Gold's been on a wild 12-month ride, to say the least. While it's still up around 25% in the last year, in that period, it's risen as high as 60% at times, and fallen nearly 25% from those highs. In the last month, gold has hovered around $4,000 per ounce.
Below is our complete list of best-performing gold ETFs. We exclude gold exchange-traded notes and leveraged gold ETFs, which may come with added risk or fees.
Best-performing gold ETFs
» Want to add these to your portfolio? See our list of the best brokers for ETF investing. These investment platforms offer a strong selection of tools for building a diversified portfolio, and our list only includes brokers that don't charge commissions for ETF trades.
The best-performing gold ETF by one-year return is iShares Gold Trust Micro (IAUM), which is up 28.00%. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ticker | Company | Performance (Year) | Net Expense Ratio | |||
IAUM | iShares Gold Trust Micro | 28.00% | 0.09% | |||
GLDM | SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust | 27.96% | 0.10% | |||
FGDL | Franklin Responsibly Sourced Gold ETF | 27.93% | 0.15% | |||
SGOL | Abrdn Gold ETF Trust | 27.85% | 0.17% | |||
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of August 7, 2026, and is intended for informational purposes only. | ||||||
Nerdy Perspective
Editor's Take
Looking at the data above, this all makes sense. The performance of these ETFs basically mirrors percentage changes in spot gold prices over the last year. Between these ETFs, there are no real differences in holdings or the weights assigned to them. It's just…gold. So, if you're trying to pick one over the other, I'd say it makes sense to focus on expense ratio. When you see expense ratios of 0.15% or higher, you have to wonder: what are you getting for that higher fee? 0.15% is a 67% increase over 0.09%, for example. While these numbers are small, that's a big difference, especially considering the goal of all of these ETFs is to track the price of gold bullion as closely as possible.
What are gold ETFs?
Gold ETFs are exchange-traded funds that give investors exposure to gold without having to directly purchase, store and resell the precious metal. Some gold ETFs track the price of gold, while others invest in companies in the gold-mining industry.
As with other types of ETFs, the issuing company buys stock in gold-related companies or purchases and stores gold bullion itself. Investors buy shares in the fund, whose value rises and falls with the underlying gold price or company stock value.
» MORE: 4 more ways to invest in gold
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How to invest in gold ETFs
Here’s how to buy shares in a gold ETF:
Step 1: Find a gold ETF
You can typically find gold ETFs by searching for them on your broker's website. (No broker? Here's how to open a brokerage account.)
Step 2: Analyze the ETF
It's important to research ETFs before buying, just as you'd research stocks. Two things to check before purchasing shares in a gold ETF:
- Returns. Most (but not all) gold ETFs are pegged to spot gold price, so returns should align with gold price moves.
- Expense ratio. This is the ETF's annual fee, paid out of your investment in the fund. Look for a low one.
And two important notes: The average investor may want to exercise caution when buying leveraged gold ETFs — these use derivatives and borrowed money to bet on future price movements. Another asset to be cautious about is gold exchange-traded notes. ETNs are unsecured debt obligations that don’t actually own the underlying gold (unlike ETFs) and have a greater risk of credit default.
These investments are more for professional investors and generally not suitable for the buy-and-hold strategy favored by many retirement investors.
Step 3: Buy the gold ETF
You can buy ETFs through an online broker just like you’d buy a stock. One approach is to buy them regularly to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging. This strategy means contributing a fixed dollar amount on a set schedule.
» Ready to invest? See our list of the best brokers for ETF investing.
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Neither the author nor editor held positions in the aforementioned investments at the time of publication.
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