This Natural Resources ETF Has Silently Outperformed The S&P 500 Year-To-Date While Yielding 5%

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By Marc Guberti Published

Quick Read

  • Amplify Natural Resources Dividend Income ETF (NDIV) — up 35% YTD with monthly distributions yielding roughly 5%.

  • NDIV’s outperformance heavily depends on gold miners, particularly Agnico Eagle, benefiting from bullion rally strength.

  • Oil prices below $80/barrel would tighten dividend coverage and compress NDIV’s monthly payouts significantly.

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This Natural Resources ETF Has Silently Outperformed The S&P 500 Year-To-Date While Yielding 5%

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Amplify Natural Resources Dividend Income ETF (NYSEARCA:NDIV) is one of those funds that rarely shows up in performance leaderboards, yet quietly does exactly what its design promises: pair an international natural resources tilt with a steady monthly distribution. The problem it aims to solve is straightforward. Investors who want commodity and hard-asset exposure usually face two unappealing choices: ride volatile single-country energy plays or accept the thin yields of broad equity indexes. NDIV blends global mining, materials, and industrial cash-flow names into a monthly income stream.

The numbers behind the title are the story. Shares of NDIV are around $35, up 29% year to date and 40% over the past year. Compare that with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY | SPY Price Prediction), which is up just 4% year to date, and the silent outperformance becomes obvious.

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On the income side, NDIV has paid monthly distributions totaling roughly $0.70 per share through April, with the latest March payment alone landing at $0.30. That run rate against a $35 share price puts the trailing yield comfortably in the 5% range. Investor reception has been mixed: fans like the monthly cadence and international diversification, while critics point to the 1% expense ratio as steep for a fund whose performance leans heavily on commodity beta.

The Macro Factor: Commodity Prices Across Oil and Precious Metals

The single biggest driver of NDIV over the next 12 months is the price of underlying commodities, with oil leading the watch list. WTI crude is sitting near $100 per barrel after a sharp April rally, putting it in the 96th percentile of the past 12 months. The 12-month average sits at just $68, so today’s price is feeding directly into elevated cash flows for energy and resource producers.

The concrete trigger to watch: if WTI breaks back below the $80 level, dividend coverage at energy and miner holdings tightens quickly, and NDIV’s distribution math gets harder. The cleanest place to monitor this is the EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report, released every Wednesday, alongside the FRED daily WTI series. Historical precedent is instructive. When oil collapsed from $114 in early April toward the mid-$80s within two weeks, natural resource funds across the board gave back gains before recovering. A repeat would pressure NAV and likely compress NDIV’s variable monthly payouts.

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The Micro Factor: Concentration in Gold Miners

NDIV’s top two holdings are Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) and Alamos Gold (NYSE:AGI). That precious metals concentration, sitting alongside industrial and materials names has been the quiet engine of this year’s outperformance. Gold miners have benefited from a powerful bullion rally, and that flow-through has lifted NDIV well beyond what oil alone would explain.

Where to monitor: the Amplify ETFs holdings file at amplifyetfs.com, refreshed daily, and any methodology supplements. The mechanics matter more than the headline weight. If miners give back gains, NDIV loses its strongest contributor at the same time its dividend math depends increasingly on energy names. Watching whether Agnico Eagle remains the top weight at the next quarterly rebalance is the cleanest tell.

What It Means for the Next 12 Months

If WTI holds above $80 and gold maintains its recent strength, NDIV’s distribution and net asset value both have a tailwind, but watch for any rebalance that trims Agnico Eagle’s weight, because the gold miner concentration is doing more work in this rally than the fund’s natural resources label suggests.

Photo of Marc Guberti
About the Author Marc Guberti →

Marc Guberti is a personal finance writer who has written for US News & World Report, Business Insider, Newsweek and other publications. He also hosts the Breakthrough Success Podcast which teaches listeners how to use content marketing to grow their businesses.

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