Investors new to the master limited partnership space can't be blamed for their sudden intrigue. After all, media coverage on these stocks has skyrocketed right along with the number of MLPs on the market. Year to date, the MLP tracking Alerian Index has almost doubled up the S&P 500.
There are plenty of reasons to consider buying MLPs -- the soaring quarterly distribution is usually what does it -- but there are also plenty of reasons not to buy. The slide show below covers three main reasons investors might choose to keep MLPs out of their portfolios: risk, value, and investor headaches. Each reason is illustrated using real-life examples of some of today's popular MLPs, like Enterprise Products Partners, TC Pipelines, and Phillips 66 Partners.
