URA ETF Complete Guide: Holdings, Distributions, and What You Actually Own

60-second answer: The Global X Uranium ETF (NYSE Arca: URA) is the largest and most traded uranium ETF, tracking an index of uranium miners, developers, and nuclear-linked companies worldwide. Cameco is the dominant holding, typically around a fifth of the fund, alongside a meaningful stake in the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (direct pounds), Kazatomprom, NexGen, Paladin, and a long tail that now extends into nuclear-adjacent names. Expense ratio: 0.69%. It distributes income semiannually, in small and variable amounts. URA is the sector's liquidity default; purists who want miners only usually compare it against URNM.

URA is where most investors touch uranium for the first time. One ticker, deep liquidity, an options market, and instant exposure to a sector famous for single-stock blowups. Search interest in the fund has gone vertical alongside uranium itself: spot topped $101 per pound in January 2026 before settling into the mid-$80s, and URA's assets have swelled with the cycle.

The fund is a fine tool. It is not quite the tool most buyers think it is, and the differences (index rules, the physical slice, the nuclear-adjacent tail) decide whether URA matches your intent or quietly dilutes it. Live price, full holdings, and stats stay current on our URA page; this guide explains what they mean.

What URA Is, Precisely

URA launched in 2010 from Global X and tracks the Solactive Global Uranium & Nuclear Components index. Read that index name again: uranium and nuclear components. The mandate reaches beyond miners into companies across the nuclear supply chain, which is the single most misunderstood fact about the fund. Buyers who want a pure bet on uranium mining equities are buying something broader.

What's Inside: The Holdings Logic

The Cameco anchor. The index methodology concentrates heavily in the sector's benchmark name, so Cameco routinely sits near 20% or more of the fund. Whatever URA does on a given day, CCJ is a big reason.

The physical slice. URA holds a substantial position in the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust, meaning part of your ETF is drummed U3O8 rather than equity. That slice damps the fund's volatility relative to a pure miner basket and ties a chunk of performance directly to spot.

The rest of the book. Kazatomprom GDRs, NexGen, Paladin, Uranium Energy Corp, Denison, enricher Centrus, and a tail that has stretched with the nuclear trade into adjacent supply chain and reactor-linked names. The tail is why URA sometimes moves on SMR headlines that have nothing to do with uranium prices. Full current weights on the URA page.

Costs and Structure

Expense ratio 0.69%, standard for a niche sector fund. Deep share volume and an active options chain make URA the sector's trading vehicle of choice; spreads on the ETF are usually tighter than on half its own holdings. Foreign-listed constituents (Kazatomprom, Paladin, Australian names) come wrapped in the usual currency and ADR/GDR mechanics, which the fund handles internally.

Does URA Pay a Dividend?

Yes, semiannually, and modestly. URA passes through what its holdings pay, chiefly Kazatomprom's large variable dividend and Cameco's small one, minus expenses. The amount jumps around year to year and should never be a reason to own the fund. The mechanics get a full treatment in our dividend guide.

URA vs URNM vs URNJ in 90 Seconds

URNM (Sprott Uranium Miners) is the purist's fund: miners and physical, no nuclear-adjacent tail, 0.75% fee, higher beta to uranium itself. URNJ (Sprott Junior Uranium Miners) doubles down on small caps for maximum torque and maximum drawdowns. URA is the broad, liquid default with the supply chain tail. The blunt sorting rule: trade the sector, URA; own the miners, URNM; speculate on juniors, URNJ. The full three-way breakdown with overlap data is in URA vs URNM vs URNJ.

When URA Outperforms (and When It Lags)

Patterns worth knowing, drawn from the fund's history rather than theory. URA tends to lag pure miner baskets in the sharpest uranium rallies: the physical slice and the adjacent tail dilute the torque exactly when torque pays most. It tends to hold up better in drawdowns for the same reasons. And it can outrun uranium entirely during nuclear-sentiment phases (SMR mania, policy announcements) when the tail catches a bid that miners don't. Decide which regime you are positioning for before choosing the wrapper.

The Risks in Plain Language

Concentration: one stock near a fifth of the fund. Commodity dependence: everything inside answers, sooner or later, to the uranium price. Volatility: drawdowns of 30% to 50% are the sector's historical norm, wrapper or no wrapper. And mandate drift: the nuclear-adjacent tail means URA's purity is a variable, not a constant, so re-check holdings periodically rather than assuming the fund you bought in 2024 is the fund you hold now.

FAQ

Is URA a good investment? It is the standard liquid vehicle for uranium exposure. Whether that exposure belongs in your portfolio, and at what size, depends on risk tolerance no article can assess for you.

What is URA's biggest holding? Cameco, typically around 20% of assets, with the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust among the next largest positions. Live weights on the URA page.

Does URA hold physical uranium? Indirectly, yes, through its stake in the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust.

Is URA better than URNM? Different, not better. URA is broader and more liquid; URNM is purer and higher-beta. See the full comparison.

Next Step

Before buying any wrapper, look through it: the ETF comparison shows exactly which companies you would own at what weights, and the screener lets you check whether you'd rather just own three of them directly.