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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VBIL +3.7%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or VBIL?

VBIL is cheaper, by 0.44 percentage points a year. That is about $44 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 VBIL: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and VBIL a short-term Treasury fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +3.7%.

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Net assets: $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust, and $12.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF.

SLV on its own →VBIL on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

+3.7%

VBIL total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.06%

VBIL expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VBIL costs 0.44 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.2 points; SLV is 2.3 times larger.

SLV vs VBIL: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	VBIL
Return
Measure	SLV	VBIL
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	+3.7%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	VBIL
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	VBIL
What it tracks	Silver	Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bills 0-3 Months Index
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	VBIL
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.06%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$30.0bn	$12.8bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	VBIL
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust VBIL Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds silver Tracks an index of 0-3 Month Treasury Bill

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +3.7%

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% 0.06%

Holdings not counted 28

Net assets, SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 and VBIL as of Sep 30, 2026 $26.9bn $12.8bn

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

Alert

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.

VBIL

VBIL tracks an index of 0-3 Month Treasury Bill. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.7% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SLV or VBIL?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VBIL +3.7%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or VBIL?: VBIL is cheaper, by 0.44 percentage points a year. That is about $44 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

SGOV vs SLV BOXX vs SLV MINT vs SLV SLV vs VUSB GLD vs VBIL BWET vs VBIL GLDM vs VBIL IAU vs VBIL

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

VBIL filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VBIL prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VBIL ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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