FMTL vs REMX

FMTLCFirst Trust Indxx Critical Metals ETF

REMXAVanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF

In short

FMTL First Trust's late-2025 entry into the critical-metals race: an index fund on the miners and processors behind batteries, magnets and grids, across US, developed and emerging markets. Priced at the category median, on a crowded shelf.

REMX The original rare earths ETF. Trading since 2010, it holds roughly 30 miners, refiners and recyclers of the metals behind magnets, EV motors and defense hardware, in one concentrated global basket priced under most of its critical-materials rivals.

Stated mandate

FMTL The fund seeks investment results that generally correspond to the Indxx Global Critical Metals Index and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in securities comprising that index.

REMX The fund seeks global exposure to companies involved in producing, refining, and recycling rare earth and strategic metals and minerals, while tracking the MVIS Global Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• FMTL One ticket to the metals story: companies across the US, developed and emerging markets rather than a single-country bet.ftportfolios.com
• Rules-based by design. It tracks the Indxx Global Critical Metals Index and normally keeps at least 80% of net assets in that index's securities, so no stock-picking discretion.ftportfolios.com
• The 0.65% expense ratio sits right at the median for critical-materials ETFs, so the newest name on the shelf isn't charging a premium for being new.

• REMX Launched in 2010, it is the elder statesman of rare earth funds, and its mandate spans producers, refiners and recyclers worldwide rather than one link in the chain.
• Fee of 0.53% a year undercuts Global X's EART (0.59%) and Sprott's SETM (0.65%), and sits below the median for its critical-materials peer group.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which matters in a corner of the market where the underlying stocks are thin.
• Rules-based, not discretionary: the basket follows the MVIS Global Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index, so holdings are set by published index rules.

Worth knowing

• FMTL Cheaper routes into the theme exist: PICK charges 0.39% and REMX 0.53%, both with far longer track records.
• It opened in November 2025, so there is no multi-year record of how tightly it tracks its index or how it holds up through a metals downturn.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, and a young, small fund tends to trade in lighter volume than the category's established names.

• REMX About 30 holdings means one company's news can move the whole fund. This is a focused bet on a single supply chain, not a diversified materials sleeve.
• Mining and refining shares move with commodity prices, so swings here run deeper and faster than in a broad equity fund.
• Distributions arrive annually or semiannually, so cash flow is lumpy rather than a steady drip.

Full FMTL profile⁠

Full REMX profile⁠