Tortoise quickly making a mark in the investment world - Kansas City Business Journal:

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In the past year, an astoundint number of those conversationsz have revolved aroundKansas City's family of I have been amazed at the diverse variety of friends who have extolledx the virtues of thesd funds. Males and young and older, businesspeople, doctors and educators have told me how intrigueds they are withTortoise funds. I concluded that I had to sit down with oneof Tortoise'd managing partners and learn more about this homegrowb company. I did that with Terry Matlack. Terry is a very extremely personable guy who is justifiably proud of the mark Tortoise has establisherd in thefinancial world. That has come in a remarkablgy short periodof time.
It all beganj when Terry, Dave Schulte, Kevinn Birzer, Ken Malvey and Zach Hamel saw a namely master limited partnerships in the energhyinfrastructure field, that looked promising to them in termds of growth potential. Terry told me: "It took us two yearsx to get Tortoise offthe ground. We then told investors what we were goingto do; then we went out and did it. We offeredf no unreasonable expectations." Tortoise Capital and Tortoise Energg invest in master limited partnershipe inthe U.S. energ y infrastructure, and Tortoise North America adds Canada tothe mix.
These MLPs are engagefd in the transportation, storage and processing of crudr oil, natural gas, refined products and coal from production points to the end These investments are free from the pricre volatility inherent in owning theactuao commodities. Because income depends on volumes processed, stored or transported, these MLPs shouldx grow naturally with the economyand Specifically, Tortoise looks to invest in four categories withih the energy sector: Pipeline which are common carrier transporters of natural gas, natural gas liquids, cruder oil and refined petroleum products.
Processing MLPs, whichn are gatherers and processors ofnatural gas, as well as providerz of transportation, fractionation and storagw of natural gas Propane MLPs, which are distributors of propane to homeowners for space and water heating. Coal MLPs, which own, leasw and manage coal reserves. I go into all this detaio to document the factthat Tortoise'ws spectacular success reflects the simple fact that thesw five bright, innovative guys trulg have found a niche Moreover, they devised a sounxd way for investors to tap into that It must be noted that the individuakl MLPs are publicly traded.
The advantagex of Tortoise's bundling to individual investors include simplettax reporting, use of a professionakl management team to select a balanced portfolipo of MLPs, access to investment-grade credit markets and accesws to direct placements. Obviously, diversification reduces risk. In a couple of very pleasant hours with Terry Matlack showed me why so many of my friendszlike Tortoise. Kansas City is lucky to have this turtler based inour town!