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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VGSH +1.7%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VGSH?

VGSH 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 VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

GLD is a commodity fund and VGSH a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GLD returned +2.5% against +1.7%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about GLD and VGSH

Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $35.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF.

GLD on its own →VGSH on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+1.7%

VGSH total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.03%

VGSH expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGSH costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.8 points; GLD is 4.0 times larger.

GLD vs VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VGSH
Return
Measure	GLD	VGSH
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+1.7%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VGSH
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VGSH
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VGSH
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$35.1bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VGSH
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

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

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +1.7%

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

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU −0.1 pts vs SCHO

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 93

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VGSH as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $35.1bn

GLD and VGSH 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.

VGSH

VGSH tracks an index of Short-Term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against +1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VGSH?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VGSH +1.7%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VGSH?: VGSH 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 SHY GLD vs IEI GLD vs MBB GLD vs JAAA IAU vs VGSH GLDM vs VGSH SLV vs VGSH SIVR vs VGSH

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VGSH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGSH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGSH ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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