ARMH vs SMH

ARMHCArm Holdings PLC ADRhedged

SMHAVanEck Semiconductor ETF

In short

ARMH A single-stock ETF with an unusual job: hold the Arm Holdings ADR and use a currency contract to strip out the exchange-rate layer baked into ordinary ADR investing, aiming to deliver the stock's local-market return, less expenses.

SMH Chip exposure, undiluted. SMH tracks roughly 25 of the largest, most liquid US-listed semiconductor names (foreign chipmakers included) and trades like a household ticker in its category.

Stated mandate

ARMH The Fund seeks to provide, before fees and expenses, returns corresponding generally to Arm Holdings PLC’s ordinary shares in its local market and local currency. Its ADR exposure is paired with currency swaps intended to hedge exchange-rate fluctuations.

SMH The Fund aims to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index.

Why people hold it

• ARMH Ordinary ADRs quietly blend company returns with currency swings. This one hedges that out by contract, targeting Arm's local-market return, less expenses.precidian.com
• 0.19% a year, comfortably under the 0.35% median for semiconductor funds, matching SOXQ and undercutting SMH and SOXX.
• Pinpoint exposure. One company, not a basket of chipmakers, wrapped in an ETF that trades on a US exchange during US hours.precidian.com

• SMH The index rule is simple: the 25 largest, most liquid US-listed chip stocks, each earning over half its revenue from semiconductors or semi equipment. No tech-adjacent filler.marketvector.com
• Depositary receipts count, so US-listed foreign chipmakers are in scope. That reaches parts of the supply chain a domestic-only screen leaves out.sec.gov
• Single-name weights are capped at 20%, so the giants of the industry carry real weight rather than being trimmed toward sector-average size.marketvector.com
• One of the most actively traded funds in its peer group, a multi-billion-dollar book, and VanEck has run it since 2011.

Worth knowing

• ARMH One stock, one story. Diversified chip funds like SMH or SOXX spread a bad quarter across many companies; here, Arm news is the entire fund.
• The hedge cuts both ways: currency moves that would have flattered an unhedged ADR holder are removed along with the ones that would have stung.precidian.com
• Launched in 2025 and still a small fund, it changes hands less often than the household-name semiconductor ETFs, which can show up in bid-ask spreads.

• SMH Fees sit mid-pack: 0.35% matches the semiconductor cohort median but runs above SOXQ at 0.19% and CHPS at 0.15%.
• Roughly 25 names with a 20% cap is concentration by design: the largest holdings drive most of the fund's day-to-day movement.marketvector.com
• Built as a single-industry chip sleeve, not an income holding. Distributions come once or twice a year.

Full ARMH profile⁠

Full SMH profile⁠