To say that the gold rally has captured significant investor interest over the past few months would likely be no understatement.
After all, the precious metal, much like its silver compatriot, is currently seeing its value pushed higher due to ongoing geopolitical worries. Furthermore, with the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s next few meetings relatively uncertain, many are turning to gold for its merits as a store of value.
However, investing in gold has not been a surefire path to prosperity thus far. When President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to be the next Fed chair, the price of both gold and silver plunged while the dollar rallied.
That being said, this instance of volatility should not shy investors away from gold altogether. Instead, they may wish to look for an alternative way to stay engaged with gold in lieu of pure-play exposure.
One way to do so is through investing in gold miners. Gold miners can obviously greatly benefit from rising gold prices, but they may not be as adversely affected by short, near-term shifts in the price of the metal.
Many gold mining ETFs are seeing strong results so far this year. For instance, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX ) has accrued well over $1.1 billion in net inflows, as of February 17, 2026.
Fund flows aren’t the only barometer for measuring how well an ETF is doing. Even though GDX has performed quite well this year, the Sprott Gold Miners ETF (SGDM ) is actually outperforming it on a year-to-date basis, as the chart below illuminates.
Different Holdings, Different Results
Interestingly enough, GDX and SGDM do have some similar holdings. Agnico Eagle Mines is the top holding for both funds, occupying about 9-11% of the portfolio weight for GDX and SGDM respectively. The funds even share the same second-highest company in their portfolios: Newmont Corporation, which represents 9% of GDX’s portfolio and about 8% for SGDM.
From there, however, things begin to differ. The third largest holding for GDX is Barrick Mining Corporation, which is the eighth largest holding for SGDM. In SGDM’s case, the third largest holding is Wheaton Precious Metals Corporation, which is GDX’s fifth-largest holding. All portfolio holding data was sourced as of February 18, 2026.
This showcases why it’s important for investors to do their due diligence and read up on index methodology before they take the plunge on a particular fund. After all, just because one fund is doing well doesn’t mean a competing ETF may offer better results. And considering how explosive the gold rally continues to be, every little difference in portfolio holdings and index methodologies can really count.
For more news, information, and analysis, visit VettaFi | ETFDB.
