NUKX vs SMRF

NUKXDNicholas Nuclear Income ETF

SMRFBALPS Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology ETF

In short

NUKX Uranium and nuclear stocks with a paycheck bolted on. NUKX puts capital appreciation first and current income second, a combination the pure-play miner funds skip. Launched in 2026, it is still a small, lightly traded newcomer.

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

NUKX The fund seeks capital appreciation as its primary objective and current income as its secondary objective.

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

• NUKX Unusual wiring for the theme: current income is a stated secondary objective in the fund's own documents, not an afterthought to a price-only mandate.
• Holds roughly 60 stocks, so the outcome rides on a basket of nuclear and uranium names rather than one reactor builder or one mine.
• Plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper, no commodity trust or partnership quirks, with distributions paid on a recurring schedule instead of accruing quietly in the share price.

• 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

• NUKX The 1.07% fee sits above the typical uranium and nuclear ETF and roughly double the group's cheapest option (NLR at 0.52%). Income has to clear that bar first.
• Small asset base and light trading volume, which typically means wider spreads. Limit orders matter more here than in the category's household names.
• Launched in 2026 with no published tracking index, so there is little history to judge and no rules-based benchmark to measure the manager against.

• 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 NUKX profile⁠

Full SMRF profile⁠