METL vs XME

METLFSprott Active Metals & Miners ETF

XMEBState Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF

In short

METL Sprott's stock-picking answer to a sector ruled by cheap index trackers: about 40 global metals and mining names chosen by a manager, in a plain ETF wrapper. Active conviction, active price tag.

XME Not the chemicals-heavy materials fund. XME holds roughly 40 miners and steelmakers on a modified equal weight, so a small copper name carries about the weight of a giant. Ore, coal and metal, since 2006.

Stated mandate

METL The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

XME The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return performance of the S&P Metals and Mining Select Industry Index.

Why people hold it

• METL A concentrated book of roughly 40 global metals and miners, picked by a manager rather than inherited from a broad materials index.
• The mandate is global, so the manager can own miners listed outside the US, unlike domestic-only materials funds such as IYM.
• Ordinary plumbing: a 1940 Act fund holding stocks, not futures or partnerships. That means 1099 reporting and no K-1 at tax time.

• XME Pure play on the metals and mining slice: aluminum, coal, copper, gold, precious metals, silver and steel sub-industries, not the whole materials sector.ssga.com
• Modified equal weighting spreads exposure across large, mid and small caps, so the biggest miners don't set the tone for the whole portfolio.ssga.com
• One of the more actively traded funds in its corner of the market, and a multi-billion-dollar fund that has been running since 2006.
• 0.35% expense ratio, slightly under the median for the materials funds we grade, which is unusual for a narrow industry sleeve.

Worth knowing

• METL 0.99% a year buys the stock picking. The category's index options (XLB, VAW, FMAT) charge under 0.10%, so the manager starts each year well behind them.
• Launched in 2025, so there is no full mining cycle on the record yet to judge the manager's calls against.
• Trades lightly next to the category's heavyweights, which tends to mean wider spreads. Distributions land once or twice a year, not monthly.

• XME Broad materials funds cost far less: XLB at 0.08% and VAW at 0.09%. They also own a very different mix, chemicals and packaging included.
• About 40 names, many of them smaller miners, in one cyclical industry. Swings run wider than a diversified sector fund's.
• The portfolio's fortunes track commodity cycles in steel, coal, copper and gold rather than broad industrial demand.ssga.com

Full METL profile⁠

Full XME profile⁠