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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPYM +13.7%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or SPYM?

SPYM is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 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 SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and SPYM an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SPYM returned +13.7% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $185.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF.

IAU on its own →SPYM on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+13.7%

SPYM total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.02%

SPYM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPYM costs 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.0 points; SPYM is 3.1 times larger.

IAU vs SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	SPYM
Return
Measure	IAU	SPYM
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+13.7%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	SPYM
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	SPYM
What it tracks	Gold	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	SPYM
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.02%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$185.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	SPYM
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		100%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		38.1%

Method

Side by side

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

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +13.7%

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

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD 0.0 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.02%

Holdings not counted 506

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and SPYM as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $185.0bn

Former ticker none SPLG

IAU and SPYM 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.

SPYM

SPYM tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.02% 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 506 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or SPYM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and SPYM +13.7%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or SPYM?: SPYM is cheaper, by 0.23 percentage points a year. That is about $23 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs SCHX IAU vs IWB IAU vs QUAL DIA vs IAU SLV vs SPYM SPYM vs USO BWET vs SPYM GLD vs SPYM

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

SPYM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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