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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VGLT −6.7%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or VGLT?

VGLT is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 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 VGLT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and VGLT a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against −6.7%.

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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 Long-Term Treasury ETF.

SLV on its own →VGLT on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

−6.7%

VGLT total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.03%

VGLT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGLT costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 21.6 points; SLV is 2.9 times larger.

SLV vs VGLT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	VGLT
Return
Measure	SLV	VGLT
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	−6.7%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	VGLT
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026	38.8%, high on Aug 4, 2020
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	VGLT
What it tracks	Silver	Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	VGLT
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$30.0bn	$10.4bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	VGLT
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust VGLT Vanguard Long-Term Treasury ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds silver Tracks an index of Long-term Treasury

Total return, 1 year +14.9% −6.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +15.0% (SIVR) −6.7% (SCHQ)

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SIVR 0.0 pts vs SCHQ

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 102

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

SLV and VGLT 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.

VGLT

VGLT tracks an index of Long-term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −6.7% with distributions reinvested, against −6.7% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Long Treasury Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. It sat 38.8% below its high of Aug 4, 2020 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SLV or VGLT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VGLT −6.7%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or VGLT?: VGLT is cheaper, by 0.47 percentage points a year. That is about $47 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

EDV vs SLV SLV vs TLT SLV vs VCLT BINC vs SLV GLDM vs VGLT IAU vs VGLT GLD vs VGLT BWET vs VGLT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

VGLT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGLT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGLT ↗

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

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

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