NLR vs URA

NLRAVanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF

URABGlobal X Uranium 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.

URA The original US uranium ETF, trading since 2010, long before the nuclear theme got crowded. It holds roughly 50 names spanning miners and nuclear-component makers, so the reactor supply chain rides along with the yellowcake.

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.

URA The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Solactive Global Uranium & Nuclear Components Total Return Index. It concentrates at least 80% of assets in companies involved in uranium or nuclear-component activities.

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

• URA Launched in 2010, the first US fund on this theme, and today a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded name. Size and volume usually mean tighter spreads for the person clicking buy.
• 0.69% expense ratio sits below the typical fee among uranium and nuclear funds, which is rare for a single-theme product this specialized.
• Not a pure miner basket. The index reaches into nuclear components too, with at least 80% of assets in uranium or nuclear-component companies, worldwide.
• Rates as one of the stronger builds in its uranium and nuclear peer group on cost, tradability and staying power.

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

• URA One theme, about 50 stocks. Uranium prices, mine permits and reactor policy move the whole basket at once, and the ride has historically been bumpy.
• A cheaper shelf-mate exists: NLR charges 0.52% for a nearby uranium and nuclear mandate.
• Global mandate means overseas miners, so foreign currency and permitting regimes come with the package. Distributions arrive once or twice a year, not monthly.

Full NLR profile⁠

Full URA profile⁠