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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VCLT −5.9%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VCLT?

VCLT 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 VCLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

GLD is a commodity fund and VCLT a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GLD returned +2.5% against −5.9%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about GLD and VCLT

Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $7.5bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF.

GLD on its own →VCLT on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

−5.9%

VCLT total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.03%

VCLT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VCLT costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.4 points; GLD is 18.9 times larger.

GLD vs VCLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VCLT
Return
Measure	GLD	VCLT
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	−5.9%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VCLT
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026	17.8%, high on Sep 22, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VCLT
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. 10+ Year Corporate Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VCLT
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$7.5bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VCLT
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VCLT Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

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

Total return, 1 year +2.5% −5.9%

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% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 2562

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VCLT as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $7.5bn

GLD and VCLT 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.

VCLT

VCLT tracks an index of Long-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −5.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 17.8% below its high of Sep 22, 2021 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VCLT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VCLT −5.9%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VCLT?: VCLT 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 VTIP GLD vs USHY GLD vs JAAA GLD vs MBB IAU vs VCLT GLDM vs VCLT SLV vs VCLT SIVR vs VCLT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VCLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VCLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VCLT ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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