SteelPath Advisors has launched the SteelPath MLP & Infrastructure Debt Fund and the SteelPath MLP Alpha Plus Fund. These funds are actively managed by Gabriel Hammond, Stuart Cartner, and Brian Watson and provide a simple solution to access MLPs without the complexities of K-1s and Unrelated Business Taxable Income (UBTI).
Hammond and Cartner are current Portfolio Managers on other SteelPath fund offerings (SteelPath MLP Alpha Fund, SteelPath MLP Income Fund, and SteelPath MLP Select 40 Fund). Watson joins as co-portfolio manager on the new offerings while retaining his duties as the firm’s Director of Research.
"Given Brian’s extensive involvement as Director of Research for the past 3 years, we’re excited for him to take on a more active role within the portfolios," says SteelPath founder and CEO Hammond.
The SteelPath MLP & Infrastructure Debt Fund (MLPWX) represents the industry’s first debt-focused MLP mutual fund and invests in debt securities of approximately 15-20 MLP and energy infrastructure companies. SteelPath’s MLP Alpha Plus Fund (MLPNX) is a concentrated portfolio of approximately 20 MLP equity securities and employs leverage to distinguish it from SteelPath’s existing flagship fund, the MLP Alpha Fund.
Hammond says: "Many investors are looking for alternative sources of income in this low-yielding environment, and these new funds are the result of demand for additional solutions." Scott Blankenship, the firm’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, says: "MLPs are becoming a permanent allocation within a broad range of investor portfolios given the asset class’s historically consistent income distributions, low correlations to the broader markets, and strong total returns."
Both new funds, like all other SteelPath strategies, will focus on MLPs classified as "mid-stream", which describes those firms which are primarily responsible for the transportation, storage, and processing of carbon-based natural resources such as oil, natural gas, and refined products. Mid-stream MLPs present an attractive risk/reward proposition as they typically earn "tolls" or "fees" and tend to be less volatile since they typically do not take ownership of the underlying commodities they handle.
