SMRF vs URNM

SMRFBALPS Nautilus SMR, Nuclear & Technology ETF

URNMCSprott Uranium Miners 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.

URNM The uranium purist. Its index only admits companies with at least half their assets tied to uranium: miners, explorers, royalty owners, and trusts that simply sit on physical pounds. Sprott, a firm built around the metal, has run it since 2019.

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.

URNM The fund seeks to provide investment results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the total return of the North Shore Global Uranium Mining Index.

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.

• URNM Strict pure-play rule: the index only admits companies with at least half their assets in the uranium business, so reactor builders and diversified utilities stay out.sprott.com
• The index counts holders of physical uranium and uranium royalties, not just diggers, so the basket leans on the metal itself alongside the equities.sprottetfs.comsprott.com
• Live since 2019, it is a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which tends to keep bid-ask spreads manageable in a niche corner of the market.

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.

• URNM 0.75% a year sits at the uranium cohort's median, but above NLR (0.52%) and URA (0.69%), which cast wider nets across nuclear.
• Around 25 holdings and non-diversified by prospectus: one miner's bad news can swing the fund more than it would a broad portfolio.sprottetfs.com
• Concentrated in the uranium industry by design, a small cyclical corner of energy, so the ride can be bumpy in both directions.sprottetfs.com

Full SMRF profile⁠

Full URNM profile⁠