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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPYD +15.3%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SPYD?

SPYD is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 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 SPYD: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

IAU is a commodity fund and SPYD an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYD returned +15.3% against +2.7%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about IAU and SPYD

Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $7.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF.

IAU on its own →SPYD on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+15.3%

SPYD total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.07%

SPYD expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPYD costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 12.6 points; IAU is 8.0 times larger.

IAU vs SPYD: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	SPYD
Return
Measure	IAU	SPYD
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+15.3%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	SPYD
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	4.1%, high on Aug 24, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	SPYD
What it tracks	Gold	S&P 500 High Dividend Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	SPYD
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.07%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$7.5bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	SPYD
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		99%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		16.1%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust SPYD State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

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

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +15.3%

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% 0.07%

Holdings not counted 79

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SPYD as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $7.5bn

IAU and SPYD 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.

SPYD

SPYD tracks the S&P 500 High Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 99% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 79 positions, with the top ten at 16.1%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Aug 24, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SPYD?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPYD +15.3%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SPYD?: SPYD is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs SPHD AVLV vs IAU FNDX vs IAU CGDV vs IAU SLV vs SPYD GLD vs SPYD SIVR vs SPYD SPYD vs USO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

SPYD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SPYD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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