Gold ETF fees split three ways: GLDM charges 0.10%, IAU 0.25% and GLD 0.40%, according to each issuer’s own fund page as of September 9, 2026. On a $10,000 position that is $10, $25 and $40 a year. The spread matters more after the World Gold Council’s September 9 report showed an $18 billion August inflow, the second largest on record, and holdings at an all-time high of 4,189 tonnes.
Which gold ETF has the lowest fee right now?
SPDR Gold MiniShares (GLDM) is the cheapest of the three largest US physically backed gold funds at a 0.10% gross expense ratio, per State Street’s fund page. iShares Gold Trust (IAU) sits at 0.25%. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), the oldest and largest, charges 0.40% — four times GLDM.
All three are grantor trusts holding allocated bullion in vaults. None uses futures. None lends the metal out.
The differences that remain are fee, share price, spread and the size of the pool you trade against.
| Fund | Ticker | Expense ratio | Net assets (Sep 9, 2026) | NAV/share (Sep 9, 2026) | Inception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPDR Gold Shares | GLD | 0.40% | $149.07 billion | $404.85 | Nov 18, 2004 |
| iShares Gold Trust | IAU | 0.25% | $65.40 billion | $82.9952 | Jan 21, 2005 |
| SPDR Gold MiniShares | GLDM | 0.10% | $32.14 billion | $87.33 | Jun 25, 2018 |
Sources: SSGA fund pages for GLD and GLDM; iShares fund page for IAU, all as of September 9, 2026.
Why GLDM and GLD come from the same issuer
State Street sponsors both. GLDM launched in June 2018 explicitly as the low-cost sibling, aimed at buy-and-hold investors rather than traders.
That leaves State Street running the most expensive mainstream gold ETF and one of the cheapest at the same time. The fee gap is a product decision, not a custody difference.
What drove August’s $18 billion gold ETF inflow?
The World Gold Council’s August flows report, published September 9, 2026, recorded $18 billion of net global inflows into physically backed gold ETFs — the second-largest month ever. Collective holdings rose 121 tonnes to 4,189 tonnes, the highest on record, and assets under management climbed 16% to $615 billion.
The regional split is the part flow-watchers underweight. Europe, not the US, led.
- Europe: $7.9 billion — the strongest month on record, per the WGC.
- North America: $7.7 billion — third-largest monthly inflow on record.
- Asia: $2 billion — strongest since February 2026.
- Other regions: $234 million.
- By country: the UK took in $4.4 billion and France $1.5 billion, France’s strongest on record.
Spot gold closed at $4,383.00 an ounce on September 10, 2026, down 0.30% on the day, according to the USAGOLD daily market report. December futures traded at $4,439.70 that morning, per Yahoo Finance, with gold up 22.7% from a year earlier.
What do gold ETF fees actually cost on $10,000?
Expense ratios are charged against assets, so the dollar cost scales with the position. At today’s published rates, a $10,000 stake costs $10 a year in GLDM, $25 in IAU and $40 in GLD. The annual gap between the cheapest and dearest is $30 on $10,000 — trivial in isolation, not trivial compounded.
Here is the arithmetic, ignoring commissions and spreads:
- GLDM: $10,000 × 0.0010 = $10.00 per year
- IAU: $10,000 × 0.0025 = $25.00 per year
- GLD: $10,000 × 0.0040 = $40.00 per year
Scale it to a serious allocation. A $250,000 gold sleeve costs $250 a year in GLDM and $1,000 in GLD — a $750 annual difference for the same bar of metal in a vault.
The 10-year compounding drag
Fees accrue daily against net asset value, which means they compound against you. Hold $10,000 for ten years with the gold price flat and the balances diverge.
| Fund | Fee | Value after 10 years (gold flat) | Total cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| GLDM | 0.10% | $9,900.45 | $99.55 |
| IAU | 0.25% | $9,752.79 | $247.21 |
| GLD | 0.40% | $9,607.12 | $392.88 |
The math is $10,000 × (1 − fee)10. GLD costs $293.33 more than GLDM over the decade on a flat gold price, and more than that if gold rises, because the fee is levied on the larger balance.
That is the same cost-drag logic we ran on index funds in SPY vs VOO vs IVV and on crypto wrappers in the cheapest bitcoin ETF breakdown.
Is GLD worth 0.40% for its liquidity?
For a trader, sometimes. For a holder, the numbers do not support it. GLD’s $149.07 billion in net assets is 4.6 times GLDM’s $32.14 billion, and it charges four times the fee. Investors are paying roughly $596 million a year in sponsor fees on GLD assets — about $447 million more than the identical exposure would cost inside GLDM.
The liquidity argument is real but narrow. GLD’s dollar volume is the deepest in the category, and options on GLD are far more active than on GLDM, which matters if you write calls or trade size intraday.
It does not help someone dollar-cost-averaging into a 5% allocation. IAU’s fund page lists a 30-day median bid/ask spread of 0.01% — one basis point — so the execution cost gap at retail size is close to noise.
The skeptical read: GLD’s fee has never been cut since its 2004 launch, and $149 billion in sticky assets is exactly why it has not needed to be. Inertia, brand and options depth are doing the work that a fee cut would otherwise have to do.
Do gold ETFs and physical gold cost the same to own?
No. The cost structures are different in kind, not just size. An ETF charges a recurring percentage with no purchase premium. Physical bullion charges a one-time premium at purchase, a dealer haircut at sale, and storage or insurance in between.
FindBullionPrices.com tracked a low dealer ask of $4,386.49 for a random-year 1 oz American Gold Eagle on September 10, 2026 — a $25.04 premium, or 0.57%, over a referenced spot of $4,361.45, against a 30-day average premium of 0.84%.
At that premium, a single-coin purchase costs less upfront than five years of GLD’s fee on the same dollar amount. The catch sits on the exit: dealers buy back below spot, and that bid-ask round trip is the real cost of physical, not the sticker premium.
The 28% collectibles tax that applies to all of them
Here the ETFs get no relief. Physically backed gold trusts are structured as grantor trusts, so the IRS treats a shareholder as owning the underlying metal. IRS Topic 409 states that “net capital gains from selling collectibles (such as coins or art) are taxed at a maximum 28% rate.”
That ceiling applies to long-term gains in GLD, IAU and GLDM alike — above the 20% top rate on most long-term equity gains. Fee choice changes your cost; structure choice does not change your tax rate.
Which gold ETF fits which investor?
Match the fund to the holding period and the trade size. Long holders should optimize for the expense ratio because it compounds. Active traders and options users should optimize for depth and contract liquidity, where the fee is a rounding error against execution.
| Investor profile | Best fit on measurable costs | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Buy-and-hold, 5+ year horizon | GLDM (0.10%) | Lowest recurring drag; $99.55 total cost per $10,000 over 10 years at a flat gold price |
| Dollar-cost averaging monthly | GLDM or IAU | Fee dominates; IAU’s listed 0.01% 30-day median spread keeps entry cost minimal |
| Options seller / active trader | GLD (0.40%) | Deepest options chain and dollar volume in the category |
| Mid-size taxable account | IAU (0.25%) | Middle fee with a low published spread and $65.40 billion in assets |
| Wants metal in hand | Physical bullion | No recurring fee, but pays a purchase premium and a dealer sale haircut |
Does a September rate hike change the gold ETF math?
It changes the opportunity cost, not the fee comparison. Gold pays no coupon, so a higher policy rate raises what you give up to hold it. CME FedWatch put the odds of a 25-basis-point hike at the September 15–16 FOMC meeting at nearly 56% as of September 8, 2026, per CNBC’s reporting; prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket were at 48% and 49%.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said better-than-expected summer inflation readings “did not demonstrate that underlying trends had meaningfully improved.” Before his Jackson Hole remarks, markets had priced roughly 70% odds of no change.
By September 10, USAGOLD’s report put futures-implied hike odds at roughly 60% ahead of Friday’s CPI print. We covered how a 25-basis-point move reprices duration in Fed rate hike bond ETFs.
What a hike does not do is alter which wrapper is cheaper. If gold falls, the 0.40% fund still costs four times the 0.10% fund on whatever is left. Fee choice is the one variable an investor controls outright — the same point that decided XLE vs XOP.
Frequently asked questions about gold ETF fees
Is GLDM really the same gold as GLD?
Both are State Street-sponsored trusts holding allocated physical gold. The difference is the sponsor fee — 0.10% versus 0.40% — and share size, not the metal.
Why does GLD still have $149 billion if it costs four times more?
Assets are sticky. GLD launched in 2004, owns the deepest options market in the category, and many institutional mandates and model portfolios name it specifically. Switching in a taxable account also triggers a gain.
Are gold ETF gains taxed like stocks?
No. Physically backed gold trusts pass through as collectibles. IRS Topic 409 sets a maximum 28% rate on net long-term collectibles gains, versus 20% at the top for most equities.
Do gold ETFs pay a dividend or yield?
No. They hold bullion, which generates no income. The sponsor sells small amounts of gold to cover expenses, which is why share NAV drifts down relative to spot over time.
Which gold ETF has the tightest spread?
Of the three, iShares publishes a 30-day median bid/ask spread of 0.01% for IAU on its fund page. GLD’s dollar volume is larger, but at retail trade sizes the difference is marginal.
Did gold ETF holdings actually hit a record in August 2026?
Yes. The World Gold Council reported on September 9, 2026 that collective holdings rose 121 tonnes to 4,189 tonnes, “the highest on record,” with AUM up 16% to $615 billion.
Is it cheaper to buy a coin than an ETF?
Upfront, often yes at current premiums. Over a multi-year hold, it depends on the dealer’s buy-back spread and your storage costs, which the sticker premium does not capture.
The bottom line
On the one question that is measurable — what it costs to hold an ounce of gold in a US-listed wrapper — GLDM wins. It charges 0.10% against IAU’s 0.25% and GLD’s 0.40%, holds the same allocated bullion, and carries the identical 28% collectibles tax ceiling.
GLD’s premium buys exactly one thing: options and intraday depth. If you are not using them, you are paying $30 more per $10,000 per year than you have to, and $293 more over a decade.
August’s $18 billion inflow did not change any of that arithmetic. It just means more money is now paying whichever fee it chose.
This article is journalism, not investment advice. Do your own research before investing.
Sources
- World Gold Council — Gold ETF Flows: August 2026 (published September 9, 2026)
- SSGA — SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fund page
- iShares — iShares Gold Trust (IAU) fund page
- SSGA — SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM) fund page
- IRS — Topic No. 409, Capital Gains and Losses
- USAGOLD — Daily Precious Metals Market Report, September 10, 2026
- FindBullionPrices — 1 oz American Gold Eagle dealer prices
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