Alerian Capital Management Announces Launch of Real-Time Master Limited Partnership Index

The Alerian MLP Index is a composite of the 50 most prominentenergy master limited partnerships and will be calculated by Standard& Poor's using a float-adjusted market capitalization methodology. Theindex will be disseminated real-time on a price return basis (NYSE:AMZ). The corresponding total return index will be disseminated dailythrough ticker AMZX and will be available on Alerian's website. Inaddition, Standard & Poor's has calculated 10 years of historicalindex data on both a price and total return basis. Alerian will alsopublish relevant constituent data points such as total marketcapitalization, and dividend yield daily.

"This index will bring focus and definition to a crucial link inthe United States energy value chain," said Alerian managing partnerGabriel Hammond. "Both strong investment opportunities and acomplementary need for capital exist in an emerging asset class thathas delivered over 17% annualized total returns over the last decade."

"The NYSE is committed to empowering investors by facilitatinginnovative new benchmark indexes like the Alerian MLP Index," saidCatherine R. Kinney, NYSE Group President and co-COO. "As investorsbecome more familiar with the investment attributes of theseinfrastructure investments, this index will become a criticalbenchmark for this emerging asset class, the majority of which arelisted on the NYSE."

"The sector's market capitalization has nearly doubled to $75billion in the past two years and the analysts I talk to expect it todouble again before the end of the decade," said Mary Lyman, ExecutiveDirector of the Coalition of Publicly Traded Partnerships. "The MLPsector today could be on a similar trajectory to REITS in the late1980s and I believe that tremendous growth lies ahead given the strongneed for new energy infrastructure investment and the continuedmigration of existing assets into the MLP structure. This benchmarkwill be tremendously helpful to investors trying to track theperformance of these companies."

"The MLP sector is an emerging asset class, and Standard & Poor'sCustom Index Group is pleased to be working with Alerian CapitalManagement to provide an independent, real-time index for this space,"said Tim Eisenhauer, Senior Director and Head of S&P's Custom IndexGroup.

Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs, are primarily engaged in thetransportation, storage, or processing, of natural resources such ascrude oil and natural gas. By confining their operations to thesespecific activities, they are able to trade on public securitiesexchanges exactly like the shares of a corporation, without entitylevel income taxation. More than two-thirds trade on the New YorkStock Exchange. MLPs are regulated by the Securities ExchangeCommission and must file 10-Ks, 10-Qs, and notices of material changelike any publicly traded corporation and comply with the recordkeeping and disclosure requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

About Alerian Capital Management

Alerian is a registered investment advisor that manages portfoliosexclusively focused on midstream energy Master Limited Partnerships.The company focuses on fundamental analysis in this emerging assetclass, combining its bottoms-up private equity philosophy with riskmanagement programs designed to preserve capital and mitigateportfolio volatility. Investing in both the private and public equitymarkets the company concentrates on maximizing absolute total returnson a risk-adjusted basis. For more information, visit www.alerian.com.

Alerian Capital Management LLC is based in New York, New York andcan be reached at (212) 332-7805 and at investor_relations@alerian.com.

About the New York Stock Exchange

NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: theNew York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and NYSE Arca (formerly known asthe Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx(R), and the Pacific Exchange).NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading andmarket data products and services. The NYSE is the world's largest andmost liquid cash equities exchange. The NYSE provides a reliable,orderly, liquid and efficient marketplace where investors buy and selllisted companies' common stock and other securities. Our listedoperating companies represent a total global market capitalization ofover $22.9 trillion. In the first quarter 2006, on an average tradingday, over 1.7 billion shares, valued at over $65 billion, were tradedon the NYSE. For more information on NYSE Group, go to:http://www.nyse.com/

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies(NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent creditratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. Withapproximately 6,300 employees located in 21 countries and markets,Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financialinfrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 yearsin providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need tofeel more confident about their investment and financial decisions.For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com.

About the Coalition

The Coalition of Publicly Traded Partnerships is a Washington,D.C.-based trade association representing publicly traded ("master")limited partnerships and those who work with them. Both the currentCoalition and its predecessor have been highly successful inrepresenting the interests of PTPs in Washington, with a number oflegislative and regulatory accomplishments. For more information and acomplete list of members, visit the Coalition website athttp://www.ptpcoalition.org.