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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VDE +58.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VDE?

VDE is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 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 VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VDE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VDE returned +58.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $10.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Energy ETF.

IAU on its own →VDE on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+58.8%

VDE total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.09%

VDE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VDE costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 56.1 points; IAU is 6.0 times larger.

IAU vs VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VDE
Return
Measure	IAU	VDE
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+58.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VDE
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VDE
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VDE
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$10.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VDE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		81%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		67.1%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VDE Vanguard Energy ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Energy

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +58.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +59.0% (FENY)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD −0.2 pts vs FENY

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 113

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VDE as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $10.4bn

IAU and VDE 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.

VDE

VDE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +58.8% with distributions reinvested, against +59.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 81% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 113 positions, with the top ten at 67.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VDE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VDE +58.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VDE?: VDE is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs XOP IAU vs XLE IAU vs IYE IAU vs XLU SLV vs VDE USO vs VDE SIVR vs VDE BWET vs VDE

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VDE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VDE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VDE ↗

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

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

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