The Stock Performance of Securitized Real Estate and Master Limited Partnerships

This paper examines the stock performance of 144 master limited partnerships (MLPs) holding real estate and other types of assets. MLP stocks were found to underperform the market on a risk-adjusted basis during the period 1981-1991. The evidence indicates that the MLP organizational form has not been a superior vehicle for holding real estate. Also, the performance of real estate MLP stocks is similar to the performance of the stocks of other types of MLPs and that of real estate MLP stock performance is comparable to the performance of real estate investment trust stocks. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.