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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VGSH +1.7%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or VGSH?

VGSH 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 VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and VGSH a bond index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +1.7%.

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Net assets: $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust, and $35.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF.

SLV on its own →VGSH on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

+1.7%

VGSH total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.03%

VGSH expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGSH costs 0.47 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.2 points; VGSH is 1.2 times larger.

SLV vs VGSH: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	VGSH
Return
Measure	SLV	VGSH
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	+1.7%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	VGSH
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	VGSH
What it tracks	Silver	Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	VGSH
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$30.0bn	$35.1bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	VGSH
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust VGSH Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds silver Tracks an index of Short-Term Treasury

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +1.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +15.0% (SIVR) +1.8% (SCHO)

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SIVR −0.1 pts vs SCHO

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.03%

Holdings not counted 93

Net assets, SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 and VGSH as of Sep 30, 2026 $26.9bn $35.1bn

SLV and VGSH 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.

VGSH

VGSH tracks an index of Short-Term Treasury. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +1.7% with distributions reinvested, against +1.8% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury 1-3 Year Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SLV or VGSH?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VGSH +1.7%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or VGSH?: VGSH 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

SHY vs SLV IEI vs SLV AGG vs SLV BND vs SLV GLD vs VGSH BWET vs VGSH GLDM vs VGSH IAU vs VGSH

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

VGSH filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGSH prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGSH ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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