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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VGLT −6.7%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VGLT?

VGLT 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 VGLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VGLT a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against −6.7%.

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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 Long-Term Treasury ETF.

IAU on its own →VGLT on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

−6.7%

VGLT total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.03%

VGLT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGLT costs 0.22 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.4 points; IAU is 6.0 times larger.

IAU vs VGLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VGLT
Return
Measure	IAU	VGLT
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	−6.7%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VGLT
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	38.8%, high on Aug 4, 2020
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VGLT
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VGLT
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$10.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VGLT
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VGLT Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Long-term Treasury

Total return, 1 year +2.7% −6.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) −6.7% (SCHQ)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD 0.0 pts vs SCHQ

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 102

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

IAU and VGLT 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.

VGLT

VGLT tracks an index of Long-term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −6.7% with distributions reinvested, against −6.7% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 38.8% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VGLT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VGLT −6.7%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VGLT?: VGLT 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

EDV vs IAU IAU vs TLT IAU vs VCLT IAU vs VCIT BWET vs VGLT SLV vs VGLT GLD vs VGLT SIVR vs VGLT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VGLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGLT ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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