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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VOE +22.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VOE?

VOE is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 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 VOE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VOE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VOE returned +22.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $22.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF.

IAU on its own →VOE on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+22.8%

VOE total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.05%

VOE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VOE costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 20.1 points; IAU is 2.7 times larger.

IAU vs VOE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VOE
Return
Measure	IAU	VOE
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+22.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VOE
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VOE
What it tracks	Gold	Morningstar US Mid Cap Value Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VOE
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$22.8bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VOE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		96%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		14.0%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VOE Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Value ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

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

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +22.8%

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% 0.05%

Holdings not counted 169

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VOE as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $22.8bn

IAU and VOE 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.

VOE

VOE tracks an index of Mid-Cap Value. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +22.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 96% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 169 positions, with the top ten at 14.0%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VOE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VOE +22.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VOE?: VOE is cheaper, by 0.20 percentage points a year. That is about $20 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs RSP DVY vs IAU IAU vs SDY COWZ vs IAU SLV vs VOE GLD vs VOE SIVR vs VOE USO vs VOE

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VOE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VOE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VOE ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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