Which returned more over the last year, USO or VT?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VT +13.5%.

Which is cheaper, USO or VT?

VT is cheaper, by 0.80 percentage points a year. That is about $80 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

USO vs VT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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USO is a commodity futures fund and VT an equity index fund, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, USO returned +133.3% against +13.5%.

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Net assets: $1.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for United States Oil Fund, LP, and $81.8bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF.

USO on its own →VT on its own →

At a glance

+133.3%

USO total return, 1 year

+13.5%

VT total return, 1 year

0.86%

USO expense ratio

0.06%

VT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VT costs 0.80 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 119.8 points.

USO vs VT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	VT
Return
Measure	USO	VT
Total return, 1 year	+133.3%	+13.5%
Drawdown
Measure	USO	VT
Below its high	82.3%, high on Jul 14, 2008
Benchmark
Measure	USO	VT
What it tracks	Oil futures	FTSE Global All Cap Index
Cost and size
Measure	USO	VT
Expense ratio	0.86%	0.06%
Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VT as of Sep 30, 2026	$1.9bn	$81.8bn
Holdings
Measure	USO	VT
Holdings in common	not published
In the S&P 500, by weight		55%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund		22.5%

Method

Risk and return

Jul 3, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026 · 955 weekly returns

USO VT

Return

Total return edge VT −81.9% +371.6%

Annualized edge VT −8.9% +8.8%

Price return edge VT −81.9% +221.4%

Risk

Volatility edge VT 38.2% 18.3%

Max drawdown edge VT −98.0% −48.3%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VT −0.09 0.48

Sortino edge VT −0.12 0.66

Calmar edge VT −0.09 0.18

Reading

VT returned more: +371.6% to −81.9%. VT swung less: 18.3% to 38.2%. VT fell less at its worst: −48.3% to −98.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: USO vs VT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	USO	VT	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	−81.9%	+371.6%	VT	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	−8.9%	+8.8%	VT	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−81.9%	+221.4%	VT	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	38.2%	18.3%	VT	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	27.8%	13.1%	VT	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−98.0%	−48.3%	VT	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	−0.09	0.48	VT	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	−0.12	0.66	VT	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	−0.09	0.18	VT	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 955 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

Side by side

USO United States Oil Fund, LP VT Vanguard Total World Stock Index ETF

Where it sits Commodity ETF Stock ETF

Issuer USCF Vanguard

What it is Holds oil futures Tracks an index of Total World Stock

Total return, 1 year +133.3% +13.5%

Expense ratio 0.86% 0.06%

Holdings not counted 10194

Net assets, USO as of Oct 28, 2026 and VT as of Sep 30, 2026 $1.9bn $81.8bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-CE67AD6988

USO and VT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. USO follows Oil futures and VT follows FTSE Global All Cap Index.
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 USO returned +133.3% and VT +13.5% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 119.8 points.
Cost. USO charges 0.86% of assets a year and VT 0.06%, a gap of 0.80 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

USO

USO holds oil futures. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +133.3% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.86% a year. It sat 82.3% below its high of Jul 14, 2008 on Oct 28, 2026.

VT tracks an index of Total World Stock. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.06% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 55% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 10,194 positions, with the top ten at 22.5%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, USO or VT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, USO returned +133.3% and VT +13.5%.
Which is cheaper, USO or VT?: VT is cheaper, by 0.80 percentage points a year. That is about $80 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

ACWI vs USO URTH vs USO EWJ vs USO FLKR vs USO SIVR vs VT BWET vs VT GLDM vs VT IAU vs VT

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

USCF website ↗

VT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VT ↗

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

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, USO against VT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/uso-vs-vt

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