Copper may be in its golden era in early 2026. Prices surged after a year defined by supply disruptions, strong institutional demand and a surge in spending thanks to artificial intelligence infrastructure. Some have also been stockpiling the metal in anticipation of a copper tariff from the Trump administration by the middle of this year.
Higher copper prices are a boon for copper mining companies that aren’t experiencing operational issues. Meaning, owning a large basket of miners can help boost a portfolio, even if some of those companies aren’t doing as well.
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Mining operations can be derailed by accidents, permitting delays, political instability, natural disasters or poor project execution. Because these risks vary widely across regions and operators, owning a broad basket of miners can help smooth out the impact of any single setback. Buying a bunch of different miners yourself can get expensive, however, which is why copper exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, are often the best approach of investors.
These investment vehicles can be a convenient and relatively inexpensive way to play the copper theme. The most common copper ETFs are those that invest in a multitude of different copper-miner stocks but trade on an exchange under a single ticker symbol. These offer instant diversification in a one-stop package.
Other copper ETFs are backed by futures contracts or by physical copper. These offer the ease of buying shares like stocks and avoid the hassle of setting up a futures account to trade those risky derivatives or the impracticality of stockpiling the physical metal on your own.
The Case for Investing in Copper
So why would you want to own copper in the first place?
Copper demand is expected to remain strong amid the transition in the power and grid distribution industry from fossil fuels to renewables. Like with electric vehicles, there is more copper used in renewable electricity installations such as solar and wind farms than there is in traditional power plants.
And even as the world will need more copper for wind and solar farms and an improved grid, there is an emerging source of demand that will increase the need for electricity altogether: AI.
For many years, electricity demand in the U.S. has been relatively flat, but the data centers that run powerful computers that back AI internet searches and proprietary AI for businesses need a lot of power to run. Copper will be integral to that expansion because it is an excellent conductor of electrons, relatively cheap and abundant.
Another reason to consider investing in copper is as an inflation hedge. When economic activity is going well, prices for goods and services tend to rise. That includes copper prices, meaning you can profit, or at least hedge, from inflationary pressure.
With that in mind, here’s a look at four top copper equity ETFs:
| COPPER ETF | EXPENSE RATIO | TRAILING-12-MONTH YIELD |
| Global X Copper Miners ETF (ticker: COPX) | 0.65% | 2.2% |
| iShares Copper and Metals Mining ETF (ICOP) | 0.47% | 1.8% |
| Sprott Copper Miners ETF (COPP) | 0.65% | 2.1% |
| United States Copper Index (CPER) | 1.06% | 0% |
Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX)
With $8.2 billion in assets under management, this is one of the biggest copper mining equity ETFs traded on U.S. markets. Size can impact liquidity, or how easily you can buy and sell shares. Even more important for liquidity is average trading volume, however, which COPX has in spades. About 4.4 million shares trade hands on average each day.
It tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Total Return Index, which includes copper exploration, mining and refining companies from around the world. The index’s holdings can fluctuate between 20 and 40 members, although at present it — and by extension COPX — holds 41 companies. While about half of the fund’s assets are in the top 10 names, no stock takes up more than 6% of the portfolio, meaning it won’t suffer as much if a single company runs into trouble.
The fund has an expense ratio of 0.65%, or $65 annually on $10,000 invested. This can be a bit steep for a generic passively managed fund, but is about on par with copper ETFs. It’s also mitigated a bit by the semi-annual dividend with a trailing-12-month yield of 2.2%.
iShares Copper and Metals Mining ETF (ICOP)
The iShares Copper and Metals Mining ETF doesn’t have the breadth or trading volume of COPX, but it is a fair bit cheaper. At $482.6 million in assets with over 300,000 shares trading hands each day on average, there’s still reasonable liquidity here. You’ll also have the highly reputed BlackRock Inc. (BLK) at your back, a firm that continually gets Morningstar’s second-highest rating of “above average” for a parent company, according to Morningstar senior principal Jason Kephart.
In addition to being backed by a major Wall Street firm, ICOP has an expense ratio of just 0.47%. So, on price alone, it stands above the competition. ICOP holds 47 stocks but carries over 60% of its weight in the top 10 names. Arizona mining company Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) and Mexican conglomerate Grupo México SAB de CV (OTC: GMBXF) each account for 7.7% or more of the portfolio, for example. But these are well-established mining companies, and there are many other miners in the fund, meaning the risk is well distributed.
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Sprott Copper Miners ETF (COPP)
If BlackRock’s name is renowned on Wall Street, Sprott is renowned in the world of precious metals. This global asset manager specializes in precious metals and critical materials investments. COPP is one of its newer releases, debuting in 2024. It tracks the Nasdaq Sprott Copper Miners Index, which includes copper producers, developers and explorers.
Unlike other funds on this list, COPP doesn’t just focus on companies that deal in copper; it also invests in physical copper. About 5% of the portfolio is in the precious metal itself. That type of diversification can be important in mining investment, as different types of miners have different risk profiles.
It’s important to keep in mind that Sprott’s funds are “highly susceptible to the underlying commodities in which they invest, making Sprott’s funds quite volatile and generally best suited to play a small role in an investor’s broader portfolio,” according to Morningstar analyst David Carey.
United States Copper Index Fund (CPER)
This fund offers one of the most direct ways for investors to track copper prices without owning shares of mining companies. Instead of holding miners, CPER uses futures contracts tied to the SummerHaven Copper Index to mirror movements in the spot market. That structure makes it behave differently from equity?based copper ETFs. Performance is driven almost entirely by the metal’s price rather than by company earnings, dividends or operational risks.
CPER has a strong asset base of nearly $872 million and a healthy trading volume of 1.3 million shares per day, on average. The trade?off for this pure?play exposure is cost. At 1.06%, it’s a pretty steep fee for a passive index fund. Since it’s a futures-based fund, it also doesn’t hold dividend?paying companies, so don’t expect a dividend here. Its appeal lies instead in offering a way for investors to get metal?level exposure rather than mining?sector dynamics.
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4 Best Copper ETFs to Buy originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/26/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
