Which returned more over the last year, BIL or SLV?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BIL returned +3.7% and SLV +14.9%.

Which is cheaper, BIL or SLV?

BIL is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

BIL vs SLV: Differences, Returns & Fees

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BIL is a short-term Treasury fund and SLV a commodity fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +3.7%.

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Net assets: $48.7bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF, and $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust.

BIL on its own →SLV on its own →

At a glance

+3.7%

BIL total return, 1 year

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

0.14%

BIL expense ratio

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

Pair scorecard

BIL costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.2 points; BIL is 1.8 times larger.

BIL vs SLV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BIL	SLV
Return
Measure	BIL	SLV
Total return, 1 year	+3.7%	+14.9%
Drawdown
Measure	BIL	SLV
Below its high		53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	BIL	SLV
What it tracks	Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index	Silver
Cost and size
Measure	BIL	SLV
Expense ratio	0.14%	0.50%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$48.7bn	$26.5bn
Holdings
Measure	BIL	SLV
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Risk and return

Jun 8, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,011 weekly returns

BIL SLV

Return

Total return edge SLV +30.9% +273.9%

Annualized edge SLV +1.4% +7.0%

Price return edge SLV −0.1% +273.9%

Risk

Volatility edge BIL 0.4% 32.4%

Max drawdown edge BIL −0.5% −75.2%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SLV −0.40 0.33

Sortino edge SLV −0.57 0.47

Calmar edge BIL 3.00 0.09

Reading

SLV returned more: +273.9% to +30.9%. BIL swung less: 0.4% to 32.4%. BIL fell less at its worst: −0.5% to −75.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: BIL vs SLV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	BIL	SLV	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+30.9%	+273.9%	SLV	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+1.4%	+7.0%	SLV	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−0.1%	+273.9%	SLV	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	0.4%	32.4%	BIL	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	0.3%	22.7%	BIL	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−0.5%	−75.2%	BIL	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	−0.40	0.33	SLV	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	−0.57	0.47	SLV	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	3.00	0.09	BIL	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,011 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

BIL SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF SLV iShares Silver Trust

Where it sits Bond ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer State Street iShares

What it is Tracks an index of 1-3 month T-bills Holds silver

Total return, 1 year +3.7% +14.9%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +15.0% (SIVR)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.1 pts vs SIVR

Expense ratio 0.14% 0.50%

Holdings 26 not counted

Net assets, BIL as of Oct 27, 2026 and SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 $48.7bn $26.9bn

BIL and SLV on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-B28D6B1FF7

BIL and SLV do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. BIL follows Bloomberg 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index and SLV follows Silver.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 BIL returned +3.7% and SLV +14.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.2 points.
Cost. BIL charges 0.14% of assets a year and SLV 0.50%, a gap of 0.36 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

BIL

BIL tracks an index of 1-3 month T-bills. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.7% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.14% a year.

SLV

Its expense ratio is 0.50% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

SLV holds silver. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.9% with distributions reinvested, against +15.0% for its benchmark, the price of silver. It sat 53.5% below its high of Jan 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, BIL or SLV?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BIL returned +3.7% and SLV +14.9%.
Which is cheaper, BIL or SLV?: BIL is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

BIL vs GLD BIL vs BWET BIL vs GLDM BIL vs IAU SHV vs SLV PULS vs SLV SLV vs USFR MINT vs SLV

Where to next

BIL on its own →SLV on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →BIL dividend history →BIL holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

BIL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

BIL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

iShares page for SLV ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, BIL against SLV, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/bil-vs-slv

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.