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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VUSB +3.5%.

Which is cheaper, SLV or VUSB?

VUSB is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 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 VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees

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SLV is a commodity fund and VUSB an actively managed short-term fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +3.5%.

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Net assets: $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust, and $9.9bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF.

SLV on its own →VUSB on its own →

At a glance

+14.9%

SLV total return, 1 year

+3.5%

VUSB total return, 1 year

0.50%

SLV expense ratio

0.10%

VUSB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VUSB costs 0.40 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 11.4 points; SLV is 3.0 times larger.

SLV vs VUSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	SLV	VUSB
Return
Measure	SLV	VUSB
Total return, 1 year	+14.9%	+3.5%
Drawdown
Measure	SLV	VUSB
Below its high	53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SLV	VUSB
What it tracks	Silver	No index, actively managed
Cost and size
Measure	SLV	VUSB
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.10%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$30.0bn	$9.9bn
Holdings
Measure	SLV	VUSB
Holdings in common	not published

Method

Side by side

SLV iShares Silver Trust VUSB Vanguard Ultra-Short Bond ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Holds silver Actively managed

Total return, 1 year +14.9% +3.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +15.0% (SIVR) −1.4% (AGG)

Gap to its benchmark −0.1 pts vs SIVR +4.9 pts vs AGG

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.10%

Holdings not counted 1344

Net assets, SLV as of Oct 28, 2026 and VUSB as of Sep 30, 2026 $26.9bn $9.9bn

SLV and VUSB 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.

VUSB

VUSB is actively managed and tracks no index. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +3.5% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.10% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, SLV or VUSB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, SLV returned +14.9% and VUSB +3.5%.
Which is cheaper, SLV or VUSB?: VUSB is cheaper, by 0.40 percentage points a year. That is about $40 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.

Other comparisons

SLV vs VBIL SLV vs USFR PULS vs SLV SHV vs SLV GLDM vs VUSB GLD vs VUSB BWET vs VUSB IAU vs VUSB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

iShares page for SLV ↗

VUSB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VUSB prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VUSB ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

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