CBA News and Press, ClearBridge American Energy MLP Fund Inc. From 10/29/22

Summary Equities continued their slide during the third quarter, as investors grew increasingly anxious over the combination of aggressive interest rate increases and a growing likelihood of recession. Health care proved an impediment to relative performance, as the evaporation of...

Summary Markets beginning to price in a reasonable chance of recession, both domestically and abroad, led to dramatic moves across various often uncorrelated asset classes, with wide ranging implications across global economies. The Strategy held up well relative to the Russell 10...

Summary Weakness in the Strategy’s consumer discretionary and technology names and underweights to several outperforming mega cap growth stocks weighed on performance relative to the benchmark. Weakness in the Strategy’s consumer discretionary and technology names an...

Summary The Strategy outperformed for the second quarter in a row, thanks in large part to positioning adjustments made over the last year in preparation for these extreme macro headwinds. We enhanced a focus on sturdy, secular growth businesses with three new additions to the portfol...

Summary OPEC+ agreed to impose deep output cuts of 2 million barrels per day starting in November, expecting to spur a recovery in crude prices, despite calls from the U.S. to increase production to prop up the global economy. The European Union has approved the eighth round of sa...

Summary Energy infrastructure companies continue to make strides with clean energy initiatives – announcing new partnerships, projects, and acquisitions. From renewable fuels to carbon capture to hydrogen, the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act support clean energy i...

Summary The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies on 5 October announced plans to reduce oil production quotas by 2 million barrels a day (b/d) starting in November. While the oil market has rallied on the OPEC+ announcement, this retracement is rather m...

Summary RICs cannot own more than 25% MLPs, and as a result, these funds tend to have lower yields than C-Corp funds that are 90-100% MLPs. Investors can gain exposure to MLPs through exchange-traded notes, which are unsecured debt obligations of an issuer. Investors can gain ...

Summary There are two types of MLP funds – those structured as RICs, which own up to 25% MLPs, and those structured as corporations, which tend to be 90-100% MLPs. Similar to direct MLP investment, return of capital distributions from an MLP fund structured as a corporation...

Summary The energy markets have been volatile for most of 2022, continuing a two-year trend that dates to the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. The rising rig count and share buyback and M&A activity in midstream, especially in the Permian Basin, indicate strength in the...