IAU vs LIT: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk
IAU and LIT are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. IAU is iShares Gold Trust, while LIT is Global X - Lithium & Battery Tech ETF. IAU has the lower expense ratio. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has IAU ahead on AIQ Score, 57 versus 38.
| Metric | IAU | LIT |
|---|---|---|
| Fund | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.75% |
| Holdings | 1 | 46 |
| Average volume | 5,491,996 | 224,936 |
| Performance | ||
| 1Y return | -3% | +11.9% |
| YTD return | -4.6% | -0.9% |
| 5Y annualized returnTotal return, distributions reinvested | +17.7% | -6% |
| Risk | ||
| Annualized volatility | 29.2% | 30.6% |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -26.4% | -30.1% |
| Max drawdown (5Y)Total return, distributions reinvested | -26.4% | -65.9% |
| Beta | 0.80 | 1.43 |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.08 | 0.43 |
| Sortino ratio | -0.10 | 0.68 |
| AlgovestIQ | ||
| AIQ Score | 57/100 | 38/100 |
| AIQ Edge Score | 6/10 | 2/10 |
| Momentum | 39/100 | 26/100 |
| Risk Resilience | 56/100 | 60/100 |
AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison
iShares Gold Trust vs Global X - Lithium & Battery Tech ETF
IAU leads
IAU leads by 19 AIQ points, primarily on Quality and Momentum, and the lead has widened from 13 points over 30 sessions.
Competitive: 2 of 3 evidence groups support IAU, its lead is widening, and its current signal state is conflicted.
iShares Gold Trust
Global X - Lithium & Battery Tech ETF
The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors IAU over LIT, 57 versus 38 as of Oct 21, 2026. IAU's advantage is driven primarily by stronger quality and momentum, while LIT holds the stronger risk resilience profile. IAU also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 2 of 3 covered evidence groups favor IAU today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader is throwing conflicting signals. IAU lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 13 to 19 points over 30 sessions.
Compare iShares Gold Trust and Global X - Lithium & Battery Tech ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.
IAU vs LIT: which fits what
Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.
| If you want | IAU | LIT | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower costExpense ratio | 0.25% | 0.75% | IAU |
| Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 5 years | -26.4% | -65.9% | IAU |
| Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year | 29.2% | 30.6% | IAU |
Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.
Performance over time
Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.
Total return comparison
Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested
Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.
Compare IAU and LIT against another ticker
Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.
AIQ Factor Divergence
Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.
- Quality72 vs 46IAU +26
- Momentum39 vs 26IAU +13
- Risk Resilience56 vs 60LIT +4
2 of 3 evidence groups favor IAU. IAU’s edge is concentrated in quality and momentum; LIT keeps a meaningful risk resilience edge.
What changed since the last close
Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.
No factor moved materially.
New signals
- ATR Contraction - Coiling — neutral, volatility, short horizon (1.50%)
Largest factor move: Momentum -1
No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 4 active signals are unchanged.
IAU's lead widened by 1 AIQ point in the latest session.
Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — IAU and LIT both carry a full feed there.
The central trade-off
IAU (iShares Gold Trust): the stronger current systematic profile, led by quality and momentum.
LIT (Global X - Lithium & Battery Tech ETF): the counter-case, on risk resilience.
Fund facts, side by side
Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.
| Measure | IAU | LIT | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.75% | Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold. |
| Holdings | 1 | 46 | More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns. |
| Average volume | 5,491,996 | 224,936 | Liquidity — matters most if you trade size. |
| Annualized volatility | 29.2% | 30.6% | Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure. |
| Max drawdown (1Y) | -26.4% | -30.1% | The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year. |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.08 | 0.43 | Return per unit of risk. Higher is better. |
| Beta | 0.80 | 1.43 | Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio. |
Where the exposure actually sits
Sector exposure for each fund, ordered by the size of the difference.
AIQ Agreement Matrix
2 of 3 covered evidence groups favor IAU. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.
| Evidence group | Favors | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| AIQ Score | IAU | 57 vs 38 |
| Fundamentals | Not covered | Not covered |
| Valuation | Not covered | Not covered |
| Technicals | IAU | Price vs 50-day -4.4% vs -11.7%; vs 200-day -8.9% vs -14.2% |
| Risk Resilience | LIT | Risk Resilience 56 vs 60 |
| Analyst expectations | Not covered | Not covered |
✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of IAU and LIT and are excluded from the count.
AIQ Decision Stability
The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.
- The AIQ gap is wide at 19 points. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader's advantage has been widening. (supports the conclusion holding)
- The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on IAU.
How the comparison changed
120 daily snapshots · Jun 21 – Oct 20IAU lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 13 to 19 points over 30 sessions.
- Today
- IAU +19
- 57 vs 38
- 7 sessions ago
- IAU +16
- 55 vs 39
- 30 sessions ago
- IAU +13
- 51 vs 38
- 90 sessions ago
- IAU +12
- 69 vs 57
The lead has not changed hands in this window.
AIQ Signal Divergence
Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.
1 bullish / 2 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted
Only IAU
- Bollinger Band Squeeze — neutral, volatility, short horizon
- ATR Contraction - Coiling — neutral, volatility, short horizon (1.50%)
- MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon
0 bullish / 4 bearish
Only LIT
- Keltner Channel Breakdown — bearish, volatility, short horizon
- MACD Bearish Crossover — bearish, momentum, short horizon
Both carry 2 more signals that do not separate them: Death Cross Active, Downtrend Structure Active.
IAU leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.
Price vs model alignment
Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.
Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +0.35%, AIQ 0 points).
Price and the AIQ Score both moved down over the latest session (price -1.66%, AIQ -1 points).
What would flip this result
A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.
- 1LIT closes the Quality gap — currently 26 points behind, the largest single contributor to IAU's edge.
- 2LIT's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
- 3IAU's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 1 bullish and 2 bearish rules at once.
- 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.
The full evidence
Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.
Performance
IAU leads 4 of 6 windows| Metric | IAU | LIT |
|---|---|---|
| 1 week (5 sessions) | -1% | -5% |
| 1 month (20 sessions) | -5.6% | -9.9% |
| 3 months (63 sessions) | -0.3% | -6.9% |
| 6 months (126 sessions) | -12% | -22.1% |
| Year to date | -4.6% | -0.9% |
| 1 year (252 sessions) | -3% | 11.9% |
Technicals
IAU has the stronger structure| Metric | IAU | LIT |
|---|---|---|
| RSI (14) | 46.3 | 33.3 |
| ADX (14) | 16.3 | 28.7 |
| Price vs 50-day | -4.4% | -11.7% |
| Price vs 200-day | -8.9% | -14.2% |
| Volatility (1M, annualized) | 21% | 20.6% |
Risk
LIT is the more resilient| Metric | IAU | LIT |
|---|---|---|
| Beta | 0.8 | 1.43 |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.08 | 0.43 |
| Sortino ratio | -0.1 | 0.68 |
| Max drawdown | -26.4% | -30.1% |
| Current drawdown | -23.8% | -29.9% |
| Annualized volatility | 29.2% | 30.6% |
| Value at risk (95%) | -3.2% | -3% |
Straight answers
Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.
Which has the lower expense ratio?
IAU has the lower expense ratio, 0.25% a year against 0.75% for LIT.
Which ETF has been more volatile?
LIT has been more volatile over the past year, at 30.6% annualized against 29.2% for IAU.
Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?
IAU fell less from peak to trough over the past five years: -26.4% against -65.9% for LIT.
Compare IAU and LIT with others
Continue your research
This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.
How this comparison is scored
The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.
The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.
How to use side-by-side comparison →This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.