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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VCSH +1.3%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VCSH?

VCSH 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 VCSH: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and VCSH a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GLD returned +2.5% against +1.3%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $43.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF.

GLD on its own →VCSH on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+1.3%

VCSH total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.03%

VCSH expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VCSH costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.2 points; GLD is 3.2 times larger.

GLD vs VCSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VCSH
Return
Measure	GLD	VCSH
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+1.3%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VCSH
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VCSH
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VCSH
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$43.9bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VCSH
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VCSH Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

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

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +1.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) +1.3% (SCHJ)

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

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 3064

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VCSH as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $43.9bn

GLD and VCSH 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.

VCSH

VCSH tracks an index of Short-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.3% with distributions reinvested, against +1.3% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. 1-5 Year Corporate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VCSH?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VCSH +1.3%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VCSH?: VCSH 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 IGSB GLD vs SPSB BSV vs GLD GLD vs VGIT IAU vs VCSH GLDM vs VCSH SLV vs VCSH SIVR vs VCSH

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VCSH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VCSH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VCSH ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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