GOLI vs IAUI

GOLIDDefiance Gold Enhanced Options Income ETF

IAUIANEOS Gold High Income ETF

In short

GOLI Most gold income funds hold the metal and sell calls. GOLI flips the trade: it builds gold exposure synthetically with options on SPDR Gold Shares, then sells at-the-money or in-the-money puts at least weekly to harvest premium. Income first, metal second.

IAUI Gold pays no dividend. IAUI's whole job is to change that: exposure to gold ETPs wrapped in a strategy seeking high monthly income, at 0.79% a year.

Stated mandate

GOLI GOLI seeks current income through options while retaining indirect exposure to SPDR® Gold Shares (GLD), with potential gains limited by its strategy.

IAUI The Fund seeks high monthly income and potential appreciation through exposure to exchange-traded products that directly expose investors to gold.

Why people hold it

• GOLI A put-writing engine rather than a covered call: it sells puts on GLD struck at the money or up to 5% in the money at least once a week, so premium and intrinsic value both feed income.defianceetfs.com
• Because the strikes can sit in the money, Defiance describes a payoff that can work whether gold rises, sits flat, or slips modestly from where the option was written.defianceetfs.com
• Bullion pays no dividend and no interest. This fund's whole job is manufacturing cash flow from it, with a stated aim of income paid on a weekly cadence.defianceetfs.com

• IAUI Gold on its own throws off no cash. This fund seeks high monthly income from gold ETP exposure and distributes on a monthly cadence.neosfunds.com
• 0.79% a year, under the 0.99% median for its gold options-income cohort and below the miner-based route (GDXY at 1.00%, IGLD at 0.85%).
• The metal, not the miners: exposure runs through gold ETPs, so mine costs, labor strikes and company-level missteps stay out of the picture.neosfunds.com
• Sits among the strongest overall implementations in its gold-income peer group, and it changes hands with respectable volume for such a narrow niche.

Worth knowing

• GOLI At 1.04% it sits above the roughly 1% median for gold options-income funds, with cheaper routes in the same cohort (YGLD at 0.53%, IAUI at 0.79%), and it trades thinly, so spreads add to the tab.
• Upside is limited by design, and you never own metal: exposure is assembled from options referencing GLD, not bullion or GLD shares.defianceetfs.com
• Defiance discloses that payouts have included return of capital, which lowers NAV and share price over time, and the fund only launched in 2025, so the record is short.defianceetfs.com

• IAUI One commodity, one story. No earnings or dividends sit underneath; the position lives and dies by the gold price.
• Distributions can include return of capital, which means part of a payout may be your own money handed back rather than income earned.neosfunds.com
• Launched in 2025, so the track record is short and any read on its risk profile rests on limited history.

Full GOLI profile⁠

Full IAUI profile⁠