SMRF vs URA

SMRFBALPS Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology ETF

URABGlobal X Uranium 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.

URA The original US uranium ETF, trading since 2010, long before the nuclear theme got crowded. It holds roughly 50 names spanning miners and nuclear-component makers, so the reactor supply chain rides along with the yellowcake.

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.

URA The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Solactive Global Uranium & Nuclear Components Total Return Index. It concentrates at least 80% of assets in companies involved in uranium or nuclear-component activities.

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.

• URA Launched in 2010, the first US fund on this theme, and today a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded name. Size and volume usually mean tighter spreads for the person clicking buy.
• 0.69% expense ratio sits below the typical fee among uranium and nuclear funds, which is rare for a single-theme product this specialized.
• Not a pure miner basket. The index reaches into nuclear components too, with at least 80% of assets in uranium or nuclear-component companies, worldwide.
• Rates as one of the stronger builds in its uranium and nuclear peer group on cost, tradability and staying power.

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.

• URA One theme, about 50 stocks. Uranium prices, mine permits and reactor policy move the whole basket at once, and the ride has historically been bumpy.
• A cheaper shelf-mate exists: NLR charges 0.52% for a nearby uranium and nuclear mandate.
• Global mandate means overseas miners, so foreign currency and permitting regimes come with the package. Distributions arrive once or twice a year, not monthly.

Full SMRF profile⁠

Full URA profile⁠