Which returned more over the last year, SLV or USO?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and USO +133.3%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or USO?

SLV is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

SLV vs USO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and USO a commodity futures fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +14.9%.

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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $26.9bn for iShares Silver Trust and $1.9bn for United States Oil Fund, LP.

SLV on its own →USO on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.86%

USO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SLV costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 118.4 points; SLV is 14.2 times larger.

SLV vs USO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	USO
Return
Measure	SLV	USO
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	+133.3%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	USO
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	USO
What it tracks	Silver	Oil futures
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	USO
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.86%
Net assets	$26.9bn	$1.9bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	USO
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Risk and return

May 5, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,068 weekly returns

SLV USO

Return

Total return edge SLV +248.1% −68.8%

Annualized edge SLV +6.3% −5.5%

Price return edge SLV +248.1% −68.8%

Risk

Volatility edge SLV 32.5% 37.2%

Max drawdown edge SLV −75.2% −98.0%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SLV 0.30 −0.01

Sortino edge SLV 0.42 −0.01

Calmar edge SLV 0.08 −0.06

Reading

SLV returned more: +248.1% to −68.8%. SLV swung less: 32.5% to 37.2%. SLV fell less at its worst: −75.2% to −98.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SLV vs USO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	USO	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+248.1%	−68.8%	SLV	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+6.3%	−5.5%	SLV	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+248.1%	−68.8%	SLV	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	32.5%	37.2%	SLV	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	23.0%	26.9%	SLV	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−75.2%	−98.0%	SLV	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.30	−0.01	SLV	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.42	−0.01	SLV	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.08	−0.06	SLV	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,068 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust USO United States Oil Fund, LP

Where it sits Commodity ETF Commodity ETF

Issuer iShares USCF

What it is Holds silver Holds oil futures

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +133.3%

Its benchmark over the same days +15.0% (SIVR) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SIVR not measured

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.86%

Net assets $26.9bn $1.9bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-D7D929BCD3

SLV and USO are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

What each follows. SLV follows Silver and USO follows Oil futures.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SLV returned +14.9% and USO +133.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 118.4 points.
Cost. SLV charges 0.50% of assets a year and USO 0.86%, a gap of 0.36 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

SLV

Its expense ratio is 0.50% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.

SLV holds silver. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.9% with distributions reinvested, against +15.0% for its benchmark, the price of silver. It sat 53.5% below its high of Jan 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

USO

USO holds oil futures. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +133.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.86% a year. It sat 82.3% below its high of Jul 14, 2008 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SLV or USO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and USO +133.3%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or USO?: SLV is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

GLD vs SLV SIVR vs SLV BWET vs SLV GLDM vs SLV GLD vs USO BWET vs USO GLDM vs USO IAU vs USO

Where to next

SLV on its own →USO on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

USCF website ↗

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

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ETFIQ, SLV against USO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/slv-vs-uso

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