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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPYG +12.2%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SPYG?

SPYG 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 SPYG: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and SPYG an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYG returned +12.2% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $55.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF.

IAU on its own →SPYG on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+12.2%

SPYG total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.04%

SPYG expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPYG costs 0.21 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.5 points; IAU is 1.1 times larger.

IAU vs SPYG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	SPYG
Return
Measure	IAU	SPYG
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+12.2%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	SPYG
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	4.1%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	SPYG
What it tracks	Gold	S&P 500 Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	SPYG
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.04%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$55.9bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	SPYG
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		59.6%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust SPYG State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P 500 Growth

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +12.2%

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

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +0.1 pts vs IVW

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.04%

Holdings not counted 152

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SPYG as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $55.9bn

IAU and SPYG 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.

SPYG

SPYG tracks the S&P 500 Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.2% with distributions reinvested, against +12.1% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Growth Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 152 positions, with the top ten at 59.6%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SPYG?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPYG +12.2%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SPYG?: SPYG 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 SCHG IAU vs VONG IAU vs MGK IAU vs QQQM SLV vs SPYG SPYG vs USO BWET vs SPYG GLD vs SPYG

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

SPYG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SPYG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

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

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