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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VNQ +4.8%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VNQ?

VNQ is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 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 VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and VNQ an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VNQ returned +4.8% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $35.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Real Estate ETF.

GLD on its own →VNQ on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+4.8%

VNQ total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.13%

VNQ expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VNQ costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.3 points; GLD is 3.9 times larger.

GLD vs VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VNQ
Return
Measure	GLD	VNQ
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+4.8%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VNQ
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026	8.3%, high on Jul 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VNQ
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VNQ
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.13%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$35.9bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VNQ
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		63%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		55.8%

Method

Risk and return

Nov 26, 2004 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,143 weekly returns

GLD VNQ

Return

Total return edge GLD +709.5% +332.9%

Annualized edge GLD +10.0% +6.9%

Price return edge GLD +709.5% +68.2%

Risk

Volatility edge GLD 17.3% 25.0%

Max drawdown edge GLD −44.7% −72.5%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge GLD 0.53 0.32

Sortino edge GLD 0.77 0.46

Calmar edge GLD 0.22 0.10

Reading

GLD returned more: +709.5% to +332.9%. GLD swung less: 17.3% to 25.0%. GLD fell less at its worst: −44.7% to −72.5%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GLD vs VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VNQ	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+709.5%	+332.9%	GLD	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.0%	+6.9%	GLD	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+709.5%	+68.2%	GLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.3%	25.0%	GLD	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	17.4%	GLD	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−44.7%	−72.5%	GLD	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.53	0.32	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.77	0.46	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.22	0.10	GLD	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,143 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VNQ Vanguard Real Estate ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of US real estate

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +4.8%

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% 0.13%

Holdings not counted 141

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VNQ as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $35.9bn

GLD and VNQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-243886543C

GLD and VNQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. GLD follows Gold and VNQ follows MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and VNQ +4.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.3 points.
Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and VNQ 0.13%, a gap of 0.27 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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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.

VNQ

VNQ tracks an index of US real estate. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.13% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 63% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 141 positions, with the top ten at 55.8%. It sat 8.3% below its high of Jul 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VNQ?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VNQ +4.8%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VNQ?: VNQ is cheaper, by 0.27 percentage points a year. That is about $27 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs SCHH GLD vs XLRE GLD vs IYR GLD vs XLI IAU vs VNQ GLDM vs VNQ SLV vs VNQ SIVR vs VNQ

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VNQ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VNQ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VNQ ↗

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

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

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