Which returned more over the last year, GDX or VEA?

In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDX returned +40.2% and VEA returned +24.5%, so GDX returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.

Which is cheaper, GDX or VEA?

GDX charges 0.51% a year and VEA charges 0.03%, so VEA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do GDX and VEA overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 11% of GDX and 0% of VEA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 1% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.

Are GDX and VEA the same kind of fund?

No. GDX is a thematic ETF and VEA is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

ETFIQetfiq.com · independent ETF data

GDX vs VEA: how they differ

Over the year GDX returned more, +40.2% against +24.5%, and VEA charges 0.03% against 0.51%.

VanEck Gold Miners ETF and Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund.

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, GDX and VEA hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Positions GDX and VEA both hold, largest shared weight first
Holding	GDX	VEA
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd	10.67%	0.25%
Barrick Mining Corp	7.95%	0.19%
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp	5.61%	0.16%
Franco-Nevada Corp	4.89%	0.12%
Kinross Gold Corp	4.40%	0.09%
Northern Star Resources Ltd	2.64%	0.06%
Pan American Silver Corp	2.98%	0.06%
Evolution Mining Ltd	1.65%	0.05%
Alamos Gold Inc	1.89%	0.04%
Endeavour Mining PLC	1.39%	0.03%
First Majestic Silver Corp	1.43%	0.03%
Eldorado Gold Corp	1.31%	0.02%

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in GDX	Only in VEA
Newmont Corp 10.42%	ASML Holding NV 2.37%
Anglogold Ashanti Plc 5.04%	Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 1.56%
Gold Fields Ltd 4.07%	SK hynix Inc 1.40%
Coeur Mining Inc 2.38%	HSBC Holdings PLC 1.01%
Royal Gold Inc 1.95%	Novartis AG 0.91%
Industrias Penoles SAB de CV 1.52%	Royal Bank of Canada 0.90%
Hecla Mining Co 1.38%	AstraZeneca PLC 0.87%
Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd 1.08%	Nestle SA 0.82%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.

GDX and VEA on the fields both publish, as of Sep 12, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	GDX VanEck Gold Miners ETF	VEA Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund
Where it sits	Thematic ETF	Core index fund
Issuer	VanEck	Vanguard
What it is	Miners and metals	Developed markets ex US
Total return, 1 year	+40.2%	+24.5%
S&P 500 over the same days	+17.5%	+17.5%
Gap to the S&P 500	+22.7 pts	+7.0 pts
Expense ratio	0.51%	0.03%
Already in the S&P 500	11.0%	0.0%
Holdings	59	3870

GDX in plain words

By weight, 11% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 58% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 10, 2026. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 the fund returned +40.2% with distributions reinvested against +17.5% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 22.7 pts. It sits 16.2% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.

VEA in plain words

VEA is an index equity fund tracking the Developed markets ex US. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +24.5% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3870 positions, with the top ten at 13.2%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GDX or VEA?: In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GDX returned +40.2% and VEA returned +24.5%, so GDX returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
Which is cheaper, GDX or VEA?: GDX charges 0.51% a year and VEA charges 0.03%, so VEA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do GDX and VEA overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 11% of GDX and 0% of VEA by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 1% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
Are GDX and VEA the same kind of fund?: No. GDX is a thematic ETF and VEA is an index ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

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Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

GDX against VEA, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 12, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, GDX against VEA, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/GDX-VEA Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources