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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VLUE +54.7%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VLUE?

VLUE is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 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 VLUE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VLUE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VLUE returned +54.7% against +2.7%.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $60.1bn for iShares Gold Trust and $9.4bn for iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF.

IAU on its own →VLUE on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+54.7%

VLUE total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.15%

VLUE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VLUE costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 52.0 points; IAU is 6.4 times larger.

IAU vs VLUE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VLUE
Return
Measure	IAU	VLUE
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+54.7%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VLUE
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VLUE
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI USA Enhanced Value Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VLUE
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.15%
Net assets	$60.1bn	$9.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VLUE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		97%
Holdings dated		Oct 27, 2026
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		42.8%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VLUE iShares MSCI USA Value Factor ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Holds gold Tracks the MSCI USA Value Factor

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +54.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) +13.6% (MLRG)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +41.1 pts vs MLRG

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.15%

Holdings not counted 148

Net assets $60.1bn $9.4bn

IAU and VLUE 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.

VLUE

VLUE tracks the MSCI USA Value Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +54.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 97% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 148 positions, with the top ten at 42.8%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VLUE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VLUE +54.7%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VLUE?: VLUE is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs SCHD FDVV vs IAU IAU vs SPYD IAU vs PVAL SLV vs VLUE USO vs VLUE BWET vs VLUE GLD vs VLUE

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VLUE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VLUE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for VLUE ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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