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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VPL +24.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VPL?

VPL is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 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 VPL: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VPL an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VPL returned +24.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $9.0bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF.

IAU on its own →VPL on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+24.8%

VPL total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.07%

VPL expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VPL costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 22.1 points; IAU is 6.9 times larger.

IAU vs VPL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VPL
Return
Measure	IAU	VPL
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+24.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VPL
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	7.2%, high on Jun 22, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VPL
What it tracks	Gold	FTSE Developed Asia Pacific All Cap Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VPL
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.07%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$9.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VPL
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		24.8%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VPL Vanguard FTSE Pacific ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Pacific Stock

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +24.8%

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% 0.07%

Holdings not counted 2343

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VPL as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $9.0bn

IAU and VPL 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.

VPL

VPL tracks an index of Pacific Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +24.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.07% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,343 positions, with the top ten at 24.8%. It sat 7.2% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VPL?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VPL +24.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VPL?: VPL is cheaper, by 0.18 percentage points a year. That is about $18 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs URTH IAU vs ILF IAU vs VGK IAU vs IEMG GLD vs VPL BWET vs VPL SLV vs VPL SIVR vs VPL

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VPL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VPL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VPL ↗

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

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

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