Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GLD vs VIG: Differences, Returns & Fees
GLD is a commodity fund and VIG an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VIG returned +13.9% against +2.5%.
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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $109.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Div Appreciation ETF.
Pair scorecard
VIG costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.4 points; GLD is 1.3 times larger.
| Measure | GLD | VIG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.5% | +13.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold | S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.04% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $141.7bn | $109.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 93% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 34.5% | |
Risk and return
May 5, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,068 weekly returnsVIG returned more: +619.3% to +439.2%. VIG swung less: 15.7% to 17.4%. GLD fell slightly less at its worst: −44.7% to −45.9%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GLD | VIG | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +439.2% | +619.3% | VIG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.5% | +10.1% | VIG | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +439.2% | +379.5% | GLD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.4% | 15.7% | VIG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.0% | 11.0% | VIG (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −44.7% | −45.9% | GLD (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.46 | 0.58 | VIG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.67 | 0.83 | VIG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.19 | 0.22 | VIG | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,068 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
GLD and VIG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GLD and VIG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. GLD follows Gold and VIG follows S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and VIG +13.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.4 points.
- Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and VIG 0.04%, a gap of 0.36 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
VIG
VIG tracks an index of Dividend growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 335 positions, with the top ten at 34.5%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VIG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VIG +13.9%.
- Which is cheaper, GLD or VIG?
- VIG is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, GLD against VIG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-vig
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