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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and URTH +13.1%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or URTH?

URTH is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 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 URTH: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and URTH an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, URTH returned +13.1% against +2.7%.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $60.1bn for iShares Gold Trust and $8.9bn for iShares MSCI World ETF.

IAU on its own →URTH on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+13.1%

URTH total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.24%

URTH expense ratio

Pair scorecard

URTH costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.4 points; IAU is 6.8 times larger.

IAU vs URTH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	URTH
Return
Measure	IAU	URTH
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+13.1%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	URTH
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	URTH
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI World Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	URTH
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.24%
Net assets	$60.1bn	$8.9bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	URTH
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		69%
Holdings dated		Oct 27, 2026
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		27.2%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust URTH iShares MSCI World ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the MSCI World

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +13.1%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +13.4% (ACWI)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD −0.3 pts vs ACWI

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.24%

Holdings not counted 1254

Net assets $60.1bn $8.9bn

IAU and URTH 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.

URTH

URTH tracks the MSCI World. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.24% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 69% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,254 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or URTH?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and URTH +13.1%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or URTH?: URTH is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs IAU IAU vs VT IAU vs VPL IAU vs INDA SLV vs URTH GLD vs URTH SIVR vs URTH URTH vs USO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

URTH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

URTH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for URTH ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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