67 WALL STREET, New York - August 21, 2012 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Utilities, Alternative Energy and Water Services Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Outlook for Biofuels and Biochemicals - Asia Pacific Demand for Solar Energy - Grid Parity Timelines for Alternative Energy - Water Infrastructure Development - Irrigation and Metering Technology - Water Industry Consolidation
Companies include: Enbridge (ENB), Spectra Energy (SE), ONEOK (OKE), TransCanada (TRP), Williams Companies (WMB), Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) and many more.
In the following excerpt from the Utilities, Alternative Energy and Water Services Report, 12 time Institutional Investor All Star Research Analyst discusses the outlook for the Natural Gas sector and for investors.
TWST: Would you begin with a brief introduction to your coverage, including some of the specific names you follow?
Mr. Launer: I began my career as an Accountant focused on oil- and gas-related companies with Arthur Young. After that, I worked for Mobil Oil; and then I was in the exploration and production business for a few years in the early 1980s. Beginning in 1984, I had a 20-year career in equities research, mostly at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette following natural gas pipelines, natural gas distribution companies and the very beginnings of what has become the MLP sector, which really got started in the mid-1980s. I retired from equities research in 2004 and joined a startup boutique investment bank called Sagent Advisors, and became a Banker in the very same sectors that I had covered as an equities research Analyst. I spent five years with Sagent Advisors joining Deutsche Bank as an MLP and midstream energy Banker in 2012.
This past February, I transferred from investment banking to equities research at Deutsche Bank. One of the measures of my research career is the Institutional Investor poll, and I am in the Institutional Investor Hall of Fame that was created last December for anyone who has more than 10 years of number one rankings. I actually had 12 years of number one finishes in the group, 1989 through 2001, with the exception of 1996. I also had 19 total appearances in the Institutional Investor researcher poll, and I'm hoping to earn more.
You also asked me to talk about the company coverage that I have. It comes in two groups. First, it is the natural gas companies, the corporations that we will refer to as the C Corps. These are companies that are in the midstream infrastructure business around North America, and alphabetically, they range from Enbridge (ENB) and Kinder Morgan (KMI) to Spectra Energy (SE), SemGroup (SEMG), ONEOK (OKE), Targa (TRGP), TransCanada (TRP) and Williams (WMB). Those are the major names in our C Corp group.
I also follow energy-related master limited partnerships, MLPs. There are many more of them than C Corps, and I follow 25 MLPs. The MLPs go from names like Enterprise Products (EPD), and Kinder Morgan Partners (KMP) to Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), Williams Partners (WPZ), ONEOK Partners (OKS), Western Gas Partners (WES) and Rose Rock Midstream Partners (RRMS). Everything that's in energy and says partners is probably a name that I follow.
TWST: You believe natural gas will become the base load fuel for power generation. Please tell us about the factors that contribute to that hypothesis. And over what time period do you expect that hypothesis to play out?
For more from this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.