SGDM vs SLVX

SGDMBSprott Gold Miners ETF

SLVXFNicholas Silver Income 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.

SLVX A rare active swing at the silver mining complex: the prospectus puts capital appreciation first and current income second, with roughly 50 names chosen by a manager instead of copied from an index. Active pricing comes with it.

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.

SLVX The actively managed ETF seeks capital appreciation as its primary objective and current income as its secondary objective.

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.

• SLVX Income is written into the mandate, not bolted on: capital appreciation is the stated primary objective, current income the secondary one, with distributions on a recurring schedule.
• Actively managed, so the roughly 50 holdings reflect a manager's picks rather than a cap-weighted index rulebook. Most funds in this corner track a list.
• Plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper holding materials-sector equities, the same structure the large index-based miners funds use.

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.

• SLVX The 1.16% expense ratio sits well above index rivals in the same theme: RING and SLVP each charge 0.39%. Active stock picking carries that gap.
• A small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on the category's heavyweights.
• Launched in 2026, so there is little history to judge, and the book stays concentrated in one narrow slice of the materials sector.

Full SGDM profile⁠

Full SLVX profile⁠