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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VBK +10.3%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VBK?

VBK is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 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 VBK: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VBK an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VBK returned +10.3% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $22.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF.

IAU on its own →VBK on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+10.3%

VBK total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.05%

VBK expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VBK costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.6 points; IAU is 2.7 times larger.

IAU vs VBK: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VBK
Return
Measure	IAU	VBK
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+10.3%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VBK
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	8.0%, high on Aug 17, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VBK
What it tracks	Gold	Morningstar US Small Cap Growth Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VBK
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$22.8bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VBK
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		10%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		12.2%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VBK Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Small-Cap Growth

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +10.3%

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% 0.05%

Holdings not counted 554

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VBK as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $22.8bn

IAU and VBK 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.

VBK

VBK tracks an index of Small-Cap Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 10% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 554 positions, with the top ten at 12.2%. It sat 8.0% below its high of Aug 17, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VBK?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VBK +10.3%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VBK?: VBK is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs IWO IAU vs IJS IAU vs MDY IAU vs VBR SLV vs VBK GLD vs VBK USO vs VBK BWET vs VBK

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VBK filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VBK prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VBK ↗

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

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

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