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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VCLT −5.9%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VCLT?

VCLT is cheaper, by 0.22 percentage points a year. That is about $22 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 VCLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VCLT a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against −5.9%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $7.5bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF.

IAU on its own →VCLT on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

−5.9%

VCLT total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.03%

VCLT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VCLT costs 0.22 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.6 points; IAU is 8.3 times larger.

IAU vs VCLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VCLT
Return
Measure	IAU	VCLT
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	−5.9%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VCLT
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	17.8%, high on Sep 22, 2021
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VCLT
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. 10+ Year Corporate Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VCLT
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$7.5bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VCLT
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VCLT Vanguard Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Long-Term Corporate Bond

Total return, 1 year +2.7% −5.9%

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% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 2562

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VCLT as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $7.5bn

IAU and VCLT 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.

VCLT

VCLT tracks an index of Long-Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −5.9% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 17.8% below its high of Sep 22, 2021 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VCLT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VCLT −5.9%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VCLT?: VCLT is cheaper, by 0.22 percentage points a year. That is about $22 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

BOND vs IAU IAU vs SPSB IAU vs VTIP IAU vs USHY BWET vs VCLT SLV vs VCLT GLD vs VCLT USO vs VCLT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VCLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VCLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VCLT ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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