iShares Gold Trust
IAU CommodityUpdated: Jul 5, 2026, 21:17 UTC
Key Metrics
About This ETF
The iShares Gold Trust (IAU) is a Commodity ETF with an expense ratio (TER) of 0.25% and $69.9B in assets under management. Year-to-date, IAU has returned -4.97%.
The Trust seeks to reflect such performance before payment of the Trust’s expenses and liabilities. It is not actively managed. The Trust does not engage in any activities designed to obtain a profit from, or to ameliorate losses caused by, changes in the price of gold. The advisor intends to constitute a simple and cost-effective means of making an investment similar to an investment in gold. An investment in physical gold requires expensive and sometimes complicated arrangements in connection with the assay, transportation, warehousing and insurance of the metal.
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Gold ETF comparison (GLD · IAU) ›FAQ — IAU
What is the TER of IAU (iShares Gold Trust)?
IAU has a Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 0.25 % per year. That sits below the commodity category median (0.65 % across 9 peer ETFs). The TER is deducted directly from the fund and lowers your effective return.
What return has IAU delivered?
Performance for IAU: YTD: -4.97 % · 3-year p.a.: +28.64 % · 5-year p.a.: +17.89 %. Over 5 years, IAU outperforms the commodity category median of +15.34 % by +2.55 pp. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.
Where can I buy or set up a savings plan for IAU?
IAU is available at most major brokers. For a free monthly savings plan from €1, look at Trade Republic, Scalable Capital or Flatex. The broker comparison on this site shows fees, free-savings-plan ETFs and execution exchanges side by side.
What is the iShares Gold Trust (IAU)?
The iShares Gold Trust tracks the price of physical gold and ranks among the world's largest gold products, with roughly $71.5B in assets. The trust holds real gold bars in secure vaults, sparing investors the expensive and complicated tasks of storing, insuring and transporting physical metal. With a 0.25% expense ratio, IAU serves many portfolios as a low-cost building block for diversification and a potential inflation hedge — precious-metal exposure without owning a safe of your own.
Performance & Drivers
Over the past three years IAU has returned about 31.38%, and roughly 18.29% over five years, while its year-to-date return stands at 3.72%. The 52-week range runs from $61.37 to $104.40, illustrating how sharply gold can move. Because the trust holds only physical gold, these figures track the gold price directly, less ongoing costs. Key drivers include real interest rates, the US dollar, central-bank buying and demand during periods of crisis and inflation. Gold pays no income; any return comes solely from price movement, so timing and the entry point matter.
Risk Profile
Gold generates no interest or dividends — the dividend yield is 0.0%. Your entire return depends on price, which can swing widely, as the 52-week range of $61.37 to $104.40 shows. The key point for euro-area investors: IAU is priced in US dollars. A weaker dollar against the euro can erode gains or deepen losses (currency risk).
- Price risk: multi-year stretches of stagnation are possible.
- Currency risk from the USD exposure.
- No ongoing income, while storage costs are embedded in the expense ratio.
Who is IAU for?
IAU suits long-horizon investors who want to diversify their portfolio and seek potential protection against inflation and market stress. As a satellite holding — often a low single-digit to low double-digit percentage — gold can dampen the swings of a stock-and-bond portfolio because it frequently behaves differently from those asset classes.
IAU is less suitable for investors who need regular income, since gold pays no interest or dividends. Those expecting short-term stability or predictable growth should also weigh its high price volatility. IAU is a diversification tool, not a replacement for a broadly diversified core portfolio.
How IAU Compares
Its most direct rival is SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), which also holds physical gold but has traditionally carried a higher expense ratio; at 0.25%, IAU is often viewed as the cheaper choice for long-term holders. Investors who prefer silver can consider the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) — more volatile and more industrially driven.
- GLD: physical gold, highly liquid, usually pricier than IAU.
- SLV: physical silver, higher volatility.
- PDBC: a broad commodity basket via futures rather than pure gold.
The right choice depends on whether you want pure gold, silver or broad commodities.
Where can I buy IAU?
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