SMRF vs TNUK

SMRFBALPS Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology ETF

TNUKCTortoise Nuclear Renaissance ETF

In short

SMRF Nuclear power meets option-writing. SMRF actively holds about 70 global small-modular-reactor, nuclear and related tech names, then buys and writes options on top to pull income from a famously jumpy theme.

TNUK Most nuclear funds stop at the uranium miners. TNUK buys the whole chain: the diggers, the reactor designers and builders, and the crews that operate them, anywhere in the world. A December 2025 arrival priced right at the category midpoint.

Stated mandate

SMRF The Fund seeks capital appreciation and income through an actively managed portfolio of equity securities significantly tied to the Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology Index, together with bought and written options.

TNUK The Fund seeks total return by investing in companies across the nuclear energy value chain, including uranium mining and milling, reactor design and construction, and nuclear reactor operation and maintenance.

Why people hold it

• SMRF Charges 0.65% a year, under the median for its options-income peer group and below names like HYGW (0.69%) and SVOL (0.66%).
• One wrapper, two jobs: the fund seeks capital appreciation and income, pairing the stock sleeve with bought and written options.
• Actively managed around the Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology Index rather than bolted to it, so the manager sets the option book.
• Spreads across roughly 70 global holdings instead of a handful of pure-play reactor startups, and the income policy targets a relatively stable payout level.

• TNUK Covers the full nuclear value chain: uranium mining and milling, reactor design and construction, and reactor operation and maintenance, not just the fuel end.
• The 0.75% expense ratio sits exactly at the median for uranium and nuclear funds, and under Range's NUKZ at 0.85%.
• Global by mandate, which matters when much of the reactor-building and utility side of the industry sits outside the US.
• Plain equity fund in a standard 1940 Act ETF wrapper. No leverage, no swaps, no outcome period to track.

Worth knowing

• SMRF Written calls trade away part of a big rally for premium today. In a runaway nuclear melt-up, the option book is the brake.
• Launched in 2026 with a small asset base and thin trading, so spreads can run wider than in the giants of the category.
• A single-theme portfolio tied to reactors, uranium and power-hungry tech moves on policy and project news, and swings harder than a broad index.

• TNUK Launched in December 2025, so there is no long track record, and it is a small fund next to category veterans like URA and NLR.
• Trades lightly compared with the category's heavyweights, so spreads can be wide and limit orders do real work here.
• The mandate is total return, and the fund has not been making distributions. Income is not the job.

Full SMRF profile⁠

Full TNUK profile⁠