Fund Evaluator:

Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst Overview

Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst (SMLPX) is an actively managed Sector Equity Energy Limited Partnership fund. Westwood launched the fund in 2012.

The investment seeks to maximize total return (capital appreciation and income). The fund normally seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings, if any, for investment purposes) in securities of MLPs and Energy Infrastructure Companies. It invests in equity securities such as common units, preferred units, subordinated units, general partner interests, common shares and preferred shares in MLPs and Energy Infrastructure Companies. The fund is non-diversified.

About Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst (SMLPX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 10.66 years: Gregory Reid (2012), Frank (Ted) Gardner (2012), Parag Sanghani (2022). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and Alerian Midstream Energy Select TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst has 50 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 62.1% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity fund group. Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst has 18.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 80.5%. There is 18.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst has 1.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is above the $288 million average for the Energy Limited Partnership category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

SMLPX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Energy Limited Partnership category. Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst has an expense ratio of 1.08%, which is 37% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst has a portfolio turnover rate of 52%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 40% for the Energy Limited Partnership category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst returned 1.5%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Energy Limited Partnership category had an average return of 3.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst has a trailing yield of 3.68%, which is below the 5.20% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 23.2%, 2.8 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 23.7% over the past year (grade of D), 23.0% over the past three years (grade of C) and 19.5% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 9.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about Westwood Salient MLP & Engy Infras Inst, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.