URA vs URNM

URABGlobal X Uranium ETF

URNMCSprott Uranium Miners ETF

In short

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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 URA profile⁠

Full URNM profile⁠