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Data as of .

AUAU vs GDX: which is really different?

AUAU and GDX hold 84% of their weight in the same names.

Global X Gold Miners ETF and VanEck Gold Miners ETF.

12.5%AUAU in the S&P 500
10.9%GDX in the S&P 500
+17.2%AUAU total return, 1 year
+39.8%GDX total return, 1 year

ETFIQ Off-Index Score: AUAU scores higher

How much of it is not the index it is sold as an alternative to?

AUAU 77.7GDX 77.70.1, the lowest in this set91.8, the highest

A percentile among the 379 thematic ETFs with a holdings filing. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All thematic ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed

AUAU88% of its weight is outside the S&P 500 · 6 months to Sep 18, 2026
13%88%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 100% · top ten 57% of the fund · 119 holdings filed Sep 18, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 0% in13%88%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 100% · top ten 57% of the fund
GDX89% of its weight is outside the S&P 500 · 1 year to Sep 18, 2026
11%89%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 100% · top ten 59% of the fund · 59 holdings filed Sep 17, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 0% in11%89%inof its weight outside the S&P 500active share 100% · top ten 59% of the fund

84% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, AUAU and GDX hold 84% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Positions AUAU and GDX both hold, largest shared weight first
HoldingAUAUGDX
NEWMONT CORP12.45%10.88%
AGNICO EAGLE MINES LTD9.73%10.99%
BARRICK MINING CORP6.79%7.75%
WHEATON PRECIOUS METALS CORP6.57%5.74%
ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI PLC4.99%4.96%
FRANCO-NEVADA CORP4.89%5.22%
GOLD FIELDS LTD-SPONS ADR3.71%4.11%
KINROSS GOLD CORP3.25%4.12%
NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LTD2.12%2.45%
PAN AMERICAN SILVER CORP1.98%2.72%
COEUR MINING INC1.97%2.19%
ROYAL GOLD INC2.06%1.94%
Only in each
Only in AUAUOnly in GDX
ZIJIN MINING GROUP CO LTD-H 2.51%Industrias Penoles Sab De Cv 1.42%
DPM METALS INC 0.90%Zijin Gold International Co Ltd 1.18%
G MINING VENTURE CORP 0.84%Dundee Precious Metals Inc 0.94%
ZIJIN GOLD INTERNATIONAL CO 0.80%Amman Mineral Internasional Pt 0.72%
TRIPLE FLAG PRECIOUS MET 0.66%Zhaojin Mining Industry Co Ltd 0.61%
MERDEKA GOLD RESOURCES T-HDR 0.63%Artemis Gold Inc 0.59%
K92 MINING 0.49%K92 Mining Inc 0.59%
CASH 0.42%Bumi Resources Minerals Tbk Pt 0.50%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Sep 18, 2026.

Performance, window by window

AUAU and GDX over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ.
WindowTotal returnvs the S&P 500vs the Nasdaq-100
AUAUGDXAUAUGDXAUAUGDX
3 months+15.6%+15.7%+13.3 pts+13.5 pts+18.1 pts+18.2 pts
6 months+19.4%+19.2%+1.3 pts+1.1 pts−4.9 pts−5.1 pts
1 yearnot published+39.8%not published+23.2 ptsnot published+18.0 pts
3 yearsnot published+236.3%not published+157.8 ptsnot published+138.1 pts
Since launch+17.2%+133.2%+5.3 pts−670.3 pts+1.9 pts−1557.0 pts
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ
AUAU and GDX on the same fields, as of Sep 18, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
AUAU
Global X Gold Miners ETF
Holds 119 stocks in gold miners, 12% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
GDX
VanEck Gold Miners ETF
Holds 59 stocks in gold miners, 11% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
IssuerGlobal XVanEck
ThemeGold minersGold miners
In the S&P 50012.5%10.9%
Active share vs the S&P 50099.8%99.8%
In the Nasdaq-1000.0%0.0%
Holdings11959
Top ten, share of the fund57.0%58.5%
Expense ratio0.35%0.51%
Fee for the differing part0.35%0.51%
Total return, 1 year+17.2% (since launch on Dec 10, 2025)+39.8%
vs the S&P 500+5.3 pts+23.2 pts
vs the Nasdaq-100+1.9 pts+18.0 pts
Below its high−16.9%−17.6%
Net assets$7m$28.4bn

AUAU in plain words

By weight, 12% of AUAU's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 57% of the fund across 119 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 18, 2026. Since it launched on Dec 10, 2025 the fund returned +17.2% with distributions reinvested against +12.0% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 5.2 pts. It sits 16.9% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.

GDX in plain words

By weight, 11% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 58% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 18, 2026. Over the year to Sep 18, 2026 the fund returned +39.8% with distributions reinvested against +16.6% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 23.2 pts. It sits 17.6% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.

Questions people ask

Do AUAU and GDX hold the same stocks?
By their latest filings, 84% of their books are the same securities at the same weight, which is close to holding one of them twice. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, AUAU or GDX?
AUAU has 12% of its weight in S&P 500 names and GDX has 11%, so AUAU differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, AUAU or GDX?
AUAU charges 0.35% a year and GDX charges 0.51%, so AUAU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

AUAU against GDX, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 18, 2026. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, AUAU against GDX, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/auau-vs-gdx Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

How every figure is computed · Standards and sources