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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VO +12.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VO?

VO 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 VO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VO an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VO returned +12.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $103.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF.

IAU on its own →VO on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+12.8%

VO total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.03%

VO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VO costs 0.22 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.1 points; VO is 1.7 times larger.

IAU vs VO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VO
Return
Measure	IAU	VO
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+12.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VO
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	3.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VO
What it tracks	Gold	Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index)
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VO
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$103.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VO
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		91%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		9.7%

Method

Risk and return

Feb 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,133 weekly returns

IAU VO

Return

Total return edge IAU +805.4% +676.3%

Annualized edge IAU (slight) +10.6% +9.9%

Price return edge IAU +805.4% +465.6%

Risk

Volatility edge IAU 17.4% 19.8%

Max drawdown edge IAU −44.4% −58.4%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IAU 0.56 0.48

Sortino edge IAU 0.82 0.68

Calmar edge IAU 0.24 0.17

Reading

IAU returned more: +805.4% to +676.3%. IAU swung less: 17.4% to 19.8%. IAU fell less at its worst: −44.4% to −58.4%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IAU vs VO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VO	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+805.4%	+676.3%	IAU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.6%	+9.9%	IAU (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+805.4%	+465.6%	IAU	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.4%	19.8%	IAU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	14.0%	IAU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−44.4%	−58.4%	IAU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.56	0.48	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.82	0.68	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.24	0.17	IAU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,133 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VO Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Mid-Cap

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +12.8%

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% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 273

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VO as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $103.4bn

IAU and VO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-6F0E060C7D

IAU and VO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. IAU follows Gold and VO follows Morningstar US Mid Cap Index (formerly CRSP US Mid Cap Index).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IAU returned +2.7% and VO +12.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.1 points.
Cost. IAU charges 0.25% of assets a year and VO 0.03%, a gap of 0.22 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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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.

VO tracks an index of Mid-Cap. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +12.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 273 positions, with the top ten at 9.7%. It sat 3.1% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VO +12.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VO?: VO 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 IJH IAU vs MDY IAU vs MOAT IAU vs VXF SLV vs VO USO vs VO GLD vs VO SIVR vs VO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VO ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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