What is the expense ratio for IAU?

IAU (iShares Gold Trust) has an annual expense ratio of 0.25%, issued by iShares. This means for every $10,000 invested, you pay $25 per year in fund fees.

Is IAU a good ETF to buy?

iShares Gold Trust suits investors seeking exposure to Commodities & Real Assets. View the full analysis including performance score, tracking quality, diversification, and macro regime fit on Fisclear.

IAU — iShares Gold Trust | Fisclear

Today

+0.20%

3 Month

-16.83%

YTD

-0.22%

1 Year

+29.71%

Price Chart

251 trading days · Use "Compare" tab to overlay other ETFs + regimes

Price History

Compare — add ETFs, toggle regime overlay

Base 100 = start of period

IAU

Technical Analysis

Technical Signals

Daily closes · 1-year data

ETF Structural Score

ETF Score evaluates fund wrapper quality, historical performance, and macro regime fit. Not financial advice.

Key Statistics

AUM

—

Expense Ratio

0.25%

Trailing Yield

—

Equity

—

Fixed Income

—

Issuer

iShares

vs S&P 500 (SPY) — 1 Year

Beta

0.51

IAU moves 49% less than the S&P 500. Lower market sensitivity — more defensive.

Correlation to SPY

0.23

Low correlation — moves more independently. Adding this alongside SPY reduces portfolio volatility.

Annualised Volatility

26.7%

Standard deviation of daily returns annualised. S&P 500 long-run avg ≈ 15%. At 27%, IAU is significantly more volatile than the broad market.

Relative Performance — IAU vs SPY (base 100)

Base: 100 (day 1)

IAU: 129.7

SPY: 124.7

Alpha: +5.03 (outperformed)

About IAU

Physical gold trust. Lower expense ratio alternative to GLD.

Macro Regime Alignment

Historical analysis of which macro regimes have favoured IAU. Based on the regime's characteristic interest rate environment, growth conditions, and sector rotation patterns.

Stagflation

Growth ↓ · Inflation ↑

The most damaging regime: slowing growth while prices keep rising. The Fed faces a cruel dilemma. Gold and short bonds are the few safe havens.

Deflationary Bust

Growth ↓ · Inflation ↓

Growth contracting, prices falling. Credit markets seize, defaults rise. Long Treasuries and gold are dominant as investors flee risk.

Volatility Shock

Credit spreads ↑↑ · Stress spike

A financial panic or crisis. Credit markets seize, spreads blow out, and the financial stress index spikes. Cash, gold, and US Treasuries are the only safe havens. Everything else sells off indiscriminately.

Current regime: Inflationary Boom — this ETF is not historically among the strongest performers in the current macro environment. Consider checking which ETFs are regime-aligned on the ETF Explorer.

Disclaimer: All data sourced from Yahoo Finance and is for informational purposes only. Holdings, sector weights, and AUM update daily but may lag official fund disclosures. Performance figures are price-based and do not include dividends. Regime alignment reflects historical observations and does not guarantee future returns. Nothing on this page constitutes investment advice. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions.