Best MLPI Alternatives in 2026

The MLP Alternatives category tracked here consists of seven exchange-traded funds built around midstream energy infrastructure and master limited partnerships, with ALPS, First Trust, Global X, Tortoise Capital, and Pacer as the primary issuers. Most funds in this group distribute quarterly, with USAI standing out as the lone monthly payer among the funds shown above.

• AMLP carries the largest AUM ($13.4B) and the highest yield (7.49%) among the funds shown above, but it also has the highest expense ratio (1.01%) in this group.

• Strategy mismatch: several funds on this list track a different index or use a different income mechanism than MLPI, so swapping into one changes the exposure — upside participation, payout cadence, and tax character can all shift, not just the ticker.
• Concentration in one theme: most funds here focus on energy, so the whole list tends to draw down together when that corner of the market falls out of favor — diversification across the table is lower than the fund count suggests.
• Expense drag: expense ratios in this group average 0.67% — several times what broad index funds charge — and that cost compounds directly against total return.
• Distributions are not contractual: each payout is declared period by period, so the yields on this page can fall without notice when portfolio income, option premium, or fund policy changes.
• Methodology divergence: every fund here follows its own index rules or mandate, so two funds with similar headline yields can hold very different portfolios and diverge sharply in a drawdown — category membership is not interchangeability.

• Universe: a hand-curated peer set, split into close peers (6 here — same core exposure and same income mechanism, so a like-for-like swap) and broader substitutes (a different index, underlying asset, or income mechanism). Every fund is labelled in the Strategy fit column; MLPI itself is excluded.
• Eligibility: active ETFs only — liquidated, delisted, and renamed funds drop out automatically. Leveraged and inverse products are never listed: a daily-reset 2x or -1x fund is not an alternative to a long income position.
• Ranking: assets under management, used only as a fund-size ranking. Never ranked by yield — yields are shown as data, not used to order the list.
• Fit: how each fund's strategy differs from MLPI — and who each one suits — is covered in the strategy notes and FAQ below.