Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VBIL?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VBIL +3.7%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VBIL?

VBIL is cheaper, by 0.19 percentage points a year. That is about $19 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IAU vs VBIL: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VBIL a short-term Treasury fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VBIL returned +3.7% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $12.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF.

IAU on its own →VBIL on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+3.7%

VBIL total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.06%

VBIL expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VBIL costs 0.19 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point; IAU is 4.9 times larger.

IAU vs VBIL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VBIL
Return
Measure	IAU	VBIL
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+3.7%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VBIL
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VBIL
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bills 0-3 Months Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VBIL
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$12.8bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VBIL
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VBIL Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of 0-3 Month Treasury Bill

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +3.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) not measured

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD not measured

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.06%

Holdings not counted 28

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VBIL as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $12.8bn

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

Alert

About each fund

IAU

Its expense ratio is 0.25% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

IAU holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.7% with distributions reinvested, against +2.5% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.6% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

VBIL

VBIL tracks an index of 0-3 Month Treasury Bill. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.7% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VBIL?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VBIL +3.7%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VBIL?: VBIL is cheaper, by 0.19 percentage points a year. That is about $19 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs VUSB IAU vs USFR BIL vs IAU IAU vs SGOV SLV vs VBIL USO vs VBIL SIVR vs VBIL GLD vs VBIL

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VBIL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VBIL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VBIL ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, IAU against VBIL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-vbil

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