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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and USMV +10.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or USMV?

USMV 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 USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and USMV an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USMV returned +10.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $24.1bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF.

IAU on its own →USMV on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

Pair scorecard

USMV costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.1 points; IAU is 2.5 times larger.

IAU vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	USMV
Return
Measure	IAU	USMV
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+10.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	USMV
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	USMV
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	USMV
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$24.1bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	USMV
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		93%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		14.8%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +10.8%

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% 0.15%

Holdings not counted 176

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and USMV as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $24.1bn

IAU and USMV 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.

USMV

USMV tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 176 positions, with the top ten at 14.8%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or USMV?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and USMV +10.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or USMV?: USMV 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

AVUS vs IAU DYNF vs IAU IAU vs SCHB IAU vs XLG SLV vs USMV USMV vs USO BWET vs USMV GLD vs USMV

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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