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

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

Which is cheaper, GLD or VWO?

VWO is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 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 VWO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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

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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $125.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF.

GLD on its own →VWO on its own →

At a glance

+2.5%

GLD total return, 1 year

+4.8%

VWO total return, 1 year

0.40%

GLD expense ratio

0.06%

VWO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VWO costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.3 points; GLD is 1.1 times larger.

GLD vs VWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	GLD	VWO
Return
Measure	GLD	VWO
Total return, 1 year	+2.5%	+4.8%
Drawdown
Measure	GLD	VWO
Below its high	24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026	7.0%, high on Sep 4, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GLD	VWO
What it tracks	Gold	FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index
Cost and size
Measure	GLD	VWO
Expense ratio	0.40%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$141.7bn	$125.4bn
Holdings
Measure	GLD	VWO
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		29.8%

Method

Side by side

GLD SPDR Gold Shares VWO Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer State Street Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Emerging markets

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% 0.06%

Holdings not counted 6515

Net assets, GLD as of Oct 27, 2026 and VWO as of Sep 30, 2026 $135.8bn $125.4bn

GLD and VWO 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.

VWO

VWO tracks an index of Emerging markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 6,515 positions, with the top ten at 29.8%. It sat 7.0% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, GLD or VWO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and VWO +4.8%.
Which is cheaper, GLD or VWO?: VWO is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs IEMG EEM vs GLD AVEM vs GLD EMXC vs GLD IAU vs VWO GLDM vs VWO SLV vs VWO SIVR vs VWO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

State Street website ↗

VWO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VWO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VWO ↗

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

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

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