Articles Tagged with master limited partnerships

shutterstock_140186524-300x298The investment attorneys of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating investor claims of unsuitable investments in oil and gas related products.  Our firm is currently representing a number of investors who lost substantial savings due to poor advice to concentrate holdings in speculative commodities investments like master limited partnerships (MLPs).  ClearBridge MLP and Midstream Fund, Inc. (NYSE: CEM) is a mutual fund that provides a single investment for accessing a portfolio of energy-related MLPs and midstream entities.

Year to date ClearBridge MLP and Midstream Fund has returned a -68.73% return as of April 30, 2020.  The price of the fund has fallen to $3.19.

As a background, 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.

Wall Street loves MLPs because they provide high yields to investors and require companies to pay Wall Street in order to continue to grow.  In 2013 banks earned fees of $890.3 million from MLP issuance.   Bloomberg quoted an analyst stating that “MLPs are Wall Street’s dream,” because “[t]hey’re fee machines.”  Naturally, in order to entice investors to continue to invest in MLPs Wall Street pumps up MLPs every chance they get.  According to Bloomberg, in May 2014 “[a]nalysts predict that 93 of the 114 MLPs in existence will rise in value in the next year…”  Astonishingly, “all but five MLPs are recommended by the majority of the analysts who cover them.”  At that time professionals without conflicts called MLPs “the next great investment debacle” and warned that “many MLP shareholders…may not understand what they’ve gotten into.”

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shutterstock_80511298-300x218According to BrokerCheck records financial advisor Christopher Sinkula (Sinkula), currently associated with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (JMS), has been subject to seven customer complaints.  According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Sinkula has been accused by a customers of unsuitable investment advice concerning various investment products including energy stocks and variable annuities among other claims.  The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP continue to report on investor related losses and potential legal remedies due to recommendations to investor in oil and gas and commodities related investments.

The most recent claim was filed in July 2017 and alleges that Sinkula made unsuitable investments by concentrating in energy stocks.  The customer claimed $100,000 in damages and the claim is currently pending.  In 2015 a customer claimed that Sinkula recommended the purchase of annuities and charged excessive fees that were not suitable causing $39,644 in damages.  The claim was denied.

Our firm is investigating potential securities claims against brokerage firms over sales practices related to the recommendations of oil & gas and commodities products such as exchange traded notes (ETNs), structured notes, private placements, master limited partnerships (MLPs), leveraged ETFs, mutual funds, and individual stocks.

shutterstock_1832893-226x300The law offices of Gana Weinstein LLP continue to report on investor related losses and potential legal remedies due to recommendations to investor in oil and gas and commodities related investments.  According to BrokerCheck records, Customers have filed about seven complaints with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) against broker Jeffrey Grayson (Grayson), a former registered representative with Wells Fargo Advisors (Wells Fargo) out of the firm’s Florham Park, New Jersey office location.

Some of the customer complaints against Grayson allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments and overcenoncetrated clients in oil & gas related investments among other claims.  The most recent complaint was filed in June 2017 and alleged unauthorized trading and unsuitable investments.  The complaint is currently pending.

In February 2017 FINRA suspended Grayson alleging that Grayson exercised discretion in four accounts without written authorization from those customers and without having obtained approval from his member firm to treat those customer accounts as discretionary. FINRA also found that Grayson provided inaccurate responses about his use of discretion on the firm’s annual compliance documents.

shutterstock_133100114Our firm is investigating potential securities claims against brokerage firms for sales practice violations related to the recommendations of oil & gas and commodities products such as exchange traded notes (ETNs), structured notes, private placements, master limited partnerships (MLPs), leveraged ETFs, mutual funds, and individual stocks.

One investment that advisors may be recommending to clients in order to gain exposure to oil is the iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index ETN (Symbol: OIL).  OIL is a speculative ETN that attempts to “reflect[] the returns that are potentially available through an unleveraged investment in the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures contract.”  Brokers may be recommending OIL for long-term holding when, in fact, OIL is a risky ETN that is only appropriate for short-term investment speculation on the price direction of oil.

As Morningstar has written, “Due to the extremely specialized exposure of the fund, investors should only consider it for a small position in the satellite portion of a broadly diversified portfolio.”  MorningStar also explained how the futures invested in the fund make the investment inappropriate for long-term holdings and how the price of the fund is not related to the price of oil.  “For example, in 2013 OIL increased 5.6%, close to WTI’s spot price gain of 6.9% for the year. However, over the trailing five-year period OIL lost 1% annualized, compared with an annualized gain of more than 20% for spot WTI over the same period.”

shutterstock_22722853The investment attorneys of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating investor claims of unsuitable investments in oil and gas related products.  Our firm is currently representing a number of investors who lost substantial savings due to poor advice to concentrate holdings in speculative commodities investments like master limited partnerships (MLPs).  According to Brokercheck records, Charles Frieda (Frieda) currently with Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC (Wells Fargo) and operating from their offices in Irvine, California has recently received at least 17 customer complaints with similar allegations that the broker overconcentrated them in oil and gas equities, preferred stock, and debt.  Four complaints have been filed against Frieda in 2016 alone.

One of the most popular energy related investments in the brokerage industry in recent years are MLPs.  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.

Wall Street loves MLPs because they provide high yields to investors and require companies to pay Wall Street in order to continue to grow.  In 2013 banks earned fees of $890.3 million from MLP issuance.   Bloomberg quoted an analyst stating that “MLPs are Wall Street’s dream,” because “[t]hey’re fee machines.”  Naturally, in order to entice investors to continue to invest in MLPs Wall Street pumps up MLPs every chance they get.  According to Bloomberg, in May 2014 “[a]nalysts predict that 93 of the 114 MLPs in existence will rise in value in the next year…”  Astonishingly, “all but five MLPs are recommended by the majority of the analysts who cover them.”  At that time professionals without conflicts called MLPs “the next great investment debacle” and warned that “many MLP shareholders…may not understand what they’ve gotten into.”

shutterstock_20354401The investment attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating the potential unsuitable sales of securities sponsored by Waveland Capital Group LLC (Waveland), a purported merchant bank with a core investment focus in the oil and gas exploration and production industry. Waveland claims on its website that it invests in oil and gas exploration and development throughout the Mid-Continent and Permian Basin regions. In addition, Waveland invests capital to special private equity opportunities in select sectors such as medical device, health sciences, technology and manufacturing. Waveland has sponsored the following investments:

  • Waveland Drilling Partners Series III
  • Waveland Resource Partners II, L.P.

shutterstock_176198786The investment attorneys with Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating and representing investors who were inappropriately recommended oil and gas and commodities related investments. Investors may have potential legal remedies due to unsuitable recommendations by their broker to invest in this speculative and volatile area. One royalty trust that has suffered substantial declines is Pengrowth Energy Corporation (Stock Symbol: PGH). Over the past two years the trust has suffered a 89% loss in value.

Pengrowth Energy Corporation is an intermediate Canadian oil and natural gas producer with a 27 years operating history and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company claims to have exposure to large oil-in-place conventional plays, large low-risk resource plays, and early-stage development plays. The resources that the company claims access to include Cardium light oil, Lindbergh thermal bitumen, Swan Hills light oil, and Montney natural gas projects.

Our clients tell us similar stories that their advisors hyped energy investments as high yielding securities without significant discussion of risk. In a recent Associated Press article, common stories of how investors are pitched by their financial advisors on oil and gas private placements were reported on. Often times these products are pitched as ways to ride the boom in U.S. oil and gas production and receive steady streams of income.

shutterstock_115971289The investment attorneys of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating investor claims of unsuitable investments in oil and gas related products. Our firm is currently representing a number of investors who lost substantial savings due to poor advice to concentrate holdings in speculative commodities investments like master limited partnerships (MLPs). According to Brokercheck records, George Merhoff (Merhoff) with Cetera Advisors LLC (Cetera) has recently received at least one customer complaint alleging overconcentrated positions in oil and gas equities.

One of the most popular energy related investments that have become increasingly popular in the brokerage industry in recent years are MLPs. 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.

Wall Street loves MLPs because they provide high yields to investors and require companies to pay Wall Street in order to continue to grow. In 2013 banks earned fees of $890.3 million from MLP issuance.   Bloomberg quoted an analyst stating that “MLPs are Wall Street’s dream,” because “[t]hey’re fee machines.” Naturally, in order to entice investors to continue to invest in MLPs Wall Street pumps up MLPs every chance they get. According to Bloomberg, in May 2014 “[a]nalysts predict that 93 of the 114 MLPs in existence will rise in value in the next year…” Astonishingly, “all but five MLPs are recommended by the majority of the analysts who cover them.” At that time professionals without conflicts called MLPs “the next great investment debacle” and warned that “many MLP shareholders…may not understand what they’ve gotten into.”

shutterstock_20354401The investment attorneys of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating investor claims of unsuitable investments in oil and gas related products. Our firm is currently representing a number of investors who lost substantial savings due to poor advice to concentrate holdings in speculative commodities investments like master limited partnerships (MLPs). According to Brokercheck records, William Berg (Berg) with Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC (Wells Fargo) has recently received a customer complaint alleging overconcentrated positions in oil and gas equities.

As a background, 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.

Wall Street loves MLPs because they provide high yields to investors and require companies to pay Wall Street in order to continue to grow. In 2013 banks earned fees of $890.3 million from MLP issuance.   Bloomberg quoted an analyst stating that “MLPs are Wall Street’s dream,” because “[t]hey’re fee machines.” Naturally, in order to entice investors to continue to invest in MLPs Wall Street pumps up MLPs every chance they get. According to Bloomberg, in May 2014 “[a]nalysts predict that 93 of the 114 MLPs in existence will rise in value in the next year…” Astonishingly, “all but five MLPs are recommended by the majority of the analysts who cover them.” At that time professionals without conflicts called MLPs “the next great investment debacle” and warned that “many MLP shareholders…may not understand what they’ve gotten into.”

shutterstock_102217105The investment attorneys with Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating and representing investors who were inappropriately recommended oil and gas and commodities related investments. Investors may have potential legal remedies due to unsuitable recommendations by their broker to invest in this speculative and volatile area. One royalty trust that has suffered substantial declines is Pacific Coast Oil Trust (Stock Symbol: ROYT). Since the trust’s inception in May 2012 it has suffered a 95% loss in value.

Pacific Coast Oil Trust is a Delaware statutory trust formed by Pacific Coast Energy Company LP (PCEC) containing interests in California onshore oil properties located in the Santa Maria and Los Angeles Basins. PCEC owns the underlying properties which consist of proved developed reserves and other development potential on the underlying properties most of which is oil and natural gas related production.

Oil and gas royalty trusts, like master limited partnerships (MLPs), invest in the energy and commodities sector. However, unlike MLPs, royalty trusts generate income from the actual production of natural resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas and therefore the cash flows from royalty trusts are subject to swings in commodity prices and production levels causing them to be very inconsistent. Royalty trusts have no physical operations, no management, and no employees. Instead, royalty trusts are merely financing vehicles run by banks that trade like stocks. Another company actually mine the resources and pay the royalties to the trust.

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