GDXJ vs SLVP

GDXJBVanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF

SLVPBiShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF

In short

GDXJ The junior tier of the gold trade. GDXJ tracks an index of small-cap gold and silver miners, about 120 names worldwide, and has done so since 2009. It owns the up-and-comers rather than the household-name majors.

SLVP About 40 global silver and metals miners in one ticker, priced below the typical precious-metals miner fund. Running since 2012, and read the 'metals miners' part of the name: the index reaches past pure silver plays.

Stated mandate

GDXJ GDXJ seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index, which represents small-capitalization companies primarily engaged in gold and/or silver mining.

SLVP The fund is designed to follow an index of worldwide companies whose principal business is silver exploration or metals mining.

Why people hold it

• GDXJ Small by design: the index covers companies primarily engaged in gold and/or silver mining at the small-capitalization end, roughly 120 of them across global markets.
• Silver rides along. The mandate covers gold and/or silver miners, so the basket is broader precious metals than the name suggests.
• One of the busiest tickets in the junior-miner niche: a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades very actively, which matters when the whole sector moves at once.
• 0.52% a year sits right at the median for precious-metals miner funds, and roughly the same sticker as VanEck's large-cap sibling GDX at 0.51%.

• SLVP 0.39% a year undercuts the 0.52% median for precious-metals miner funds, and matches the fee on the iShares gold-miner sibling, RING.
• Global mandate, not a US-listing screen: the MSCI ACWI Select Silver Miners IMI covers worldwide companies whose principal business is silver exploration or metals mining.
• Trading since 2012, one of the longer-running silver miner funds on the shelf, and it stands among the stronger implementations in its precious-metals mining peer group.

Worth knowing

• GDXJ Junior miners are the jumpy end of a jumpy sector: smaller companies, fewer mines, and moves that can run far wider than the metal itself.
• Income is not the story here. Distributions land once or twice a year at most.
• Average price, not a bargain. Cheaper miner funds exist in the group, including RING at 0.39%.

• SLVP Roughly 40 stocks, so individual miners carry real weight and the whole basket keys off one metal's fortunes.
• "And Metals Miners" is doing work in the name: the mandate covers silver exploration or metals mining, so diversified miners can sit beside pure silver plays.
• Not the cheapest silver miner ticket: AGMI lists at 0.35%, though it lacks SLVP's record back to 2012.

Full GDXJ profile⁠

Full SLVP profile⁠