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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VO +12.8%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VO?

VO 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 VO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and VO an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VO returned +12.8% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $103.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF.

GLD on its own →VO on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+12.8%

VO total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.03%

VO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VO costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.3 points; GLD is 1.4 times larger.

GLD vs VO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VO
Return
Measure	GLD	VO
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+12.8%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VO
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026	3.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VO
What it tracks	Gold	Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index)
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VO
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$103.4bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VO
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		91%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		9.7%

Method

Risk and return

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

GLD VO

Return

Total return edge Tie +709.5% +701.9%

Annualized edge Tie +10.0% +9.9%

Price return edge GLD +709.5% +477.8%

Risk

Volatility edge GLD 17.3% 19.7%

Max drawdown edge GLD −44.7% −58.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge GLD (slight) 0.53 0.49

Sortino edge GLD 0.77 0.69

Calmar edge GLD 0.22 0.17

Reading

GLD and VO returned about the same: +709.5% and +701.9%. GLD swung less: 17.3% to 19.7%. GLD fell less at its worst: −44.7% to −58.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: GLD vs VO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VO	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+709.5%	+701.9%	Tie	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.0%	+9.9%	Tie	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+709.5%	+477.8%	GLD	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.3%	19.7%	GLD	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	14.0%	GLD	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−44.7%	−58.4%	GLD	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.53	0.49	GLD (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.77	0.69	GLD	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.22	0.17	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 VO Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Mid-Cap

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +12.8%

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% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 273

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VO as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $103.4bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-9DB633365E

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

What each follows. GLD follows Gold and VO follows Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and VO +12.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.3 points.
Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and VO 0.03%, a gap of 0.37 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.

VO tracks an index of Mid-Cap. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 273 positions, with the top ten at 9.7%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VO +12.8%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VO?: VO 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 IJH GLD vs MDY GLD vs MOAT GLD vs VXF IAU vs VO GLDM vs VO SLV vs VO SIVR vs VO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VO ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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