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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPHD +11.0%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SPHD?

IAU is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 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 SPHD: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and SPHD an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPHD returned +11.0% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $3.3bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF.

IAU on its own →SPHD on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+11.0%

SPHD total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.30%

SPHD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.3 points; IAU is 18.3 times larger.

IAU vs SPHD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	SPHD
Return
Measure	IAU	SPHD
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+11.0%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	SPHD
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	4.2%, high on Aug 24, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	SPHD
What it tracks	Gold	S&P 500 Low Volatility High Dividend Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	SPHD
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.30%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$3.3bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	SPHD
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		95%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		28.2%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust SPHD Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Invesco

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +11.0%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD not measured

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.30%

Holdings not counted 59

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SPHD as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $3.3bn

IAU and SPHD 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.

SPHD

SPHD tracks the S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +11.0% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.30% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 95% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 59 positions, with the top ten at 28.2%. It sat 4.2% below its high of Aug 24, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SPHD?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPHD +11.0%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SPHD?: IAU is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs SPYD IAU vs VLUE FDVV vs IAU IAU vs PVAL SLV vs SPHD GLD vs SPHD SIVR vs SPHD SPHD vs USO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

SPHD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SPHD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Invesco page for SPHD ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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