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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VOX −5.7%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VOX?

VOX is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 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 VOX: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VOX an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IAU returned +2.7% against −5.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $6.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Communication Services ETF.

IAU on its own →VOX on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

−5.7%

VOX total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.09%

VOX expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VOX costs 0.16 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.4 points; IAU is 10.4 times larger.

IAU vs VOX: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VOX
Return
Measure	IAU	VOX
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	−5.7%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VOX
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	10.8%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VOX
What it tracks	Gold	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VOX
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$6.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VOX
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		84%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		71.1%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VOX Vanguard Communication Services ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Communication Services

Total return, 1 year +2.7% −5.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) −5.9% (FCOM)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +0.2 pts vs FCOM

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 113

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VOX as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $6.0bn

IAU and VOX 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.

VOX

VOX tracks an index of Communication Services. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −5.7% with distributions reinvested, against −5.9% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 113 positions, with the top ten at 71.1%. It sat 10.8% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VOX?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VOX −5.7%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VOX?: VOX is cheaper, by 0.16 percentage points a year. That is about $16 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs XLC IAU vs VDC IAU vs VPU IAU vs XLB SLV vs VOX USO vs VOX SIVR vs VOX BWET vs VOX

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VOX filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VOX prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VOX ↗

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

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

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