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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VBR +17.6%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VBR?

VBR 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 VBR: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VBR an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VBR returned +17.6% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $35.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF.

IAU on its own →VBR on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+17.6%

VBR total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.05%

VBR expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VBR costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 14.9 points; IAU is 1.8 times larger.

IAU vs VBR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VBR
Return
Measure	IAU	VBR
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+17.6%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VBR
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	3.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VBR
What it tracks	Gold	Morningstar US Small Cap Value Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VBR
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$35.1bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VBR
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		30%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		5.9%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VBR Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Value ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

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

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +17.6%

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 822

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VBR as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $35.1bn

IAU and VBR 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.

VBR

VBR tracks an index of Small-Cap Value. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +17.6% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 30% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 822 positions, with the top ten at 5.9%. It sat 3.9% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VBR?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VBR +17.6%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VBR?: VBR 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 IJS AVUV vs IAU IAU vs VBK IAU vs IWO BWET vs VBR SLV vs VBR GLD vs VBR SIVR vs VBR

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VBR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VBR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VBR ↗

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

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

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