SMH vs SMHX

SMHAVanEck Semiconductor ETF

SMHXBVanEck Fabless Semiconductor ETF

In short

SMH Chip exposure, undiluted. SMH tracks roughly 25 of the largest, most liquid US-listed semiconductor names (foreign chipmakers included) and trades like a household ticker in its category.

SMHX Owns the chip designers and skips the factories. SMHX tracks an index of US-listed fabless semiconductor companies: firms that design silicon in-house and hand the actual manufacturing to outside foundries.

Stated mandate

SMH The Fund aims to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index.

SMHX The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MarketVector US Listed Fabless Semiconductor Index, which is intended to represent companies involved in the semiconductor industry.

Why people hold it

• SMH The index rule is simple: the 25 largest, most liquid US-listed chip stocks, each earning over half its revenue from semiconductors or semi equipment. No tech-adjacent filler.marketvector.com
• Depositary receipts count, so US-listed foreign chipmakers are in scope. That reaches parts of the supply chain a domestic-only screen leaves out.sec.gov
• Single-name weights are capped at 20%, so the giants of the industry carry real weight rather than being trimmed toward sector-average size.marketvector.com
• One of the most actively traded funds in its peer group, a multi-billion-dollar book, and VanEck has run it since 2011.

• SMHX Purist screen: the index takes only US-listed fabless firms drawing at least half their revenue from semiconductors. No foundries, no equipment makers, no integrated manufacturers.vaneck.com
• Fabless is an asset-light model by construction: design and R&D stay in-house while fabrication is outsourced, sidestepping the cost of owning a chip plant.vaneck.com
• Charges 0.35% a year, level with the median semiconductor ETF, for a far narrower cut of the industry than the broad chip trackers.

Worth knowing

• SMH Fees sit mid-pack: 0.35% matches the semiconductor cohort median but runs above SOXQ at 0.19% and CHPS at 0.15%.
• Roughly 25 names with a 20% cap is concentration by design: the largest holdings drive most of the fund's day-to-day movement.marketvector.com
• Built as a single-industry chip sleeve, not an income holding. Distributions come once or twice a year.

• SMHX By design it skips foundries, equipment makers and integrated manufacturers. Broad chip funds such as SMH and SOXX still cover those links in the supply chain.
• Cheaper doors into chips exist: SOXQ lists 0.19% and CHPS 0.15%, against 0.35% here.
• Launched in 2024 and still a smaller, moderately traded fund, so the track record is short and spreads can run wider than at the category heavyweights.

Full SMH profile⁠

Full SMHX profile⁠