SGDJ vs SGDM

SGDJBSprott Junior Gold Miners ETF

SGDMBSprott Gold Miners ETF

In short

SGDJ Junior gold, filtered. Sprott runs roughly 30 explorers, developers and producers through a revenue-growth and price-momentum screen instead of owning the entire junior bench by size alone.

SGDM SGDM doesn't just rank gold miners by size. It tracks a custom-factors index of roughly 50 larger miners listed in Canada and the US, and charges 0.46%, under its peer group's median fee.

Stated mandate

SGDJ The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Solactive Junior Gold Miners Custom Factor Index. It uses passive indexing and invests primarily in junior gold companies, including exploration-stage companies, developers and producers.

SGDM The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Solactive Gold Miners Custom Factors Index, which targets larger gold companies listed on Canadian and major U.S. exchanges.

Why people hold it

• SGDJ The screen is the whole point: the index tilts toward junior miners with better revenue growth and price momentum, not just whatever is small and listed.
• 0.50% a year, a shade under the median for precious-metals miner funds and under GDXJ's 0.52% for the broader junior basket.
• Trading since 2015 from a house built around precious metals, and it sits in the upper half of its miner peer group on our review.
• Rules-based and passive: it follows a published Solactive index rather than a manager's stock picks, so you can see what the portfolio is chasing.

• SGDM Fee of 0.46% sits under the median for precious-metals miner funds, and under both GDX (0.51%) and GDXJ (0.52%).
• Rules-based and named out loud: it follows the Solactive Gold Miners Custom Factors Index (SOLGMCFT), and it has stayed close to that stated mandate.
• Running since 2014, a long life for a thematic fund, and it holds about 50 larger gold companies rather than a sprawling list.
• Lands in the upper half of the gold and silver miner group in our review, with high confidence in the underlying data.

Worth knowing

• SGDJ Juniors are the jumpy end of an already jumpy sector. Exploration-stage names move on drill results and financing, not only on the gold price.
• About 30 holdings, spread across US, developed, emerging and frontier listings. Concentration means one company's news lands harder than in a broad miner index.
• Moderately traded rather than a top-of-book name, so spreads deserve a look and limit orders earn their keep.

• SGDM Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so spreads can be wider and larger orders can push the price around.
• The index sticks to Canadian and major US listings, so gold miners quoted only on other exchanges sit outside the portfolio.
• One industry, driven by the gold price and how well mines actually run, so the ride is bumpier than a broad stock fund.

Full SGDJ profile⁠

Full SGDM profile⁠