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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VDE +58.8%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VDE?

VDE is cheaper, by 0.31 percentage points a year. That is about $31 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 VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and VDE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VDE returned +58.8% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $10.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Energy ETF.

GLD on its own →VDE on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+58.8%

VDE total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.09%

VDE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VDE costs 0.31 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 56.3 points; GLD is 13.6 times larger.

GLD vs VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VDE
Return
Measure	GLD	VDE
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+58.8%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VDE
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VDE
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VDE
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$10.4bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VDE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		81%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		67.1%

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VDE Vanguard Energy ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Energy

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +58.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) +59.0% (FENY)

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU −0.2 pts vs FENY

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 113

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VDE as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $10.4bn

GLD and VDE 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.

VDE

VDE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +58.8% with distributions reinvested, against +59.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 81% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 113 positions, with the top ten at 67.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VDE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VDE +58.8%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VDE?: VDE is cheaper, by 0.31 percentage points a year. That is about $31 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs XLE GLD vs XOP GLD vs IYE GLD vs XLY IAU vs VDE GLDM vs VDE SLV vs VDE SIVR vs VDE

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VDE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VDE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VDE ↗

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

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

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