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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XRT +2.4%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or XRT?

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 XRT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and XRT an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against +2.4%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $362m on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF.

IAU on its own →XRT on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+2.4%

XRT total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.35%

XRT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IAU costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.3 points; IAU is far larger, $60.3bn against $362m.

IAU vs XRT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	XRT
Return
Measure	IAU	XRT
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+2.4%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	XRT
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	9.9%, high on Nov 16, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	XRT
What it tracks	Gold	S&P Retail Select Industry Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	XRT
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$60.3bn	$362m
Holdings
Measure	IAU	XRT
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		22%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		16.6%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust XRT State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Holds gold Tracks the S&P Retail

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +2.4%

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 74

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and XRT as of Oct 27, 2026 $60.1bn $362m

IAU and XRT 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.

XRT

XRT tracks the S&P Retail. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 22% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 74 positions, with the top ten at 16.6%. It sat 9.9% below its high of Nov 16, 2021 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or XRT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and XRT +2.4%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or XRT?: 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 XHB IAU vs XLY IAU vs XOP IAU vs VOX SLV vs XRT SIVR vs XRT USO vs XRT BWET vs XRT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

XRT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

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