EMLP vs XLE

EMLPCFirst Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund

XLEAState Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF

In short

EMLP The pipeline-and-utility fund that refused to turn itself into a C-corp. EMLP keeps direct MLP holdings under 25% of assets to stay a plain 1940 Act fund, then fills out the book with US and Canadian pipelines and regulated utilities, hand-picked since 2012.

XLE The 1998 original and still the default way to trade US energy: XLE holds only the oil, gas and oilfield services names inside the S&P 500, capped-weighted, for 0.08% a year.

Stated mandate

EMLP The Fund seeks total return. Its strategy emphasizes current shareholder distributions and dividends while investing principally in energy infrastructure companies.

XLE The fund seeks to provide investment results that generally track the price and yield performance of the Energy Select Sector Index before expenses.

Why people hold it

• EMLP Staying RIC-eligible by capping direct MLP exposure below 25% means the fund itself is exempt from the corporate income tax that pure-play MLP funds carry.ftportfolios.com
• Regulated US and Canadian gas and electric utilities sit beside the pipelines, a different engine than the oil-major-heavy broad energy funds.sec.gov
• Sub-advised by Energy Income Partners, a Westport shop founded in 2003 around high-payout energy infrastructure. Running since 2012, pays quarterly.sec.gov

• XLE 0.08% a year against a 0.45% median for broad energy funds. It ties the cheapest in its group (FENY) and undercuts VDE.
• Launched December 1998 as one of the first sector ETFs. Today a multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most heavily traded in its category.
• Clean pure play: oil, gas and consumable fuels plus energy equipment and services drawn from the S&P 500. No utilities riding along.ssga.com
• Pays quarterly, and a deep listed options market sits around it for hedging or covered-call work.barchart.com

Worth knowing

• EMLP 0.95% a year is the bill for the active approach. Index-tracking peers in the group, XLE and FENY, charge 0.08%.
• About 60 names and non-diversified, tilted to pipelines and utilities, so its path can part ways with broad energy indexes.sec.gov
• There is no public index keeping score. Results are measured against a blended benchmark, so they ride on the manager's judgment.

• XLE A short roster by design, with the integrated majors carrying most of the weight. The index caps weights at each quarterly rebalance so no single stock runs away.spglobal.comssga.com
• Large-cap US only. Small caps, midstream partnerships and overseas majors sit outside the mandate; FENY and VDE cast a wider net.ssga.com
• One sector tied to one commodity complex: results move with crude and gas prices, in wider swings than a diversified index.ssga.com

Full EMLP profile⁠

Full XLE profile⁠