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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XLG +6.4%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or XLG?

XLG is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 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 XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and XLG an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XLG returned +6.4% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $11.9bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF.

IAU on its own →XLG on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+6.4%

XLG total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.20%

XLG expense ratio

Pair scorecard

XLG costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.7 points; IAU is 5.1 times larger.

IAU vs XLG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	XLG
Return
Measure	IAU	XLG
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+6.4%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	XLG
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	XLG
What it tracks	Gold	S&P 500 Top 50 Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	XLG
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.20%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$11.9bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	XLG
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		98%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		60.3%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust XLG Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Invesco

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P 500 top 50

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +6.4%

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

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD −7.3 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.20%

Holdings not counted 53

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and XLG as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $11.9bn

IAU and XLG 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.

XLG

XLG tracks the S&P 500 top 50. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +6.4% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.20% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 98% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 53 positions, with the top ten at 60.3%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or XLG?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XLG +6.4%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or XLG?: XLG is cheaper, by 0.05 percentage points a year. That is about $5 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

AVUS vs IAU DGRW vs IAU IAU vs MTUM IAU vs SPHQ SLV vs XLG GLD vs XLG SIVR vs XLG USO vs XLG

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

XLG filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XLG prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Invesco page for XLG ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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