Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF

Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF (SGDJ) is an index fund that tracks the Solactive Junior Gold Miners Custom Factor Index, a group of about 25 to 30 smaller gold mining companies, most of them in Canada and Australia. Its 0.50% expense ratio is close to the 0.52% charged by the much larger VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ). It swings far more than the broad market: it gained 174.57% in 2025 and lost 27.35% in 2022.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, SGDJ returned +23.5%, 3rd of 7 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +18.5% and its 10-year +10.6%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 43.9% and regained its old high 1.8 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-27.5%); its best was 2025 (+174.6%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 59.3% (Aug 4, 2016 to Mar 20, 2020), recovered by Jul 27, 2020.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 31 securities; the ten largest made up 45.75% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors withdrew a net $19.7M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +4.74%, +0.19%, -15.45%.

SGDJ is passively managed. It aims to match the Solactive Junior Gold Miners Custom Factor Index, which Solactive AG compiles. To be eligible, a company must appear on Solactive's MARKET WATCH list for its Global Gold Explorers & Developers Total Return Index. That index covers gold explorers and producers. "Junior" here means small. A company's market capitalization is its share price times its shares outstanding. New members can't have a market capitalization above $3 billion, and existing members are dropped once they pass $4 billion. A company counts as a gold miner if more than half its revenue comes from gold mining. Many members are still exploring or developing projects that may never produce gold.

The index targets 25 to 30 stocks, weighted mostly by company size, with limits. At each rebalance, no stock can be more than 9% of the index. Stocks above 4.5% can't add up to more than 50% in total. The index is rebuilt and rebalanced twice a year, after the close on the third Friday of March and of September. The prospectus lists portfolio turnover of 76%.

The fund normally puts at least 90% of its net assets in the index's securities and at least 80% in gold mining companies. It owns the shares directly and held no derivatives as of June 30, 2026. Most holdings trade outside the US, so changes in exchange rates affect returns. The fund may also lend out its securities.

• SGDJ charges 0.5% a year, versus an average of 0.51% for the similar funds below (3rd of 7, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.35% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $51 in the first year and $605 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

SGDJ holds a concentrated group of small gold mining stocks, so its swings are far larger than a broad stock fund's, which limits it to a small slice of a portfolio.

SGDJ can add exposure to gold mining companies, but it trades like a high-risk stock fund, not like gold itself. The fund launched in 2015, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 43.9% in less than a month and had recovered by May 15, 2020. In the 2022 bear market it fell 52.7% and needed 29.5 months, until March 13, 2025, to recover. Its deepest drop was 59.3%, from August 2016 to March 2020. Anyone who had to sell during a slump like that would lock in large losses.

The fund pays once a year. Its trailing yield was 8.92% as of October 27, 2026, but a single annual payout can vary widely. Costs are 0.50% a year, or $51 in the first year on $10,000 in the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by closest holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports (no similar fund shares 20% or more of its holdings).