BND vs GLD: Which ETF Is Better in 2026?
A metric-by-metric comparison of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (BND) and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) — both US Bonds - Broad / Commodities funds — using ETFValuer's daily-updated rankings.
Educational content — not financial advice. Data as of July 25, 2026. ~5 minute read.
The Verdict
GLD is a commodity fund, which behaves differently from almost everything else in a portfolio: it produces no earnings, pays no yield from operations, and its price is driven by supply, demand and currency rather than corporate profits. Comparing it to BND is really a question about whether you want that non-correlated exposure at all.
ETFValuer's model scores GLD at 60.7 (Grade C) and BND at 59.2 (Grade C), but read that gap carefully: the score blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost and drawdown across a single ranking of all funds, so an asset class with structurally lower expected returns will always score below one with higher returns and higher risk. It is a useful comparison between Commodities funds and between US Bonds - Broad funds — not a verdict that one of these two belongs in your portfolio and the other doesn't. Most investors hold both, in a ratio set by how long they have to recover from a bad year.
Head-to-Head: Every Metric
| BND | GLD | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | US Bonds - Broad | Commodities |
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.40% |
| Fund size (AUM) | $397.9B | $130.1B |
| Dividend yield | 3.95% | 0.00% |
| 1-year return | +2.99% | +19.13% |
| 3-year return | +11.64% | +103.95% |
| Volatility | 3.72% | 28.09% |
| Max drawdown | -5.59% | -26.40% |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.54 | 0.50 |
| ETFValuer score | 59.2 | 60.7 |
| Grade | C | C |
| Overall rank | #258 | #233 |
Bold marks the better value in each row. "Better" is directional only (e.g. lower cost, higher return) — it isn't a recommendation by itself. See the full methodology.
Cost
BND is the cheaper fund, charging 0.03% a year versus 0.40% for GLD — a gap of 0.37 percentage points (about $37.00/year on a $10,000 position) that compounds meaningfully over a multi-decade holding period. Because these funds do different jobs, though, cost alone shouldn't decide it — a cheaper fund that gives you the wrong exposure is a false economy. See the ETF Fee Calculator for the exact dollar impact at your investment size and horizon.
What GLD's Fees Cost You
GLD charges an expense ratio of 0.40% a year, deducted automatically from the fund's value. Small percentages compound into real money — adjust the figures below to see the impact on your own numbers.
Assumes a constant gross return and no additional contributions — a simplification, but it isolates exactly what the expense ratio costs. Try the full fee calculator to model contributions and compare any two funds.
Performance & Risk
Over the trailing 3 years, GLD returned +103.95% versus +11.64% for BND — a gap of about 92.3 percentage points. On risk, BND has held up better historically, with a shallower max drawdown (-5.59% vs. -26.40%). GLD currently has the better risk-adjusted return (Sharpe ratio of 0.50 vs. -0.54), meaning it delivered more return per unit of volatility taken on. Commodity returns arrive in bursts rather than compounding steadily, so a three-year window can flatter or bury them depending entirely on where the cycle started.
How Closely Do They Track Each Other?
Over the last 3.0 years of daily returns (752 shared trading days), BND and GLD show a very low correlation of 0.219 — essentially unrelated. These funds move largely on their own schedules. Combining them is a real diversification decision rather than a redundant one, which is the case where owning both can genuinely reduce portfolio volatility.
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Daily return correlation | 0.219 | Very low — essentially unrelated |
| R-squared | 4.8% | 4.8% of BND's daily moves are explained by GLD's |
| Tracking error (annualised) | 20.23% | Typical yearly spread between the two funds' returns |
| Annualised return over 3.0y | BND +3.73% · GLD +26.92% | GLD ahead by 23.18 points a year |
Correlation alone understates how far these can drift. Across every rolling 12-month window in the period, BND finished as much as -12.9 points ahead of GLD at the best extreme and -88.8 points at the worst — a 75.9-point spread between the best and worst year of relative performance. Two funds can correlate tightly day to day and still deliver very different outcomes over any single year you happen to hold them.
Calculated from daily total returns over the trailing 3-year window, recomputed every day this site refreshes. Correlation of 1.00 means the two funds moved in lockstep; 0.00 means their daily moves were unrelated.
Which One Should You Pick?
Lean BND if…
- You want the lower running cost — 0.03% vs 0.40%, about $37 a year less on a $10,000 position
- Current income matters to you — it yields 3.95% against 0.00%
- It has been the calmer ride (3.7% volatility vs 28.1%) with a shallower worst-case fall (-5.6% vs -26.4%)
- You want the deeper, more liquid market ($398B in assets vs $130B) and the tighter spread (0.069% vs 0.137%)
Lean GLD if…
- You care about return per unit of risk — its Sharpe ratio of 0.50 beats -0.54
- You weight recent results heavily — it returned 104.0% over 3 years against 11.6%
These two are not really substitutes, so "both, in some proportion" is often the right answer rather than picking one. Model the blend with the Portfolio Blender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is BND or GLD better?
ETFValuer's model scores GLD at 60.7 (Grade C) and BND at 59.2 (Grade C), but read that gap carefully: the score blends return, risk-adjusted performance, cost and drawdown across a single ranking of all funds, so an asset class with structurally lower expected returns will always score below one with higher returns and higher risk. It is a useful comparison between Commodities funds and between US Bonds - Broad funds — not a verdict that one of these two belongs in your portfolio and the other doesn't. Most investors hold both, in a ratio set by how long they have to recover from a bad year.
Which has the lower expense ratio, BND or GLD?
BND currently has the lower expense ratio (0.03% vs. 0.40%).
Can I hold both BND and GLD?
Yes, and it may be worth doing. BND and GLD correlate at only 0.22 over the past 3.0 years, so they behave differently enough that holding both is a genuine diversification decision rather than a redundant one. Size each to the role you want it to play.
Go deeper on either fund
Full daily-updated metrics, holdings context, and category peers.