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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VGSH +1.7%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VGSH?

VGSH 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 VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VGSH a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against +1.7%.

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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 Short-Term Treasury ETF.

IAU on its own →VGSH on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+1.7%

VGSH total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.03%

VGSH expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGSH costs 0.22 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point; IAU is 1.8 times larger.

IAU vs VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VGSH
Return
Measure	IAU	VGSH
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+1.7%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VGSH
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VGSH
What it tracks	Gold	Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VGSH
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$35.1bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VGSH
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Short-Term Treasury

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +1.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +1.8% (SCHO)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD −0.1 pts vs SCHO

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 93

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

IAU and VGSH 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.

VGSH

VGSH tracks an index of Short-Term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against +1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VGSH?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VGSH +1.7%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VGSH?: VGSH 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

IAU vs SHY IAU vs IEI AGG vs IAU BND vs IAU SLV vs VGSH GLD vs VGSH USO vs VGSH BWET vs VGSH

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VGSH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGSH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGSH ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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