Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VBK?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VBK +10.3%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VBK?

VBK is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

GLD vs VBK: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

GLD is a commodity fund and VBK an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VBK returned +10.3% against +2.5%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about GLD and VBK

Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $22.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF.

GLD on its own →VBK on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+10.3%

VBK total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.05%

VBK expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VBK costs 0.35 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.8 points; GLD is 6.2 times larger.

GLD vs VBK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VBK
Return
Measure	GLD	VBK
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+10.3%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VBK
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026	8.0%, high on Aug 17, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VBK
What it tracks	Gold	Morningstar US Small Cap Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VBK
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$22.8bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VBK
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		10%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		12.2%

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VBK Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Small-Cap Growth

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +10.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU not measured

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.05%

Holdings not counted 554

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VBK as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $22.8bn

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

Alert

About each fund

GLD

Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

GLD holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

VBK

VBK tracks an index of Small-Cap Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 10% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 554 positions, with the top ten at 12.2%. It sat 8.0% below its high of Aug 17, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VBK?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VBK +10.3%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VBK?: VBK is cheaper, by 0.35 percentage points a year. That is about $35 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs IWO GLD vs MDY GLD vs VBR GLD vs IJS IAU vs VBK GLDM vs VBK SLV vs VBK SIVR vs VBK

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VBK filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VBK prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VBK ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, GLD against VBK, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-vbk

Open data →

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