ENFR vs USAI

ENFRBAlerian Energy Infrastructure ETF

USAIDPacer American Energy Infrastructure ETF

In short

ENFR Midstream, not drillers. ENFR owns the pipelines, storage tanks and processing plants that move North American energy, tracking the Alerian Midstream Energy Select Index in a compact portfolio of roughly two dozen names.

USAI Skip the drillers. USAI owns the toll-booth end of energy: the pipelines, storage and processing assets that move hydrocarbons across the US and Canada, roughly 40 names, with cash paid out monthly.

Stated mandate

ENFR ENFR seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Alerian Midstream Energy Select Index. It also seeks total return through income and capital appreciation.

USAI The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the American Energy Infrastructure Index through a passive indexing strategy.

Why people hold it

• ENFR Charges 0.35%, under the 0.45% median for broad energy ETFs and below iShares' IYE at 0.38%.
• Different engine than most energy funds: infrastructure operators rather than the explorers and refiners whose fortunes swing with the barrel price.alpsfunds.com
• Income is written into the mandate: the fund seeks total return through income and capital appreciation, and distributions come on a quarterly schedule.
• Trading since 2013 and rated among the stronger names in our broad energy peer group.

• USAI Infrastructure, not exploration. The index targets the midstream assets that get paid to move and store energy, a different business than pumping it out of the ground.
• The mandate reaches into Canada as well as the US, so it picks up the big Canadian pipeline operators that US-only energy funds leave out.paceretfs.com
• Pays monthly, and it is a 1940 Act registered fund rather than a partnership, which sidesteps the K-1 paperwork attached to partnership-structured MLP vehicles.
• Rules-based and passive: it tracks the American Energy Infrastructure Index rather than leaving pipeline picks to a manager's judgment.

Worth knowing

• ENFR Around 26 holdings in one slice of one sector. Single-name news and midstream-specific swings land harder here than in a diversified energy fund.
• The broad energy giants (XLE, FENY, VDE) all sit under 0.10%. Specialist indexing costs more.
• Moderately traded rather than a volume heavyweight, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the largest energy ETFs.

• USAI At 0.75% a year, it costs well above the 0.45% typical for energy funds, and broad options like XLE and FENY run 0.08%. Narrow exposure carries a real price tag here.
• Thinly traded. Volume is light next to the big energy ETFs, so bid-ask spreads can widen, especially on large or fast orders.
• About 40 holdings in one slice of one sector. Pipeline economics, regulation and commodity swings drive the whole basket together.

Full ENFR profile⁠

Full USAI profile⁠