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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XOP +62.5%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or XOP?

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 XOP: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU and XOP are both commodity funds, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, XOP returned +62.5% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $4.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF.

IAU on its own →XOP on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+62.5%

XOP total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.35%

XOP expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 59.8 points; IAU is 13.1 times larger.

IAU vs XOP: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	XOP
Return
Measure	IAU	XOP
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+62.5%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	XOP
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	24.8%, high on Jun 23, 2014
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	XOP
What it tracks	Gold	S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	XOP
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$4.6bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	XOP
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust XOP State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +62.5%

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 52

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and XOP as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $4.6bn

IAU and XOP 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.

XOP

XOP tracks the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +62.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. It sat 24.8% below its high of Jun 23, 2014 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or XOP?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XOP +62.5%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or XOP?: 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 VDE IAU vs IYE IAU vs XLE IAU vs KRE SLV vs XOP USO vs XOP SIVR vs XOP BWET vs XOP

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

XOP filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XOP 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 XOP, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-xop

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