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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VNQ +4.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VNQ?

VNQ is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 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 VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VNQ an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VNQ returned +4.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $35.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Real Estate ETF.

IAU on its own →VNQ on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+4.8%

VNQ total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.13%

VNQ expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VNQ costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.1 points; IAU is 1.7 times larger.

IAU vs VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VNQ
Return
Measure	IAU	VNQ
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+4.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VNQ
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	8.3%, high on Jul 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VNQ
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VNQ
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.13%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$35.9bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VNQ
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		63%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		55.8%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VNQ Vanguard Real Estate ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of US real estate

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +4.8%

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% 0.13%

Holdings not counted 141

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VNQ as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $35.9bn

IAU and VNQ 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.

VNQ

VNQ tracks an index of US real estate. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.13% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 63% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 141 positions, with the top ten at 55.8%. It sat 8.3% below its high of Jul 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VNQ?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VNQ +4.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VNQ?: VNQ is cheaper, by 0.12 percentage points a year. That is about $12 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs SCHH IAU vs XLRE IAU vs IYR IAU vs XLI SLV vs VNQ USO vs VNQ SIVR vs VNQ BWET vs VNQ

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VNQ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VNQ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VNQ ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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