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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VUSB +3.5%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VUSB?

VUSB is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 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 VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VUSB an actively managed short-term fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VUSB returned +3.5% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $9.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF.

IAU on its own →VUSB on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+3.5%

VUSB total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.10%

VUSB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VUSB costs 0.15 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.8 points; IAU is 6.3 times larger.

IAU vs VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VUSB
Return
Measure	IAU	VUSB
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+3.5%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VUSB
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VUSB
What it tracks	Gold	No index, actively managed
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VUSB
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.10%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$9.9bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VUSB
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VUSB Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +3.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +2.5% (GLD) −1.4% (AGG)

Gap to its benchmark +0.2 pts vs GLD +4.9 pts vs AGG

Expense ratio 0.25% 0.10%

Holdings not counted 1344

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VUSB as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $9.9bn

IAU and VUSB 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.

VUSB

VUSB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.5% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.10% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VUSB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VUSB +3.5%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VUSB?: VUSB is cheaper, by 0.15 percentage points a year. That is about $15 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs VBIL BOXX vs IAU IAU vs MINT IAU vs USFR USO vs VUSB SLV vs VUSB SIVR vs VUSB GLD vs VUSB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VUSB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VUSB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VUSB ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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