# AAAU ETF: fees, returns, drawdowns and holdings

> What AAAU holds, its 0.18% yearly fee, returns by year, its worst drop, and which Tactfolio strategies hold it. Updated daily.

Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (AAAU) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) run by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Each share of this fund stands for a small amount of real gold bars kept in vaults. It charges 0.18% a year. From August 2018 to October 2026 it returned about 16.6% a year, and its worst drop was −26.3%.

Written by [the Tactfolio research team](https://tactfolio.com/about/editorial-policy). Fund facts checked October 17, 2026. Prices through October 16, 2026.

## Key points

- Expense ratio: 0.18% a year (about $18 on $10,000).
- Started trading on July 26, 2018.
- Last close: $41.07 on October 16, 2026.
- Return over the last year: −3.4%.
- Worst drop since 2018: −26.3%.
- No Tactfolio classic strategies hold it.

## How has AAAU done since 2018?

From August 2018 to October 2026, AAAU returned about 16.6% a year. The S&P 500 returned about 14.7% a year over the same dates. Say you put in $10,000 at the start. It would have been worth about $34,983 at the end, with every dividend reinvested.

| Period | AAAU | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 month | −2.5% | 1.5% |
| 3 months | 4.7% | 1.9% |
| 6 months | −13.1% | 9.3% |
| Year to date | −3.5% | 12.8% |
| 1 year | −3.4% | 16.8% |
| 3 years, per year | 29.3% | 22.0% |
| 5 years, per year | 18.5% | 12.8% |
| Since 2018, per year | 16.6% | 14.7% |

Periods longer than a year show the return per year (CAGR). Prices through October 16, 2026. Figures use daily closing prices adjusted for splits, with dividends reinvested. They do not include taxes or the cost of buying and selling. Past results do not tell you what will happen next.

## AAAU returns by month and year

AAAU rose in 55 of its 99 months (56%). Its best month was January 2026, at 12.5%. Its worst was June 2026, at −11.7%.

| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Full year |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 (part) | 12.5% | 8.5% | −11.0% | −1.5% | −1.5% | −11.7% | 0.9% | 9.9% | −6.7% | 0.3% |  |  | −3.5% |
| 2025 | 6.8% | 1.9% | 9.4% | 5.4% | 0.0% | 0.4% | −0.6% | 5.0% | 11.8% | 3.6% | 5.4% | 2.2% | 64.0% |
| 2024 | −1.4% | 0.4% | 8.6% | 3.1% | 1.6% | −0.1% | 5.3% | 2.1% | 5.1% | 4.3% | −3.2% | −1.4% | 27.0% |
| 2023 | 5.8% | −5.3% | 7.9% | 0.9% | −1.3% | −2.2% | 2.3% | −1.2% | −4.8% | 7.4% | 2.5% | 1.3% | 12.9% |
| 2022 | −1.6% | 6.2% | 1.3% | −2.0% | −3.2% | −1.6% | −2.5% | −3.0% | −2.8% | −1.8% | 8.4% | 3.0% | −0.5% |
| 2021 | −3.1% | −6.3% | −1.2% | 3.6% | 7.7% | −7.1% | 2.6% | 0.0% | −3.3% | 1.6% | −0.7% | 3.2% | −4.0% |
| 2020 | 4.5% | −0.6% | −0.1% | 7.1% | 2.5% | 2.9% | 10.7% | −0.4% | −4.1% | −0.5% | −5.5% | 7.1% | 25.0% |
| 2019 | 2.9% | −0.5% | −1.6% | −0.6% | 1.7% | 8.1% | 0.0% | 7.9% | −3.2% | 2.5% | −3.1% | 3.7% | 18.2% |
| 2018 (part) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 2.2% | −0.7% | 2.1% | 0.3% | 5.0% | 9.2% |

Each month runs from the last close of the month before. The first month counts from the first close.

## How risky is AAAU compared with the S&P 500?

Measured from October 2021 to October 2026, on the days both traded.

- **Beta 0.17.** When the S&P 500 moved 1% in a day, AAAU tended to move about 0.17%.
- **Correlation 0.15.** AAAU moved mostly on its own, apart from the S&P 500.
- **Up and down months.** In months the S&P 500 rose, AAAU rose 67% as much on average. In months it fell, AAAU fell 6% as much.

| Measure | AAAU | S&P 500 (SPY) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Return per year | 18.6% | 12.8% |
| Volatility | 18.8% | 17.1% |
| Worst drop | −26.3% | −24.5% |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.00 | 0.79 |
| Sortino ratio | 1.43 | 1.15 |
| Calmar ratio | 0.71 | 0.52 |

Volatility is how much the price swings in a year. The Sharpe ratio is return per unit of volatility, the Sortino ratio counts only the falls, and the Calmar ratio is the return per year over the worst drop. Higher ratios mean more return for the risk taken.

## Is AAAU above its 200-day average?

AAAU closed 7.9% below its 200-day average on October 16, 2026. A rule that holds AAAU only above that average would be out of it today.

- Its 50-day average is 4.2% below its 200-day average.
- It closed 22.8% below its highest close of the last 52 weeks.

A moving average is the average close over the last so many days. Trend rules such as [the 10-month moving average strategy](https://tactfolio.com/strategies/faber-10-month-moving-average.md) hold a fund only while it is above one. You can [build that rule for AAAU](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and backtest it in a minute.

## What was AAAU's worst drop?

A drawdown is how far a fund falls from its last high point. AAAU's worst fall was −26.3%, from January 29, 2026 to July 16, 2026. By October 16, 2026 it had not yet climbed back to that high. On October 16, 2026 it was 22.8% below its highest close.

| Drop | Started | Bottom | Back to the high | Fall took | Recovery took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −26.3% | Jan 29, 2026 | Jul 16, 2026 | Not yet | 6 months | n/a |
| −21.6% | Aug 6, 2020 | Sep 26, 2022 | Dec 27, 2023 | 2.1 years | 15 months |
| −12.4% | Mar 9, 2020 | Mar 19, 2020 | Apr 9, 2020 | 10 days | 21 days |
| −10.1% | Oct 20, 2025 | Nov 4, 2025 | Dec 22, 2025 | 15 days | 2 months |
| −8.1% | Oct 30, 2024 | Nov 15, 2024 | Jan 30, 2025 | 16 days | 2 months |

Big drops are normal for some funds. They matter because selling during a drop locks in the loss.

## What does AAAU hold?

Each share of this fund stands for a small amount of real gold bars kept in vaults. Its price follows the price of gold, minus the yearly fee. It does not pay interest or dividends.

It tracks the LBMA Gold Price PM.

| Fact | AAAU |
| --- | --- |
| Full name | Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF |
| Issuer | Goldman Sachs Asset Management |
| Expense ratio | 0.18% a year |
| Started trading | July 26, 2018 |
| Tracks | LBMA Gold Price PM |
| Type | Gold, ETF |
| Facts checked | October 17, 2026 on the [Goldman Sachs Asset Management fund page](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1708646/000119312526067559/d56933d10k.htm) |

## What is the AAAU expense ratio?

AAAU charges 0.18% a year. An expense ratio is the yearly fee a fund takes to run itself. On $10,000, a 0.18% fee comes to about $18 a year. Of the 162 ETFs on Tactfolio, 34% charge more.

You never get a bill for it. The fund takes the fee out of its own value a little each day.

## Which Tactfolio strategies hold AAAU?

No classic strategy holds AAAU yet. You can add it to your own rules in the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder) and see how they would have done.

## How does AAAU compare with similar ETFs?

Funds that can stand in for AAAU:

- [GLDM](https://tactfolio.com/etf/GLDM.md): SPDR Gold MiniShares, 0.1% a year
- [SGOL](https://tactfolio.com/etf/SGOL.md): abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF, 0.17% a year
- [BAR](https://tactfolio.com/etf/BAR.md): GraniteShares Gold Trust, 0.1749% a year
- [GLD](https://tactfolio.com/etf/GLD.md): SPDR Gold Shares, 0.4% a year

See [all 8 AAAU alternatives](https://tactfolio.com/alternatives/AAAU.md), compared on the same dates as AAAU.

## Test AAAU in your own rules

Tactfolio is a platform where you build rules-based investing strategies, backtest them on decades of real prices, share them, and run them automatically in your own Alpaca account. Open the [builder](https://tactfolio.com/builder), add AAAU, and see how a rule such as "hold it only above its 200-day average" would have done. Strategies run on daily prices and hold US stocks and ETFs only.

## The details

Prices come from Tactfolio's stored daily prices for AAAU and SPY. Each close is adjusted for splits, and dividends are reinvested on the day the fund pays them out. CAGR is the steady yearly return that turns the starting value into the ending value. Volatility is the yearly standard deviation of daily returns. Beta and correlation compare daily returns with the S&P 500 over the same dates.

Fund facts come from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. We checked them on October 17, 2026. Read [what a backtest simulates](https://tactfolio.com/docs/backtests.md) and [how to read drawdown and CAGR](https://tactfolio.com/docs/concepts/reading-a-backtest.md) for more on these measures.

## Research and test it

- [Commodities](https://tactfolio.com/learn/commodities-explained): Commodities are raw goods like oil, gold and wheat.
- [Risk parity](https://tactfolio.com/learn/risk-parity): Risk parity balances risk instead of dollars. See a simple stock and bond example, why funds use leverage, and what went wrong in 2022.
- [ETF screener](https://tactfolio.com/screener.md): A free ETF screener for 162 US-listed funds. Filter by type, issuer and fee, sort by returns or worst drop, and compare funds side by side.
- [ETF expense ratio](https://tactfolio.com/learn/etf-expense-ratio): What an ETF expense ratio is, how the fund charges it, and how 0.03% vs 1% adds up over 10 and 30 years, with real fund examples.
- [Backtest a portfolio](https://tactfolio.com/trading-tools/backtest-portfolio): Backtest a portfolio of US stocks and ETFs. Enter tickers and shares, pick when to rebalance, and get the results with a link to share.
- [Backtesting](https://tactfolio.com/backtesting): Free backtesting software for stocks, ETFs, and crypto perps.

## Common questions

### What is the expense ratio of AAAU?

AAAU charges 0.18% a year, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management as of October 17, 2026. That is about $18 a year for every $10,000 you hold.

### When did AAAU start trading?

AAAU started trading on July 26, 2018. It is run by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

### What does AAAU track?

AAAU tracks the LBMA Gold Price PM. Each share of this fund stands for a small amount of real gold bars kept in vaults.

### How much has AAAU returned per year?

From August 2018 to October 2026, AAAU returned about 16.6% a year with dividends reinvested. Its worst drop was −26.3%. Past returns do not tell you what it will do next.

### Is AAAU above its 200-day moving average?

On October 16, 2026, AAAU closed 7.9% below its 200-day moving average. This page updates after each US market close.

### Which strategies use AAAU?

None of Tactfolio's classic strategies hold AAAU yet. You can test it in your own rules in the builder.

## Sources

- [Goldman Sachs Asset Management: Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF fund page](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1708646/000119312526067559/d56933d10k.htm)

> Not financial advice. Tactfolio is a research and automation tool. It is not a broker or a financial adviser. This page is for education only. Backtests are hypothetical. They show how rules would have done on past prices, not how they will do. All investing involves risk, including losing the money you put in.