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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VCIT −1.8%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VCIT?

VCIT is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 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 VCIT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and VCIT a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GLD returned +2.5% against −1.8%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $66.6bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF.

GLD on its own →VCIT on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

−1.8%

VCIT total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.03%

VCIT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VCIT costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.3 points; GLD is 2.1 times larger.

GLD vs VCIT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VCIT
Return
Measure	GLD	VCIT
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	−1.8%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VCIT
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026	3.2%, high on Feb 27, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VCIT
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. 5-10 Year Corporate Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VCIT
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$66.6bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VCIT
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VCIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond

Total return, 1 year +2.5% −1.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) −1.8% (SCHI)

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU 0.0 pts vs SCHI

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 2340

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VCIT as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $66.6bn

GLD and VCIT 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.

VCIT

VCIT tracks an index of Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −1.8% with distributions reinvested, against −1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. 5-10 Year Corporate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 3.2% below its high of Feb 27, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VCIT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VCIT −1.8%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VCIT?: VCIT is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs IGIB GLD vs LQD GLD vs TLT GLD vs GOVT IAU vs VCIT GLDM vs VCIT SLV vs VCIT SIVR vs VCIT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VCIT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VCIT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VCIT ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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