Data as of .
Rare earth ETFs: what each one holds
Funds that hold the miners and processors of rare earth elements and the other metals a government calls critical: the inputs to magnets, chips and defence hardware. 7 funds, largest first, measured by holdings rather than by name. The typical fund carries 8% of its weight in S&P 500 names, which is the 49th most of the 53 themes here with filed books.
The short answers
- How many there are
- 7 US listed rare earth ETFs, as of Sep 18, 2026.
- The largest
- REMX, VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF, $2.0bn.
- The cheapest
- ISTM, iShares Strategic Metals ETF, 0.47% a year.
- Best one year total return
- ISTM, iShares Strategic Metals ETF, +43.4%.
- Least like the S&P 500
- REXC, Sprott Rare Earths Ex-China ETF, 0.0% of its weight in S&P 500 companies.
- Closest pair
- SETM and WDIG, 35% of their weight in the same companies.
What these funds actually own
Between them the 7 funds' ten largest holdings name 55 companies, of which 9 appear in more than one. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. is among the ten largest of 4 of them, at an average of 5.3% of the fund.
| Company | Among the ten largest of | Average weight where it is | Largest, and in which fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freeport-McMoRan Inc. FCX | 4 of 7 | 5.3% | 8.6% in FMTL |
| TREASURY BILL TBILL | 4 of 7 | 2.2% | 2.9% in ISTM |
| Mp Materials Corp MP | 3 of 7 | 9.6% | 19.1% in REXC |
| Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. LYC | 3 of 7 | 9.4% | 19.8% in REXC |
| Albemarle Corp ALB | 2 of 7 | 5.5% | 7.6% in REMX |
| Cameco Corp. CCJ | 2 of 7 | 4.8% | 4.9% in SETM |
| USA Rare Earth Inc. USAR | 2 of 7 | 4.2% | 6.2% in REXC |
| SOUTHERN COPPER CORP SCCO | 2 of 7 | 3.8% | 5.0% in EART |
| Iluka Resources Ltd. ILU | 2 of 7 | 3.8% | 4.6% in REXC |
| BLK CSH FND TREASURY SL AGENCY XTSLA | 1 of 7 | 23.3% | 23.3% in ISTM |
| CASH COLLATERAL USD BZUFT BZUFT | 1 of 7 | 9.8% | 9.8% in ISTM |
| BHP Group Limited BHP.AU | 1 of 7 | 9.0% | 9.0% in FMTL |
| Glencore Plc GLEN.LN | 1 of 7 | 7.9% | 7.9% in FMTL |
| Pilbara Minerals Ltd | 1 of 7 | 7.3% | 7.3% in REMX |
| China Northern Rare Earth Group High-Te | 1 of 7 | 6.7% | 6.7% in REMX |
The 15 most widely held of 55. Each fund files its whole book and this counts the ten largest out of it, so a fund missing from a row may still hold that company below its own tenth position. Weights are of the funds that name it, never of the theme.
| Ticker | Fund | Issuer | Net assets | In the S&P 500 | Active share | Total return 1Y | vs S&P 500 | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REMX | VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF | VanEck | $2.0bn | 7.6% | 100.0% | +14.7% | −1.9 pts | 0.53% |
| SETM | Sprott Critical Materials ETF | Sprott | $568m | 8.4% | 99.8% | +37.9% | +21.4 pts | 0.65% |
| REXC | Sprott Rare Earths Ex-China ETF | Sprott | $65m | 0.0% | 100.0% | listed 156 days | · | 0.65% |
| EART | Global X Rare Earth & Critical Materials ETF | Global X | $42m | 8.2% | 99.8% | +34.5% | +17.9 pts | 0.59% |
| ISTM | iShares Strategic Metals ETF | iShares | $34m | 0.0% | 100.0% | +43.4% | +26.9 pts | 0.47% |
| FMTL | First Trust Indxx Critical Metals ETF | First Trust | $30m | 13.2% | 99.7% | listed 317 days | · | 0.65% |
| WDIG | WisdomTree Efficient Rare Earth Plus Strategic Metals Fund | WisdomTree | $5m | 3.8% | 99.8% | listed 134 days | · | 0.55% |
How much of each pair is the same fund
The closest pair is SETM and WDIG, which hold 35% of their weight in the same companies. The furthest apart is ISTM and WDIG at 0%. The middle pair of the 21 is 12%.
| REMX | SETM | REXC | EART | ISTM | FMTL | WDIG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REMX | · | 18% | 17% | 5% | 0% | 1% | 20% |
| SETM | 18% | · | 12% | 21% | 0% | 21% | 35% |
| REXC | 17% | 12% | · | 2% | 0% | 1% | 20% |
| EART | 5% | 21% | 2% | · | 0% | 21% | 18% |
| ISTM | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | · | 0% | 0% |
| FMTL | 1% | 21% | 1% | 21% | 0% | · | 20% |
| WDIG | 20% | 35% | 20% | 18% | 0% | 20% | · |
Weight overlap is the sum, over every company both funds hold, of the smaller of the two weights. Funds whose published book is cut short are left out rather than compared short, which would read as two funds being more different than they are.
What each fund holds alone
| Fund | Largest holding it alone has | Weight | All of its own names |
|---|---|---|---|
| REMX | Pilbara Minerals Ltd | 7.3% | 44.7% |
| SETM | NAC Kazatomprom JSC KAP | 3.6% | 27.7% |
| REXC | Victory Metals Ltd. VTM | 0.8% | 4.9% |
| EART | GRUPO MEXICO SAB DE CV-SER B | 4.9% | 45.3% |
| ISTM | BLK CSH FND TREASURY SL AGENCY XTSLA | 23.3% | 100.0% |
| FMTL | BHP Group Limited BHP.AU | 9.0% | 43.9% |
| WDIG | ATI INC ATI | 4.0% | 33.5% |
Questions people ask
- How many rare earth ETFs are there?
- ETFIQ covers 7 US listed rare earth ETFs as of Sep 18, 2026. That is every one it can measure from the fund’s own published holdings.
- What is the largest rare earth ETF?
- REMX, VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF, at $2.0bn in net assets, the largest of the 7 rare earth ETFs with a published size as of Sep 18, 2026.
- What is the cheapest rare earth ETF?
- ISTM, iShares Strategic Metals ETF, at 0.47% a year, the lowest fee of the 7 rare earth ETFs that publish one.
- Which rare earth ETF has performed best over the past year?
- ISTM, iShares Strategic Metals ETF, at +43.4% total return over the year to Sep 18, 2026, the highest of the 4 rare earth ETFs with a full year of trading behind them. Past returns do not predict future ones.
- What do rare earth ETFs hold?
- Funds that hold the miners and processors of rare earth elements and the other metals a government calls critical: the inputs to magnets, chips and defence hardware. Between them the 7 rare earth ETFs ETFIQ can read name 55 companies in their ten largest holdings, most widely Freeport-McMoRan Inc., which is among the ten largest of 4 of them.
- Do rare earth ETFs hold the same companies?
- It depends which two. Across the 21 pairs of the 7 rare earth ETFs with a full published book, SETM and WDIG hold 35% of their weight in the same companies, ISTM and WDIG hold 0%, and the middle pair holds 12%. Two funds sold on one theme are not the same fund.
What the issuers say about this theme
The houses behind these rare earth funds publish their own work on the subject. These are their pages and their words, not ETFIQ’s, and a fund company writing about a theme it sells a fund on is making a case. Read them that way.
| Issuer | What they publish | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| VanEck | VanEck Insights | Their research index |
| Sprott | Sprott Insights on metals and mining | Their research index |
| Global X | Global X Insights, including The Next Big Theme | Their research index |
| iShares | iShares Portfolio Insights | Their research index |
| First Trust | First Trust Investment Insights | Their research index |
| WisdomTree | WisdomTree blog | Their research index |
Where to next
Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
ETFIQ is an independent publisher and makes no recommendations; every figure is calculated from published data. Standards and sources
Cite this page. ETFIQ, Rare earth ETFs: what each one holds, data as of Sep 18, 2026. https://etfiq.com/themes/rare-earth Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.