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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XHB −8.6%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or XHB?

IAU 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 XHB: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

IAU is a commodity fund and XHB an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against −8.6%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about IAU and XHB

Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $1.5bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF.

IAU on its own →XHB on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

−8.6%

XHB total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.35%

XHB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.3 points; IAU is far larger, $60.3bn against $1.5bn.

IAU vs XHB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	XHB
Return
Measure	IAU	XHB
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	−8.6%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	XHB
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	20.5%, high on Oct 18, 2024
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	XHB
What it tracks	Gold	S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	XHB
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$1.5bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	XHB
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		46%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		35.4%

Method

Risk and return

Feb 17, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,079 weekly returns

IAU XHB

Return

Total return edge IAU +582.7% +167.9%

Annualized edge IAU +9.7% +4.9%

Price return edge IAU +582.7% +119.5%

Risk

Volatility edge IAU 17.5% 32.4%

Max drawdown edge IAU −44.4% −81.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IAU 0.52 0.25

Sortino edge IAU 0.75 0.38

Calmar edge IAU 0.22 0.06

Reading

IAU returned more: +582.7% to +167.9%. IAU swung less: 17.5% to 32.4%. IAU fell less at its worst: −44.4% to −81.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IAU vs XHB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	XHB	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+582.7%	+167.9%	IAU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+9.7%	+4.9%	IAU	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+582.7%	+119.5%	IAU	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.5%	32.4%	IAU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	12.0%	21.8%	IAU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−44.4%	−81.4%	IAU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.52	0.25	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.75	0.38	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.22	0.06	IAU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,079 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust XHB State Street SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P Homebuilders

Total return, 1 year +2.7% −8.6%

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% 0.35%

Holdings not counted 34

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and XHB as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $1.5bn

IAU and XHB on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-91CD8FAE81

IAU and XHB do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. IAU follows Gold and XHB follows S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IAU returned +2.7% and XHB −8.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.3 points.
Cost. IAU charges 0.25% of assets a year and XHB 0.35%, a gap of 0.10 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

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.

XHB

XHB tracks the S&P Homebuilders. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −8.6% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 46% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 34 positions, with the top ten at 35.4%. It sat 20.5% below its high of Oct 18, 2024 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or XHB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XHB −8.6%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or XHB?: IAU 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 XRT IAU vs XLY IAU vs VHT IAU vs XLV USO vs XHB SLV vs XHB SIVR vs XHB BWET vs XHB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

XHB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XHB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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