Investors weighing energy infrastructure ETFs in 2026 face a clear choice between high income and broader diversification across the sector.
Alerian MLP ETF (NYSEMKT: AMLP) and First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund (NYSEMKT: EMLP) both target North American energy infrastructure but take markedly different approaches to doing so.
AMLP focuses strictly on master limited partnerships, while EMLP casts a wider net that includes corporations, utilities, and Canadian energy companies.
That structural difference drives a significant gap in dividend yield, with AMLP offering 7.4% compared to EMLP’s more modest 2.8% trailing yield.
AMLP holds just 14 positions, with 98% of its assets concentrated in its top 10 stocks, including Sunoco LP (NYSE: SUN) at 14.4% and Energy Transfer LP (NYSE: ET) at 13.2%.
EMLP spreads its exposure across 65 holdings, allocating 55% to utilities and 26% to energy, giving it more defensive characteristics than a pure-play MLP fund.
EMLP’s top holdings include Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD) at 8.8% and Energy Transfer at 7.7%, alongside a 7.4% cash position held in an institutional money market fund with Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS).
On cost, AMLP carries a slightly higher expense ratio of 1.01% versus EMLP’s 0.95%, with both figures including an allowance for estimated future tax liabilities.
MLPs do not pay corporate taxes, instead passing that obligation to investors, but these ETFs absorb a portion of that liability rather than fully passing it to shareholders.
AMLP has built up a larger asset base of $13.2 billion compared to EMLP’s $4.1 billion, reflecting strong investor appetite for its high-yield income distributions.
Over the trailing 12 months, AMLP posted a total return of 21.1%, edging out EMLP’s solid 18.4% gain over the same period.
A $1,000 investment in AMLP five years ago would have grown to $2,525, while the same investment in EMLP would have reached $2,126 on a total return basis.
AMLP’s maximum drawdown over five years reached 20.9%, compared to EMLP’s shallower 14.6% decline, reflecting the concentration risk embedded in its narrower portfolio.
When examining longer timeframes, EMLP returned an annualized 10% over the trailing 10 years, a meaningful gap above AMLP’s 7.1% annualized return over the same stretch.
For investors prioritising long-term compounding over near-term income, that 10-year performance differential makes EMLP the stronger case for a core energy infrastructure holding.
