ETF Evaluator: Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF (SGDJ) Follow This ETF

Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF Overview

Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF (SGDJ) is a passively managed Sector Equity Equity Precious Metals exchange-traded fund (ETF). Sprott launched the ETF in 2015.

The investment seeks investment results that correspond (before fees and expenses) to the performance of its underlying index, the Solactive Junior Gold Miners Custom Factor Index. The fund will invest at least 90% of its net assets in securities that comprise the underlying index. The underlying index aims to track the performance of "junior" gold companies primarily located in the U.S., Canada and Australia whose common stock, American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") or Global Depositary Receipts ("GDRs") are traded on a regulated stock exchange in the form of shares tradeable for foreign investors without any restrictions. It is non-diversified.

About Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF (SGDJ)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.76 years: Ryan Mischker (2015) and Charles Perkins (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Solactive Jr Gold Miners Cus Fact TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100%. Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF has 35 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 45.7% 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 Junior Gold Miners ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity ETF group. Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF has 90.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 9.7% There is 90.2% 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 Junior Gold Miners ETF has 0.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $265 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.

SGDJ 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 Junior Gold Miners ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Equity Precious Metals category. Sprott Junior Gold Miners ETF has an expense ratio of 0.50%, which is 20% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. 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 Junior Gold Miners ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 76%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 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 Junior Gold Miners ETF returned -15.4%, which earned it a grade of B, 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 Junior Gold Miners ETF has a trailing yield of 9.41%, which is above the 2.60% category average. The fund normally distributes its income 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 Junior Gold Miners ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned -11.5%, 0.6 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 64.4% over the past year (grade of B), 47.8% over the past three years (grade of A) and 16.6% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 9.3% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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