 2026 for Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF.

IAU on its own →SCHG on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+6.8%

SCHG total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.04%

SCHG expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SCHG costs 0.21 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.1 points.

IAU vs SCHG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	SCHG
Return
Measure	IAU	SCHG
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+6.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	SCHG
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	3.5%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	SCHG
What it tracks	Gold	Dow Jones U.S. Large-Cap Growth Total Stock Market Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	SCHG
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.04%
Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SCHG as of Aug 31, 2026	$60.1bn	$63.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	SCHG
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		95%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		51.0%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust SCHG Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Schwab

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of U.S. Large-Cap Growth

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +6.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +13.7% (IVV)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD −6.9 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.04%

Holdings not counted 192

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SCHG as of Aug 31, 2026 $60.1bn $63.0bn

IAU and SCHG 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.

SCHG

SCHG tracks an index of U.S. Large-Cap Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings filed for Aug 31, 2026, 95% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 192 positions, with the top ten at 51.0%. It sat 3.5% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SCHG?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SCHG +6.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SCHG?: SCHG is cheaper, by 0.21 percentage points a year. That is about $21 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs ONEQ IAU vs QQQ IAU vs MAGS IAU vs XOVR SCHG vs SLV SCHG vs USO BWET vs SCHG GLD vs SCHG

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

SCHG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SCHG 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 SCHG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-schg

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