Oil and Gas Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs)

The investment attorneys of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating possible unsuitable investment recommendations in oil and gas or commodities Master Limited Partnerships (MLP). MLPs are publicly traded partnerships. About 86% of the total MLP securities market, a $490 billion sector, can be attributed to energy and natural resource companies. There are about 130 MLPs trading on major exchanges that focus on energy related industries and natural resources. These companies have sprung up from the need for new energy infrastructure for the production and delivery of natural gas and crude oil from shale reserves.

While MLPs have the same liquid trading characteristics as common stocks they are very different from typical stock investments. For instance, MLP's are pass through investment vehicles, that is they pass through the income to the investor without any company level taxation. In addition, while there is no set payout level required to be adhered to by the company, unlike real estate investment trusts (REITs), MLP's must derive 90% of their revenues from natural resources activities. However, most MLP's do pay out most of their earnings through distributions causing company growth to come through the issuance of more debt and shares.

Since January 2013, over 30 new MLPs have entered the market. During 2014, 11 oil and gas MLP offerings generated proceeds of $5.1 billion. In recent years these investments have boomed and profited from the low interest rate environment coupled with favorable oil prices. These investments are often pitched to investors as generating income from consistent cash flow streams. In addition, these investments may also be pitched as growth opportunities from companies looking to grow their businesses and increase their distributions.

However, these investments contain significant risks. MLPs tend to fluctuate wildly with the price of oil and gas. For example in 2008, when oil plummeted in the wake of the great recession the AMZ MLP Index declined by 36.9% in a single year. In addition, MLPs often grow their distributions at an accelerated rate in their first two years in order to attract positive research reports from Wall Street analysts. The increased distributions and positive reports serve to drive the stock price higher even though the long term yield of these MLPs are speculative and unknown.

Our firm is investigating potential securities fraud claims against brokerage firms over sales practices related to the recommendations of oil & gas and commodities products such as MLPs, exchange traded notes (ETNs), structured notes, private placements, leveraged ETFs, mutual funds, and individual stocks. Investors who have suffered losses may be able recover their losses through securities arbitration. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.

Below is a list of publically traded MLPs. As can be seen many of these securities have suffered substantial declines.

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