HAP vs MLPI

HAPAVanEck Natural Resources ETF

MLPI—MLP & Energy Infrastructure High Income ETF

In short

HAP Metals, energy and farm goods in one global basket. HAP has held hard-asset producers since 2008, spreading across roughly 150 companies worldwide rather than betting on one commodity or one continent.

MLPI Midstream income without the April paperwork. MLPI owns North American energy infrastructure names, keeps MLPs to a slice of the index so shareholders get a 1099 instead of K-1s, and sells calls on MLP ETFs for monthly cash.

Stated mandate

HAP The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Market Vector Global Natural Resources Index, which covers global natural-resources companies involved in metals, energy sources, and agricultural products.

MLPI The Fund seeks high monthly income with potential equity appreciation by investing in MLPs and energy infrastructure companies and using a data-driven call-option strategy.

Why people hold it

• HAP Global by mandate, not North America only like IGE or NANR: it holds producers of metals, energy sources and agricultural products around the world.
• Launched in 2008, so the fund has run through a full commodity boom and bust, not just the last good stretch.
• About 150 holdings across three resource groups, so no single miner, driller or grain house runs the show.

• MLPI K-1 free by design: the reference index caps MLPs at 25% of its weight in aggregate, so the fund reports on a standard 1099 rather than partnership tax forms.sec.govneosfunds.com
• The calls are written on outside MLP ETFs, not on the fund's own stock positions, so the equity sleeve itself is not the thing being called away.sec.gov
• Pays monthly, stacking option premium on top of what the pipeline and LNG names in the portfolio distribute.neosfunds.com
• Concentration guardrails are written into the index: the top 25 names by free float, none above 10% of weight.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• HAP No price edge: the 0.41% fee lands exactly at the category median, and peers such as NANR (0.35%) and IGE (0.37%) charge less.
• Thinly traded for its size, so spreads can run wider than in the category's busiest names.
• Cash arrives once or twice a year, not quarterly or monthly.

• MLPI At 0.68% a year it costs more than the typical fund in its natural resources peer group (IGE runs 0.37%, GNR 0.40%). Active management and the options work are the bill.
• Launched in December 2025, so there is no record yet across a full energy cycle.
• Premium income moves with volatility, payouts can include return of capital, and the MLP ETFs it writes calls against can move differently than the stocks it holds.sec.gov

Full HAP profile⁠

Full MLPI profile⁠