Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IAU vs VXUS: Differences, Returns & Fees
IAU is a commodity fund and VXUS an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VXUS returned +13.8% against +2.7%.
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Net assets: $60.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Gold Trust, and $163.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total International Stock ETF.
Pair scorecard
VXUS costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.1 points; VXUS is 2.6 times larger.
| Measure | IAU | VXUS |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.7% | +13.8% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.6%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | 5.1%, high on Sep 4, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold | FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.25% | 0.05% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $62.2bn | $163.2bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 14.6% | |
Risk and return
Feb 4, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 820 weekly returnsIAU returned more: +185.0% to +158.2%. IAU swung slightly less: 15.9% to 16.5%. VXUS fell less at its worst: −34.6% to −44.4%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IAU | VXUS | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +185.0% | +158.2% | IAU | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +6.9% | +6.2% | IAU (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +185.0% | +62.6% | IAU | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.9% | 16.5% | IAU (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 11.0% | 11.8% | IAU (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −44.4% | −34.6% | VXUS | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.39 | 0.35 | IAU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.57 | 0.49 | IAU | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.15 | 0.18 | VXUS | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 820 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
IAU and VXUS on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IAU and VXUS do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IAU follows Gold and VXUS follows FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IAU returned +2.7% and VXUS +13.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 11.1 points.
- Cost. IAU charges 0.25% of assets a year and VXUS 0.05%, a gap of 0.20 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
VXUS
VXUS tracks an index of Total International Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.8% 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 8,913 positions, with the top ten at 14.6%. It sat 5.1% below its high of Sep 4, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, IAU or VXUS?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IAU returned +2.7% and VXUS +13.8%.
- Which is cheaper, IAU or VXUS?
- VXUS 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.
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ETFIQ, IAU against VXUS, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-vxus
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[IAU against VXUS (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iau-vs-vxus)
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