SGDM vs SLVP

SGDMBSprott Gold Miners ETF

SLVPBiShares MSCI Global Silver and Metals Miners ETF

In short

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.

SLVP About 40 global silver and metals miners in one ticker, priced below the typical precious-metals miner fund. Running since 2012, and read the 'metals miners' part of the name: the index reaches past pure silver plays.

Stated mandate

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.

SLVP The fund is designed to follow an index of worldwide companies whose principal business is silver exploration or metals mining.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• SLVP 0.39% a year undercuts the 0.52% median for precious-metals miner funds, and matches the fee on the iShares gold-miner sibling, RING.
• Global mandate, not a US-listing screen: the MSCI ACWI Select Silver Miners IMI covers worldwide companies whose principal business is silver exploration or metals mining.
• Trading since 2012, one of the longer-running silver miner funds on the shelf, and it stands among the stronger implementations in its precious-metals mining peer group.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• SLVP Roughly 40 stocks, so individual miners carry real weight and the whole basket keys off one metal's fortunes.
• "And Metals Miners" is doing work in the name: the mandate covers silver exploration or metals mining, so diversified miners can sit beside pure silver plays.
• Not the cheapest silver miner ticket: AGMI lists at 0.35%, though it lacks SLVP's record back to 2012.

Full SGDM profile⁠

Full SLVP profile⁠