NIKL vs SETM

NIKLFSprott Nickel Miners ETF

SETMCSprott Critical Materials ETF

In short

NIKL Nickel is the metal stainless steel and battery cathodes run on, and NIKL is the only US ETF built purely on the companies digging it. One metal, roughly two dozen global miners, no diversified-mining cushion.

SETM Most funds in this corner pick a lane: lithium, or rare earths. SETM tracks an index built to span the wider critical-materials complex, roughly 160 miners and processors in a single basket.

Stated mandate

NIKL NIKL is designed to deliver returns broadly corresponding to the Nasdaq Sprott Nickel Miners Index before fees and expenses.

SETM SETM seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total-return performance of the Nasdaq Sprott Critical Materials Index.

Why people hold it

• NIKL The only US ETF focused on nickel miners. Broad battery-metals funds bury nickel among lithium and cobalt names; this one keeps the exposure to a single metal.sprottetfs.com
• The Nasdaq Sprott index spans nickel producers, developers and explorers, and the fund normally holds at least 80% of assets in index securities, so the pure-play design is written into the rules.sprottetfs.comsprottetfs.com 2
• Sprott's whole shelf is mining. Nickel sits beside sibling single-metal miner funds and a broader critical-materials basket (SETM), so you can dial exposure narrow or wide within one house.sprottetfs.com

• SETM Peers narrow to one metal (ILIT for lithium, REMX and EART for rare earths). SETM holds roughly 160 miners and processors across the theme, in one rules-based index.
• The 0.65% fee lands right at the middle of the critical-materials pack. Breadth here does not carry a premium price tag.
• Real size for a niche theme, with regular daily volume behind it. That tends to mean easier fills than the thinnest shelves in mining ETFs.
• Fully index-driven: the fund aims to match the Nasdaq Sprott Critical Materials Index before fees, so the holdings follow a published rulebook rather than a manager's call.

Worth knowing

• NIKL At 0.75%, the fee sits above the norm for critical-materials funds and roughly double a diversified miners option like PICK at 0.39%. Narrow focus costs money.
• Around 26 mostly international miners, explorers and developers included. One commodity's price swings drive the whole portfolio, with no other metals to soften the ride.sprottetfs.com
• Cash comes back once or twice a year, not monthly, and the fund only launched in 2023, so the live record is short by design.

• SETM Mining exposure comes cheaper elsewhere in the group: PICK runs 0.39%, REMX 0.53%. The extra basis points buy Sprott's particular definition of critical materials.
• Miner shares move with commodity prices and government policy, so a single-theme equity basket can swing hard in both directions.
• Income is not the job here. Distributions arrive annually or semiannually, not on a monthly rhythm.

Full NIKL profile⁠

Full SETM profile⁠