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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SHY +1.6%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SHY?

SHY 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 SHY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and SHY a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against +1.6%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $27.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF.

IAU on its own →SHY on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+1.6%

SHY total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.15%

SHY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SHY costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.1 points; IAU is 2.2 times larger.

IAU vs SHY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	SHY
Return
Measure	IAU	SHY
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+1.6%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	SHY
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	SHY
What it tracks	Gold	ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	SHY
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$27.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	SHY
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust SHY iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +1.6%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +1.7% (BBSB)

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

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.15%

Holdings not counted 90

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SHY as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $27.4bn

IAU and SHY 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.

SHY

SHY tracks an index of 1-3 Year Treasury Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.6% with distributions reinvested, against +1.7% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SHY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SHY +1.6%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SHY?: SHY 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 VGSH IAU vs IEI IAU vs SCHP IAU vs PFF SHY vs SLV SHY vs USO GLD vs SHY SHY vs SIVR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

SHY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SHY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for SHY ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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