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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VUSB +3.5%.

Which is cheaper, GLD or VUSB?

VUSB is cheaper, by 0.30 percentage points a year. That is about $30 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 VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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GLD is a commodity fund and VUSB an actively managed short-term fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VUSB returned +3.5% against +2.5%.

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $9.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF.

GLD on its own →VUSB on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+3.5%

VUSB total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.10%

VUSB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VUSB costs 0.30 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point; GLD is 14.3 times larger.

GLD vs VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VUSB
Return
Measure	GLD	VUSB
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+3.5%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VUSB
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VUSB
What it tracks	Gold	No index, actively managed
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VUSB
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.10%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$9.9bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VUSB
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VUSB Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +2.5% +3.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.7% (IAU) −1.4% (AGG)

Gap to its benchmark −0.2 pts vs IAU +4.9 pts vs AGG

Expense ratio 0.40% 0.10%

Holdings not counted 1344

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VUSB as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $9.9bn

GLD and VUSB 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.

VUSB

VUSB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.5% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.10% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VUSB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VUSB +3.5%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VUSB?: VUSB is cheaper, by 0.30 percentage points a year. That is about $30 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs VBIL BIL vs GLD GLD vs SGOV BOXX vs GLD IAU vs VUSB GLDM vs VUSB SLV vs VUSB SIVR vs VUSB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VUSB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VUSB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VUSB ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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