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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and TLT −7.9%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or TLT?

TLT 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 TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and TLT a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against −7.9%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $47.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF.

IAU on its own →TLT on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

−7.9%

TLT total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.15%

TLT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

TLT costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.6 points; IAU is 1.3 times larger.

IAU vs TLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	TLT
Return
Measure	IAU	TLT
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	−7.9%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	TLT
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	42.6%, high on Aug 4, 2020
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	TLT
What it tracks	Gold	ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	TLT
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$47.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	TLT
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust TLT iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries

Total return, 1 year +2.7% −7.9%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) −7.8% (BBLB)

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

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.15%

Holdings not counted 47

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and TLT as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $47.4bn

IAU and TLT 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.

TLT

TLT tracks an index of 20+ year Treasuries. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −7.9% with distributions reinvested, against −7.8% for its benchmark, the ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. It sat 42.6% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or TLT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and TLT −7.9%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or TLT?: TLT 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 VGLT EDV vs IAU IAU vs IUSB IAU vs IEF SLV vs TLT GLD vs TLT TLT vs USO BWET vs TLT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

TLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

TLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for TLT ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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