ALPS Alerian MLP ETF Reaches $3B In AUM

The ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: AMLP) has reached the lofty $3 billion in assets under management mark, according to the fund's sponsor, ALPS Holdings. AMLP reached the $3 billion last week, an impressive feat for an ETF that isn't even two years old. AMLP debuted in August 2010.

That makes AMLP the second-largest MLP exchange-traded product behind the JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (NYSE: AMJ), which has $4.25 billion in AUM, according to the ETN's Web site. AMLP is currently the largest MLP ETF by assets on the market.

Home to 25 stocks, AMLP devotes more than 19% of its weight to Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), the two largest U.S. MLPs by market value.

While AMJ and AMLP clearly have stellar AUM totals, both of which have been helped by the soaring popularity of MLPs among investors over the past several years, the pair remain vulnerable to new competition. AMJ and AMLP both charge 0.85%, an expense ratio that is high by the standard of sectors funds.

Those high fees give an immediate avenue to the new Global X MLP ETF (NYSE: MLPA) to steal assets. The Global X MLP ETF (NYSE: MLPA), which debuted last Thursday features an expense ratio of 0.45% and has already accumulated nearly $5.3 million in AUM according to Global X data.

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