The world’s oceans, rivers and canals are absolutely crucial links in the global energy supply chain. Consider that more than 90 percent of the oil shipped from the Middle East is moved by tanker and the vast majority of crude consumed in the US travels over water at some point on its way from wellhead to consumer.
And it’s not just oil. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), tanker shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will surpass Canada as America’s top source of natural gas imports by the middle of the coming decade. Meanwhile, sea-borne coal shipments are crucial to energy supply for Europe and much of Asia; without regular sea-borne coal shipments, even the fast-growing Chinese economy would quite literally grind to a halt.
There are a total of eight publicly traded partnerships (PTP) involved in some facet of the maritime transportation business. In most cases, PTPs focus on running ships covered by long-term contracts that lock in shipping rates—this minimizes volatility in cash flows.
The steady cash flows generated under such contracts allow PTPs in the industry to throw off particularly generous yields; the eight PTPs in the maritime transport business generate an average yield of 10.2 percent compared to around 7 percent for the industry benchmark Alerian MLP Index.
I’ll reveal 3 PTPs involved in the transport business in a minute.
But first you need to know that the exciting yields that maritime transport businesses provide are just a fraction of the lucrative opportunities in publicly traded partnerships. Over the past 10 years, publicly traded partnerships (often called MLPs) have crushed the S&P 500 by 340% to 65%. That’s 16% versus 5.1% on an annualized basis. (Partnerships also beat the S&P Energy Index by 65 percentage points. So there’s something going on here more than just a bull market in energy assets.)
The only reason this asset class doesn’t get more publicity is because they’re not institutional products. They’re designed for the little guy, not the big boys. With their low level of institutional ownership, Wall Street’s hordes of salesmen have little reason to pay attention. And almost zero Wall Street research is done on them, for the very same reason—which is why Neil George and I started an advisory solely dedicated to partnerships.
Unlike so many top-heavy corporations that pay their executives millions while the stock price goes nowhere, PTPs pay their profits directly to you. They have to, by law. Only they pay much bigger dividends, because they pay no tax.
What's more, this tax-free business model is so irresistible that it’s now attracting players in a variety of qualifying industries, including real estate, fertilizer, orchards, timber, toll-roads, even cemeteries! All these companies are sidestepping the IRS and passing their hefty and rising earnings straight to the investor. And “hefty” is a classic understatement for many of these outfits...
Terra Nitrogen, an Iowa-based seed and fertilizer outfit, has shot up an astounding $35 to every $1 invested in just the past five years.
Pope Resources, which owns and manages vast spreads of timberland in the Pacific Northwest that has doubled its dividend, has more than quintupled in the past five years... and has shot up 734% since its 1989 launch.
Investors in New England Realty Partners have, racked up a gain of 1,377% in the past 10 years. This tiny ($104 million market cap) regional landlord has a remarkably consistent track record of steadily rising cash distributions.
For head-turning long-term returns it’s hard to beat Alliance Bernstein Holdings. Since its start almost 20 years ago this investment-management partnership has compiled a 10,867% total return. That’s a 100-to-1 jackpot.
With so many massive gains emanating from a single asset class—and a small one at that—it should be obvious why we’re starting The Partnership. Statistically speaking, this tiny investment niche has had 10 times its share of success stories. And this asset class is still in its infancy… or adolescence at most.
In fact some of the most exciting movement for partnerships has been over the past few weeks with the LNG trade booming. And we are telling our readers to load up on these PTPs involved in the maritime transport business:
- Rising LNG trade spells rising demand for LNG tanker ships such as those owned by this heavy yielder. Best yet, this one currently pays a quarterly distribution of $0.53 per unit, equivalent to a yield just under 7.5 percent. Over the past year alone, this PTP has hiked its quarterly distribution by more than 10 percent and similar increases are to be expected for 2008 and 2009 as new ships are delivered and put into service.
- This new company listed its shares in mid-November 2007; the partnership hasn’t announced a full quarter’s worth of results to date. However, we expect the partnership to be able to pay out a total distribution of roughly $1.40 this year, equivalent to a yield of 9.5 percent at current prices and there’s upside to that distribution next year as new ships are delivered and there is still time to get in before the price soars.
- This partner owns a fleet of 14 medium-range refined product tanker ships and one crude oil tanker ship. Their fleet has grown considerably since the PTP went public in early 2007 with a fleet of just eight refined vessels. It is currently yielding 8.6 percent.
When you subscribe to The Partnership you will get the name of all 3 companies above plus two others.
What You’ll Get When You Join Us
The Partnership is a web-based newsletter that you can access the instant we release each monthly issue. You can then easily print out the issue from your computer if you wish.
You’ll never have to wait for your issue by snail mail because as soon as we dot the last “i”, we’ll email you a link that takes you straight to the complete issue on our subscribers-only website.
In addition to your monthly issues, we will send you occasional “PTP Alerts” with unusually important breaking news. But please understand this is not a trading service. We’ll never frantically email you and tell you to buy XYZ by noon. Thankfully, there’s no need for anything that hectic.
Partnership investing is the most relaxing way to invest this side of T-bills. You can hold most of these steady growers for years. The only “fast action” you’ll have is when we find a decent partnership that has stumbled on bad news, and we jump in to bag a quick turnaround profit.
Here’s a peek at what you can expect in every issue of The Partnership:
- Feature story covering a timely partnership sector. When you realize how wide the spectrum of partnerships is, you’ll see there’s one that’s right for every investor—aggressive or conservative.
- Our Foundation Portfolio—These are the most reliable partnerships you can buy—across a variety of industries so you’re not overexposed to any one sector. These safest of the safe are perfect long-haulers for your portfolio—the kind you can buy and forget you even own, except when you’re cashing your fat distribution checks.
- Heavy Yield Portfolio—Here’s where we dig up the super-high yielders that put this asset class on the map. You’ll find a natural gas partnership that has boosted its distribution by 400 percent in less than four years... and a safely diversified closed-end partnership fund yielding 11.5 percent. You’ll also find the best bets for high yields in pipelines... timber... real estate... shipping... natural gas... coal... road-building, and more.
- Venture Portfolio—These partnerships are newer and more speculative. They’re not always the highest yielders, but are destined to soar in the right conditions.
- Portfolio updates, so you can tell at a glance what we’re buying and selling.
- Broker recommendations to help you buy the harder-to-find foreign partnerships that not one in a hundred of your fellow investors will ever discover.
- An entire archive of back issues, so you can get every bit of advice and information we have released since the start of The Partnership—just as if you had subscribed from Day One.
- And finally, no hidden agenda. The Partnership is ferociously independent. All we sell is our advice, so it had better be good. We love partnerships as an asset class, but we can and will be very critical of any troubled company unlucky enough to get onto our dirt list. And we’ll tell you exactly what their problems are.
Look at What Else You Get...
To welcome you as a new subscriber, and to get off to a running start, you’ll also receive a package of special reports we’ve prepared especially for new partnership investors. Here’s a peek at the three you get with a one-year subscription:
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| 1. Power Hungry: Six Best Energy Partnerships to Buy Now |
2. The Deal Makers: Four Fast-Growing Business Partnerships | 3. Making Partner: Building the Ideal Portfolio of Master Limited Partnerships |
Come on board for two years and you get these two additional reports:
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| 4. Money Machines: Four High-Yielding Financial Partnerships | 5. 38% in a Year: Hidden Riches in Partnership IPOs |
A year of The Partnership, which entitles you to 12 months of advice, complete with buy and sell signals, plus as-needed updates—emailed to you within minutes of our investing decisions—costs $500.
But to mark the launch of our new project, we’re offering charter subscriptions for just $399 (with a 100% money-back guarantee, of course).
On a $100,000 portfolio, you can easily pocket $10,000 in distributions alone per year in these partnerships—and plenty more if you want to be aggressive. Is making six times the yield of the average stock—while reducing your risk—worth $1.09 a day?
Only you can answer that. But our guarantee makes the membership fee irrelevant. If The Partnership isn’t right for you, we’ll send you every penny of your payment back. No fine print and no time limit. Take a whole year to decide.
If you have any questions once you’re on board, feel free to call or write. Elliott or I will get back to you personally.
In fact, if The Partnership isn’t everything you expect, I want you to ask for your money back. That’s what the guarantee is there for. But I’m not too worried about cancellations. I think that once you grow accustomed to that flood of checks in your mailbox, you’ll want to subscribe forever.
A Comprehensive Service for Committed Income Investors
The Partnership isn’t for everyone. You will be part of an elite investment alliance—not a mass-circulation service. We want to make sure our service does what it’s supposed to for you: take the guesswork out of choosing a high-growth, high-yield partnership without any hidden liabilities that could trip up a safety-first investor.
There are now 133 partnerships on the NYSE, NASDAQ, and American Stock Exchange. There are about 30 more on foreign exchanges. If you jump blindly into this group, you’re likely to run into a few nasty surprises. The Partnership gives you a handful of the healthiest. Why roll the dice when you don’t have to?
One parting thought: After peddling virtually every product on Wall Street, I know how rare it is to find an investment that treats you like an equal instead of a nuisance. And I’m convinced that you won’t find any more customer-friendly investment than Master Limited Partnerships.
When those fat distribution checks come rolling in, you’ll recoup your initial investment before you know it. At that point, every check is pure gravy. And any capital gain down the road is icing on the cake.
When you consider the stock market has historically returned 9 percent a year, beating that right out of the gate in distributions alone is nothing to sneeze at.
Sincerely,
Elliott Gue
Editor, The Partnership
P.S. Go ahead and try The Partnership FREE for a year! That’s right—sign up now and take the next 12 monthly issues—plus the special reports—while you decide if the service is right for you. If it’s not, no problem. I’ll return your entire payment—100%—and all the special reports you receive will be yours to keep.