Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF

Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF (MDST) is an actively managed fund that owns North American pipeline and energy-storage companies, such as Energy Transfer, Enbridge and Williams. It also sells covered call options on most of those holdings. Dividends plus option income produced a trailing 12-month yield of 9.42% as of October 27, 2026, paid monthly, but the options limit gains in strong rallies. Its 0.80% expense ratio is just below the 0.84% average of similar funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, MDST returned +25.7%, 4th of 5 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2025 (+7.3%); its best was 2025 (+7.3%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 14.2% (Apr 2, 2025 to Apr 8, 2025), recovered by Jul 31, 2025.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 24 securities; the ten largest made up 63.92% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $40.1M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: -2.65%, +1.95%, +3.02%.

MDST does not track an index. Managers at Westwood pick the holdings. At least 80% of net assets goes to midstream companies in North America and U.S. master limited partnerships (MLPs), which are publicly traded partnerships. Midstream businesses gather, process, store and move natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and refined fuels. Up to 20% can go to other energy businesses. The fund is non-diversified, which means it can hold fewer companies. Any single issuer is capped at 15% of assets, and MLPs at 25%, a limit tied to tax rules for regular funds. As of July 31, 2026, it held 24 companies. The top ten made up 63.9% of the fund, led by Energy Transfer (9.2%), Enbridge (8.8%) and Williams (8.2%). About 21% was in Canadian companies.

The "Enhanced" in the name refers to its covered calls. Under normal conditions the fund sells call options on 80% or more of its stock holdings. A buyer pays the fund an upfront fee, called a premium, for the right to buy a stock at a set price. If the stock rises above that price, the fund gives up the extra gain. If the stock falls, the premium cushions only part of the loss. The fund uses exchange-traded options, including FLEX options, which let it set custom strike prices and expiration dates. As of July 31, 2026, it held 93 option positions. Option income is usually taxed as ordinary income, not as qualified dividends.

• MDST charges 0.8% a year, versus an average of 0.84% for the similar funds below (2nd of 5, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $82 in the first year and $990 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

MDST's main draw is a high monthly payout from pipeline companies and option premiums, not long-term growth or diversification.

MDST could add a steady monthly income stream. Its trailing 12-month yield was 9.42%, or $2.76 per share, as of October 27, 2026. It launched in April 2024, so it has not been tested by the 2008, 2020 or 2022 downturns. Its deepest drop was 14.2%, from April 2 to April 8, 2025. It recovered by July 31, 2025, about 3.7 months later. Its only full calendar year, 2025, returned 7.21%, compared with 17.88% for the S&P 500. Because the fund holds a single industry, an energy slump could hurt it more than this short record shows. Anyone selling shares during a drop like the one in April 2025 would lock in losses. Costs are 0.80% a year, or $990 over 10 years on $10,000 in the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.