When it comes to income based investments, businesses predicated on regular, monthly payments generated by tangible assets have historically been the most reliable over the long term. 2025 has seen some record levels set by the Dow Jones Average and the S&P 500, but income based solutions, especially those depending on prevailing interest rates, were artificially high yielding due to glaring missteps by the Federal Reserve to cut rates during the massive double digit inflation under Bidenomics, and its stubborn refusal to cut rates during the Trump economic resurgence, which massive cut inflation and fuel prices, among other things.
Inflation continues to reverse itself, and the Trump tariffs are generating unprecedented billions back to the Treasury to pay down debt. With gold and silver now setting new highs and Jerome Powell stepping down as Fed Chairman, the likelihood of more interest rate cuts seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Going into 2026, income based investors might want to avail themselves of investments tied to real estate and energy, two stalwart sectors whose income streams are not nearly so dependent on interest rates as bonds or other types of financing: real estate and energy. Two ETFs that are yielding high amounts in those sectors are:
- Global X SuperDividend REIT ETF (NASDAQ: SRET) for real estate, and
- Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF (NYSE: MDST) for energy
Global X SuperDividend REIT ETF
SRET holds a portfolio of global REITs that deliver high yields for shareholders. with diversification for risk mitigation.
The Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is an excellent avenue for investors to realize the benefits of commercial and residential real estate rent rolls without the headaches of physical property management, or in the paperwork required to manage a portfolio of mortgages and other real estate related debt obligations. By going public in order to access the capital markets for expansion, real estate companies must remit 90% of profits back to shareholders, making REITs a win-win scenario as long as management doesn’t experience any act-of-god disasters or engage in any unlawful activities. Some REITs routinely generate yields in double-digits, although they may engage in properties deemed riskier than the norm.
The Global X SuperDividend REIT ETF is an ETF that invests in 30 high-yielding REITs from around the globe that correspond to the Solactive Global SuperDividend REIT Index. As such, it can analogously be viewed as a REIT “fund of funds” type of ETF. Based on the index, SRET holds shares of numerous high dividend REITs. The diversification offsets any risks that might be generated by any higher-yielding large REIT with solid returns from those REITS that have 20-year or longer track records of consistency. Its 7.95% yield, payable monthly, is certainly something that most retirees relying on investment income for living expenses if 2026 interest rate cuts wind up reducing their monthly returns from bond funds or other fixed income holdings.
An overview of SRET is below:
|
Yield |
7.96% |
YTD Return |
17.82% |
|
Net Assets |
$207.99 million |
Expense Ratio |
0.58% |
|
Distributions |
Monthly |
Beta |
0.99 |
|
NAV |
$21.72 |
1-Year Return |
12.12% |
|
Daily Volume |
38,474 shares |
3-Year Return |
7.27% |
|
Inception Date |
3/16/2015 |
5-Year Return |
4.45% |
The top 10 holdings of SRET are:
- Growthpoint Properties (S. Africa) – 4.66%
- Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust (Singapore) – 3.80%
- Maple Tree Pan Asia Commercial Trust (Singapore) – 3.79%
- Omega Healthcare (NYSE: OHI) – 3.75%
- W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC) – 3.59%
- Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY) – 3.61%
- Frasers Logistic (Singapore) – 3.54%
- Apollo Commercial (NYSE: ARI) – 3.49%
- Capitaland Ascendas REIT (Singapore) – 3.41%
- Dynex Capital (NYSE: DX) – 3.41%
Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF
MDST holds 22 top yielding midstream companies that is delivering almost 30% higher yield than the average midstream MLP company with the added risk mitigation of diversification to boot, thanks to an option strategy similar to that of JEPI.
While oil and gas are crucial hydrocarbon sources of energy, they are useless without its distribution infrastructure. Transportation of crude oil and natural gas to be processed at refineries for creating a wide range of products involves land (trucking and pipelines) and sea (ocean tankers) methods, as well as both on and offshore processing and storage facilities. This whole separate industry is classified as midstream, and publicly traded midstream companies are subject to similar rules as REITs, i.e. 90% of profits being remitted to shareholders.
The Westwood Salient Enhanced Midstream Income ETF is a relatively new ETF that combines a conservative JEPI (JP Morgan Equity Premium ETF) covered-call strategy on top of an actively managed midstream “fund of funds” approach to maximize monthly returns for its shareholders. All 22 stocks in the portfolio hail from the US or Canada. The formula seems to be working, as MDST is yielding 10.27%.
An overview of MDST is below:
|
Yield |
10.27% |
YTD Return |
8.06% |
|
Net Assets |
$167.9 million |
Expense Ratio |
0.80% |
|
Distributions |
Monthly |
Beta |
0.00% |
|
NAV |
$26.55 |
1-Year Return |
6.07% |
|
Daily Volume |
54.028 shares |
||
|
Inception Date |
4/8/2024 |
The top 10 MDST holdings are:
- Enbridge – 9.06%
- Energy Transfer – 8.41%
- Williams Companies – 7.79%
- Enterprise Products Partners – 7.18%
- DT MIdstream – 6.06%
- Kinder Morgan – 5.92%
- T.C. Energy – 5.37%
- Targa Resources – 4.87%
- ONEOK – 4.84%
- MPLX – 4.83%
Since the average yield of Limited Partnership and Master Limited Partnership midstream companies ranges between 6.5%-7.5%, MDST offers investors both a higher yield and a portfolio diversification aspect for added risk mitigation. As the huge escalating power demands from AI and data centers kicks in for 2026, oil and gas are rapidly replacing unreliable solar and wind power, making midstream companies even more crucial going forward.
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