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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VDE +58.8%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or VDE?

VDE is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 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 VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and VDE an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VDE returned +58.8% against +14.9%.

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Net assets: $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust, and $10.4bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Energy ETF.

SLV on its own →VDE on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

+58.8%

VDE total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.09%

VDE expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VDE costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 43.9 points; SLV is 2.9 times larger.

SLV vs VDE: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	VDE
Return
Measure	SLV	VDE
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	+58.8%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	VDE
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	VDE
What it tracks	Silver	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	VDE
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$30.0bn	$10.4bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	VDE
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		81%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		67.1%

Method

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust VDE Vanguard Energy ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds silver Tracks an index of Energy

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +58.8%

Its benchmark over the same days +15.0% (SIVR) +59.0% (FENY)

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SIVR −0.2 pts vs FENY

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.09%

Holdings not counted 113

Net assets, SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 and VDE as of Sep 30, 2026 $26.9bn $10.4bn

SLV and VDE 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.

VDE

VDE tracks an index of Energy. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +58.8% with distributions reinvested, against +59.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Energy 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 81% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 113 positions, with the top ten at 67.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SLV or VDE?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VDE +58.8%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or VDE?: VDE is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

SLV vs XOP SLV vs XLE IYE vs SLV SLV vs XLI GLD vs VDE BWET vs VDE GLDM vs VDE IAU vs VDE

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

VDE filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VDE prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VDE ↗

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

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

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