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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VXF +10.6%.

Which is cheaper, IAU or VXF?

VXF 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 VXF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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IAU is a commodity fund and VXF an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VXF returned +10.6% against +2.7%.

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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $30.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Extended Market ETF.

IAU on its own →VXF on its own →

At a glance

+2.7%

IAU total return, 1 year

+10.6%

VXF total return, 1 year

0.25%

IAU expense ratio

0.05%

VXF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VXF costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 7.9 points; IAU is 2.1 times larger.

IAU vs VXF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IAU	VXF
Return
Measure	IAU	VXF
Total return, 1 year	+2.7%	+10.6%
Drawdown
Measure	IAU	VXF
Below its high	24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026	6.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IAU	VXF
What it tracks	Gold	S&P Completion Index
Cost and size
Measure	IAU	VXF
Expense ratio	0.25%	0.05%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$62.2bn	$30.2bn
Holdings
Measure	IAU	VXF
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		11.3%

Method

Side by side

IAU iShares Gold Trust VXF Vanguard Extended Market ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds gold Tracks an index of Extended Market

Total return, 1 year +2.7% +10.6%

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 3361

Net assets, IAU as of Oct 28, 2026 and VXF as of Sep 30, 2026 $60.1bn $30.2bn

IAU and VXF 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.

VXF

VXF tracks an index of Extended Market. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.6% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.05% 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 3,361 positions, with the top ten at 11.3%. It sat 6.6% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VXF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VXF +10.6%.
Which is cheaper, IAU or VXF?: VXF 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 VO IAU vs MDY IAU vs MOAT IAU vs IJH SLV vs VXF USO vs VXF GLD vs VXF SIVR vs VXF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for IAU ↗

VXF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VXF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VXF ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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