MDST: Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF
What this ETF is trying to do
The Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF (ticker: MDST) is an exchange-traded fund listed on the NYSE. Based on its name and holdings, it focuses on midstream energy companies. These are businesses that often handle the movement of energy resources. The fund holds a total of 143 different holdings.
What the numbers show
When looking at an ETF, it is important to understand two different types of returns: price return and total return.
• Price Return: This measures only the change in the share price. For MDST, the year-to-date (YTD) price return is approximately 6.40%. The one-year price return is approximately 3.84%.
• Total Return: This includes the share price change plus any cash distributions paid out to investors. The YTD total return is approximately 14.21%, and the one-year total return is approximately 14.39%.
The current price of the ETF is $28.11. An estimated price from roughly one year ago was approximately $27.07.
Top Holdings:
The following are some of the largest companies held by this fund (note that this is a partial list):
• Energy Transfer LP: 9.55%
• Enbridge Inc: 8.12%
• Williams Companies Inc: 8.06%
• Enterprise Products Partners LP: 6.84%
• DT Midstream Inc Ordinary Shares: 5.58%
Income and distribution explanation
This ETF is designed to provide regular cash payments, known as distributions. The distribution yield is approximately 9.61%. This means the cash paid out is quite high relative to the ETF's price. These distributions usually happen monthly, with 12 payments recorded over the last year.
It is important to remember that a high distribution yield does not mean an investor earned that same percentage as their total return. Total return is the most complete way to see how the investment performed overall.
NAV erosion explanation
"NAV erosion" is a term used to describe when the value of the underlying assets in a fund decreases. Investors often care about this because they want their original investment (the principal) to stay stable while they collect income.
For MDST, the erosion-risk score is 94, which is labeled as "Stable / sideways." The erosion severity is described as "good," and there is no severe erosion-risk flag present.
Pros
• The fund provides a high distribution yield of approximately 9.61%.
• The total return figures (which include distributions) are higher than the price-only return figures.
• The erosion-risk score suggests a stable trend.
Cons
• The price return (the change in share price alone) is lower than the total return, meaning much of the performance comes from the cash distributions.
• The list of holdings provided is only a partial view of the 143 total holdings.
Beginner takeaway
When looking at MDST, it is helpful to distinguish between the share price and the cash income. While the share price has seen modest growth, the total return is significantly higher because of the monthly distributions. Always remember that high yields are just one part of an ETF's story, and looking at the total return provides a clearer picture of performance.
Top Holdings
Structured portfolio holdings supplied by the ETF data provider. These figures are not generated by the AI article.
| # | Holding | Ticker | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ENERGY TRANSFER LP | ET | 9.55% |
| 2 | ENBRIDGE INC | n/a | 8.12% |
| 3 | WILLIAMS COMPANIES INC | WMB | 8.06% |
| 4 | ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS PARTNERS LP | EPD | 6.84% |
| 5 | DT MIDSTREAM INC ORDINARY SHARES | DTM | 5.58% |
| 6 | KINDER MORGAN INC CLASS P | KMI | 5.39% |
| 7 | TARGA RESOURCES CORP | TRGP | 5.18% |
| 8 | CHENIERE ENERGY INC | LNG | 5.16% |
| 9 | ONEOK INC | OKE | 4.92% |
| 10 | PLAINS GP HOLDINGS LP CLASS A | PAGP | 4.87% |