PICK vs XME

PICKCiShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF

XMEBState Street SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF

In short

PICK The miners fund that deliberately leaves out the gold. PICK tracks an index of roughly 300 global metals and mining producers with gold and silver names screened out, for 0.39% a year.

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

PICK The fund seeks to track an index of global companies primarily engaged in mining, extracting, or producing diversified metals and industrial materials, while excluding gold and silver.

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

• PICK Costs 0.39% a year against a 0.65% median in its critical-materials peer group, undercutting REMX, EART and SETM.
• The index rule is the whole point: diversified metals and industrial materials producers in, gold and silver out. A cleaner read on industrial demand than a mixed miners basket.ishares.com
• About 300 holdings across global markets, so no single mine, country or commodity carries the fund.
• Trading since 2012 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund. One of the most established ways to own the group.

• 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

• PICK One sector, one cycle. Miner earnings ride metal prices, which means sharp moves in both directions.
• No gold or silver producers by design, so it doesn't double as a precious-metals sleeve.
• Distributions arrive annually or semiannually, not monthly, and a global book brings non-US currency exposure.

• 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 PICK profile⁠

Full XME profile⁠