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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VWO +4.8%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VWO?

VWO is cheaper, by 0.19 percentage points a year. That is about $19 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 VWO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VWO an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VWO returned +4.8% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $125.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF.

IAU on its own →VWO on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+4.8%

VWO total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.06%

VWO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VWO costs 0.19 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.1 points; VWO is 2.0 times larger.

IAU vs VWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VWO
Return
Measure	IAU	VWO
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+4.8%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VWO
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	7.0%, high on Sep 4, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VWO
What it tracks	Gold	FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VWO
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$125.4bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VWO
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		29.8%

Method

Risk and return

Mar 18, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,127 weekly returns

IAU VWO

Return

Total return edge IAU +754.9% +309.0%

Annualized edge IAU +10.4% +6.7%

Price return edge IAU +754.9% +133.1%

Risk

Volatility edge IAU 17.4% 22.3%

Max drawdown edge IAU −44.4% −63.8%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IAU 0.55 0.32

Sortino edge IAU 0.81 0.46

Calmar edge IAU 0.23 0.11

Reading

IAU returned more: +754.9% to +309.0%. IAU swung less: 17.4% to 22.3%. IAU fell less at its worst: −44.4% to −63.8%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IAU vs VWO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VWO	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+754.9%	+309.0%	IAU	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.4%	+6.7%	IAU	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+754.9%	+133.1%	IAU	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	17.4%	22.3%	IAU	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	11.9%	15.8%	IAU	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−44.4%	−63.8%	IAU	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.55	0.32	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.81	0.46	IAU	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.23	0.11	IAU	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,127 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VWO Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Emerging markets

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +4.8%

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% 0.06%

Holdings not counted 6515

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VWO as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $125.4bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-25AB999432

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

What each follows. IAU follows Gold and VWO follows FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IAU returned +2.7% and VWO +4.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.1 points.
Cost. IAU charges 0.25% of assets a year and VWO 0.06%, a gap of 0.19 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.

VWO

VWO tracks an index of Emerging markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% 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 6,515 positions, with the top ten at 29.8%. It sat 7.0% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VWO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VWO +4.8%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VWO?: VWO is cheaper, by 0.19 percentage points a year. That is about $19 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

IAU vs IEMG EEM vs IAU AVEM vs IAU EMXC vs IAU GLD vs VWO BWET vs VWO SLV vs VWO SIVR vs VWO

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VWO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VWO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VWO ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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