ETF Evaluator:
Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF (GBUG)
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(as of Jul 31)
Best Performing in Equity Precious Metals Over the Last Year
| 79.9% | Themes Silver Miners ETF (AGMI) |
| 79.1% | Amplify Junior Silver Miners ETF (SILJ) |
| 76.8% | iShares MSCI Global Silver&Mtls Mnrs ETF (SLVP) |
| 75.8% | Sprott Silver Mnrs & Physical Silver ETF (SLVR) |
| 64.4% | Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF (SGDJ) |
Risk
Index
Risk
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ETF Details
Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF Overview
Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF (GBUG) is an actively managed Sector Equity Equity Precious Metals exchange-traded fund (ETF). Sprott launched the ETF in 2025.
The investment seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation.
The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing 80% of its net assets in shares of gold and silver, focused companies that are engaged in exploring, developing and mining; or royalty and streaming companies engaged in the financing of gold and silver assets. The investment strategy of the fund is value oriented and contrarian. The fund is non-diversified.
About Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF (GBUG)
There are 6 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.36 years: Maria Smirnova (2025), Ryan Mischker (2025), Shree Kargutkar (2025), Charles Perkins (2025), Justin Tolman (2025) and John Hathaway (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.
Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF has 48 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 39.0% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity ETF group. Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF has 83.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 15.8% There is 83.3% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF has 1.0% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $140 million in total assets, which is below the $2 billion average for the Equity Precious Metals category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.
GBUG Performance and Fees
The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Equity Precious Metals category. Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF has an expense ratio of 0.90%, which is 45% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.
High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 20%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 55% for the Equity Precious Metals category.
Recently, in the month of June 2026, Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF returned -13.4%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Equity Precious Metals category had an average return of -16.0%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.
Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF has a trailing yield of 1.74%, which is below the 2.60% category average.
The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.
It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.
Sprott Active Gold & Silver Miners ETF Grades
Year to date, the ETF has returned -10.6%, 0.3 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 57.3% over the past year (grade of C).
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GBUG Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 6/30/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| GBUG Return (NAV) | -13.4% | -13.7% | 57.3% | na | na | na |
| GBUG Return (Price) | -13.8% | -14.1% | 56.4% | na | na | na |
| NAV +/- Price Return | 0.397% | 0.415% | 0.956% | na | na | na |
| Equity Precious Metals Avg | -16.0% | -15.1% | 57.7% | 42.4% | 17.1% | 10.0% |
| GBUG Grade (NAV) | A | B | C | na | na | na |
| +/- Category (NAV) | 2.7% | 1.4% | -0.3% | na | na | na |
| GBUG Tax-Cost Ratio | na | na | 0.6% | na | na | na |
GBUG Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 6/30/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| GBUG Return (NAV) | -10.6% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| GBUG Return (Price) | -10.6% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| NAV +/- Price Ret | 0.006% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| Equity Precious Metals Avg | -10.9% | 169.5% | 15.1% | 4.9% | -15.7% | -15.1% | 33.4% | 43.1% | -17.3% | 6.2% | 77.4% |
| GBUG Grade (NAV) | C | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| +/- Category | 0.3% | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
| Risk Measures | |
| Beta: | na |
| R-Squared: | na |
| Standard Deviation: | na |
| Category Risk Index: | na |
| Category Risk Rating: | |
| Total Risk Index: | na |
| Total Risk Rating: | |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Yield: | 1.7% |
| Total Assets: | $ 141 Mil |
| Share Class Assets: | $ 141 Mil |
| Turnover: | 20.0% |
| Expense Ratio: | 0.90% |
| Index Fund: | No |
| Index Tracked: | N/A |
| Index Weighting: | 100% |
| Leveraged: | No |
| Socially Responsible Fund: | No |
| Capital Gains Distribution Frequency: | Annually |
| Income Distribution Frequency: | Annually |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 6 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 1.4 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 1.4 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Smirnova Maria (2025), Mischker Ryan (2025), Kargutkar Shree (2025), Perkins Charles (2025), Tolman Justin (2025), Hathaway John (2025) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 6/30/26)
| # of Holdings: | 48 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 39.0% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | Yes |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 83.3% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 15.8% |
| Foreign Stock: | 83.3% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.0% |
| Domestic Bond: | 0.0% |
| Foreign Bond: | 0.0% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.0% |
| Other: | 0.0% |
| Cash: | 1.0% |
Purchase Information
| Legal Structure: | Open Ended Investment Company |
| Fund Family: | Sprott |
| Phone Number: | 888-622-1813 |
| Website: | www.sprottetfs.com |
| Inception Date: | February 19, 2025 |
Expenses and Fees
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.90% (Rating: High) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.62% |
