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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VNQ +4.8%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or VNQ?

VNQ is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 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 VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and VNQ an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +4.8%.

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Net assets: $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust, and $35.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Real Estate ETF.

SLV on its own →VNQ on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

+4.8%

VNQ total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.13%

VNQ expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VNQ costs 0.37 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 10.1 points; VNQ is 1.2 times larger.

SLV vs VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	VNQ
Return
Measure	SLV	VNQ
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	+4.8%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	VNQ
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026	8.3%, high on Jul 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	VNQ
What it tracks	Silver	MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	VNQ
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.13%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$30.0bn	$35.9bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	VNQ
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		63%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		55.8%

Method

Risk and return

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

SLV VNQ

Return

Total return edge SLV (slight) +248.1% +230.5%

Annualized edge SLV (slight) +6.3% +6.0%

Price return edge SLV +248.1% +40.4%

Risk

Volatility edge VNQ 32.5% 25.6%

Max drawdown edge VNQ (slight) −75.2% −72.5%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SLV (slight) 0.30 0.29

Sortino edge Tie 0.42 0.42

Calmar edge Tie 0.08 0.08

Reading

SLV returned slightly more: +248.1% to +230.5%. VNQ swung less: 25.6% to 32.5%. VNQ fell slightly less at its worst: −72.5% to −75.2%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: SLV vs VNQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	VNQ	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+248.1%	+230.5%	SLV (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+6.3%	+6.0%	SLV (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+248.1%	+40.4%	SLV	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	32.5%	25.6%	VNQ	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	23.0%	17.7%	VNQ	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−75.2%	−72.5%	VNQ (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.30	0.29	SLV (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.42	0.42	Tie	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.08	0.08	Tie	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 VNQ Vanguard Real Estate ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds silver Tracks an index of US real estate

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +4.8%

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% 0.13%

Holdings not counted 141

Net assets, SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 and VNQ as of Sep 30, 2026 $26.9bn $35.9bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-4A97010676

SLV and VNQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. SLV follows Silver and VNQ follows MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 SLV returned +14.9% and VNQ +4.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 10.1 points.
Cost. SLV charges 0.50% of assets a year and VNQ 0.13%, a gap of 0.37 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.

VNQ

VNQ tracks an index of US real estate. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +4.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.13% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 63% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 141 positions, with the top ten at 55.8%. It sat 8.3% below its high of Jul 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SLV or VNQ?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VNQ +4.8%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or VNQ?: VNQ is cheaper, by 0.37 percentage points a year. That is about $37 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

SLV vs XLRE SCHH vs SLV IYR vs SLV SLV vs XLI BWET vs VNQ GLDM vs VNQ IAU vs VNQ GLD vs VNQ

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

VNQ filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VNQ prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VNQ ↗

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

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

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