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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VEU +14.4%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VEU?

VEU is cheaper, by 0.21 percentage points a year. That is about $21 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 VEU: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VEU an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VEU returned +14.4% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $68.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE All World Ex US ETF.

IAU on its own →VEU on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+14.4%

VEU total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.04%

VEU expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VEU costs 0.21 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.7 points; VEU is 1.1 times larger.

IAU vs VEU: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VEU
Return
Measure	IAU	VEU
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+14.4%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VEU
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	5.0%, high on Sep 4, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VEU
What it tracks	Gold	FTSE All-World ex US Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VEU
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.04%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$68.1bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VEU
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		15.2%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VEU Vanguard FTSE All World Ex US ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks the FTSE All-World ex-US

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +14.4%

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% 0.04%

Holdings not counted 3816

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VEU as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $68.1bn

IAU and VEU 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.

VEU

VEU tracks the FTSE All-World ex-US. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.4% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,816 positions, with the top ten at 15.2%. It sat 5.0% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VEU?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VEU +14.4%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VEU?: VEU is cheaper, by 0.21 percentage points a year. That is about $21 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs VEA IAU vs SCHF IAU vs IXUS IAU vs IDEV SLV vs VEU USO vs VEU BWET vs VEU GLD vs VEU

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VEU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VEU prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VEU ↗

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

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

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