NLR vs SMRF

NLRAVanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF

SMRFBALPS Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology ETF

In short

NLR The original nuclear ETF, listed since 2007. NLR owns the whole chain (uranium miners, reactor builders, nuclear utilities, and the equipment firms serving them) at a lower fee than most of its rivals.

SMRF Nuclear power meets option-writing. SMRF actively holds about 70 global small-modular-reactor, nuclear and related tech names, then buys and writes options on top to pull income from a famously jumpy theme.

Stated mandate

NLR The fund seeks to track the MVIS Global Uranium & Nuclear Energy Index before fees and expenses. The index covers companies involved in uranium mining, nuclear-facility and reactor construction, engineering and maintenance, nuclear electricity generation, and nuclear-industry equipment, technology, or services.

SMRF The Fund seeks capital appreciation and income through an actively managed portfolio of equity securities significantly tied to the Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology Index, together with bought and written options.

Why people hold it

• NLR At 0.52% a year it undercuts the typical uranium and nuclear fund, and both URA (0.69%) and URNM (0.75%).
• Not just diggers: the index spans uranium mining, reactor construction and engineering, nuclear electricity generation, and the equipment and services suppliers behind them.vaneck.com
• A purity screen keeps it honest: index members must draw at least half their revenue from uranium and nuclear energy, so no loosely related mega-cap filler.marketvector.com
• Trading since August 2007, well before URA (2010) and the newer nuclear funds. It has lived through the theme's full boom-to-bust-to-revival cycle.stockanalysis.com

• SMRF Charges 0.65% a year, under the median for its options-income peer group and below names like HYGW (0.69%) and SVOL (0.66%).
• One wrapper, two jobs: the fund seeks capital appreciation and income, pairing the stock sleeve with bought and written options.
• Actively managed around the Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology Index rather than bolted to it, so the manager sets the option book.
• Spreads across roughly 70 global holdings instead of a handful of pure-play reactor startups, and the income policy targets a relatively stable payout level.

Worth knowing

• NLR Around 29 holdings in a single theme. Concentration cuts both ways, and one company's news can swing the fund.
• Utilities and industrials in the mix soften the direct link to uranium prices that a miners-only fund like URNM gives you.
• Global by design, so foreign listings, currency moves, and overseas policy decisions all feed into returns.vaneck.com

• SMRF Written calls trade away part of a big rally for premium today. In a runaway nuclear melt-up, the option book is the brake.
• Launched in 2026 with a small asset base and thin trading, so spreads can run wider than in the giants of the category.
• A single-theme portfolio tied to reactors, uranium and power-hungry tech moves on policy and project news, and swings harder than a broad index.

Full NLR profile⁠

Full SMRF profile⁠