ILIT vs REMX

ILITBiShares Lithium Miners and Producers ETF

REMXAVanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF

In short

ILIT Most lithium funds blend miners with EV makers and battery tech. ILIT stays at the source: an index of global companies whose main business is digging lithium ore or making lithium compounds, about 40 names, for 0.47% a year.

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

ILIT ILIT aims to replicate an index of U.S. and non-U.S. equity issuers whose principal activities are lithium-ore mining or lithium-compound manufacturing.

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

• ILIT Straight to the rock. The index holds only firms whose principal business is lithium-ore mining or lithium-compound manufacturing, so EV assemblers and electronics names stay out.ishares.com
• 0.47% a year undercuts most of the critical-materials shelf, including SETM (0.65%) and EART (0.59%).
• Rules-based and transparent: it replicates the STOXX Global Lithium Miners and Producers Index (STXLIMEV) rather than a manager's stock picks.
• Global by design. The mandate spans US, developed international and emerging market issuers instead of stopping at the US border.

• 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

• ILIT Small asset base and light trading volume, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on the big diversified mining funds.
• One metal, roughly 40 stocks. Lithium-linked shares have been a volatile ride, and a portfolio this concentrated feels every move in the metal.
• Launched in 2023, so the track record is short, and cash distributions land only once or twice a year.

• 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 ILIT profile⁠

Full REMX profile⁠