| Are Big Dividend Paying Shares And Investment Trusts Too Boring? 1 Year Performance Of My Holdings.

30th Aug '24 by ken mitchell

115 comments 8666 reads

Big dividend paying investments seem to be a minority interest among smaller investors, but I’ve been a big fan for a good while. Is this enthusiasm for them justified or does it take too long for them to give a good return? Rather than provide longer term evidence (John Lee, the first ISA millionaire who holds shares paying him over 100% just from the annual dividend and where the share has multibagged has done that) one year performance is perhaps a more useful guide for those wondering whether extreme patience is needed.

So below is the 1year performance of the shares and Investment Trusts I hold where the dividend at the current share price is 6% or more. I have excluded the holdings where I get a very big dividend thanks to that share or Investment Trust doubling and more but where the dividend at the current share price is under 6%.

All the gains and losses shown below are EXCLUDING those big dividends on top.

INVESTMENT TRUSTS.

GCP Asset Backed Income Fund (LON:GABI) Up 35%. Dividend 8.1%

Tritax EuroBox (LON:EBOX) Up 21% Dividend 6.3%

abrdn Property Income Trust (LON:API) Up 19% Dividend 7.2%

CQS New City High Yield Fund (LON:NCYF) Up 18% Dividend 8.7%

Alternative Income REIT (LON:AIRE) Up 17% Dividend 8.3%

Twentyfour Select Monthly Income Fund (LON:SMIF) Up 15% Dividend 8.7%

Amedeo Air Four Plus (LON:AA4) Up 10% Dividend 14%

Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust (LON:SREI) Up 14% Dividend 6.8%

Chelverton UK Dividend Trust (LON:SDV) Up 12% Dividend 7.5%

GCP Infrastructure Investments (LON:GCP) Up 11% Dividend 8.8%

Henderson Far East Income (LON:HFEL) Up 4% Dividend 10.7%

Henderson High Income Trust (LON:HHI) Up 4% Dividend 6.2%

abrdn Equity Income Trust (LON:AEI) Up 3% Dividend 7.1%

Foresight Solar Fund (LON:FSFL) Up 2% Dividend 8.5%

Supermarket Income REIT (LON:SUPR) Down 3% Dividend 8.1%

Bluefield Solar Income Fund (LON:BSIF) Down 5% Dividend 8.1%

NextEnergy Solar Fund (LON:NESF) Down 7% Dividend 10.5%

Aew UK Reit (LON:AEWU) Down 5% Dividend 8.5%

Of the 4 losing Trusts none are down over 1 year if including dividends. And just as an example I bought

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transport_tycoon

4th Mar

"Rachel Reeve is arguably one of the best qualified Chancellors for a long time, including her Bank of England experience." Oh dear

Orthodon

7th Mar

Ken - very great thanks for your continued informative, wise and enthusiastic posts, which are brightening up some very dull investing days for a small cap fan like myself. Can I ask you and the rest of the group for thoughts on Premier Miton (LON:PMI)?

Obviously not an IT but holds many price-clobbered small caps, is profitable, pays covered divi approaching 12%. Gervais Williams, PMI fund manager is a regular on ii and vox markets podcasts, much respected, and appears to be tearing his hair out (in a professional manner) at the lows to which many of his holdings have dropped.

Clearly an unloved fund, but surely can't remain this way for much longer - or am I just being naive?

ken mitchell

8th Mar

Thanks Orthodon. I’ll reply a bit further another time, but don’t forget that there is excellent analysis of shares like Premier Miton (LON:PMI) on the Daily Stock Market Report thread on the days when those Companies issue trading updates and their Results.

The easy way to find Premier Miton (LON:PMI) and every share analysed on the Stock Market Report thread is to get up the stock report page for Premier Miton (LON:PMI) and then click DISCUSSIONS.

Here’s the link for their most recent Premier Miton (LON:PMI) analysis.

https://www.stockopedia.com/co...

Thanks Ken

Will keep an eye on Premier Miton (LON:PMI) through the usual daily Stocko report, but look forward to hearing your opinion sometime. The 12% div from a profitable fund seems remarkable value.

9th Mar

As promised yesterday, here’s more on Premier Miton (LON:PMI). I’ve posted basic information in case any readers of this thread get confused about them.

First key point is that Premier Miton (LON:PMI) is not a Fund. It’s a Fund Manager. Fund Managers provide their investors with Open Ended Funds/Unit Trusts to invest in, and some like Premier Miton (LON:PMI) does, also provide Investment Trusts too. PMI has 18 Unit Trusts and 3 Investment Trusts. It’s one of the smaller Fund Managers. Some others run a lot more Unit and Investment Trusts. Don’t forget to check towards the bottom of the stock page for any share or Trust you are checking out for the summary of what that Company does.

These Fund Managers are cyclical shares.i.e they should do very well in bull markets but don’t in falling markets. So the trick is to try and buy after they’ve had a bad run (like now) and look to take profits or sell when Markets are bouyant.

If you read the excellent commentary on the daily stock report page from the likes of Graham Neary on the day when Fund Managers issue Resukts you’ll get far more valuable comment on their prospects than you can get from a one off post here.

Note there is now an excellent “The Week Ahead” thread that includes the day this week Companies are Reporting.

You’ll see phrases like AUM in updates. It means “Assets under Management,’ I.e their funds. AUM outflows are not good news! It means more investors are selling their Funds than buying them. Inflows are good as there are more buyers of their Funds than sellers. Again the latest on that gets analysed by Graham and others on Results days.

Next to an obvious point. The better their Funds perform and outperform others in the same sector, that’s good news as it attracts more investors. And it’s the opposite for Fund Managers like Liontrust Asset Management (LON:LIO) who have too many underperforming Funds.

So what about Premier Miton (LON:PMI) ? Now I’ve explained all this just find the latest analysis on the Daily Stock Market Report thread. I’ve already provided the link to that for you.

I bought too soon……thought it was near the bottom and it wasn’t. That means buys now are at even lower prices.

Polar Capital Holdings (LON:POLR) is arguably the best choice for quality. Dividend should be safe…unless new bad news. I hold at a small profit excluding dividends.

Premier Miton (LON:PMI) I hold at a small loss and it might tempt a bidder. But buying in the hope of a bid is a rare bonus it it actually happens. It’s better to check out the Investment case which looks quite strong now.

Liontrust Asset Management (LON:LIO) I hold at a 30% loss, though the huge dividends compensate a bit. It’s the worst quality of the 4 with too many badly performing Funds and a now too long record of AUM outflows. Unless the performance of their Funds improves Liontrust Asset Management (LON:LIO) is a gamble on a possible performance improvement at last . Unless that happens or if there’s yet another disappointing update then there’s yet more downside with a dividend cut surely a near certainty. I broke my golden sell on iffynnews withnLiontrust Asset Management (LON:LIO) guessing it might get bid for. And I’ve paid the price with a 30% paper loss.

Impax Asset Management (LON:IPX) is a very recent buy after their latest update, and Graham Neary’s comment that day, but already down 20%! But 10% of that is the recent very big 10% ex dividend. It looks very cheap …but has for ages and still goes lower still.

Hope that helps.

timarr

Hi ken

Agree with you on the fund managers - I also hold some of the larger ones - Schroders (LON:SDR) and Rathbones (LON:RAT) as well as Pollen Street (LON:POLN), which may well be the the best of the bunch.

In passing I was looking at the case for buying Premier Miton (LON:PMI) but got distracted looking at the recent falls in AIM stocks. I know full well that AIM is full of dross, but there are good companies in there, and the three month momentum in many of the better ones in the AIM 100 is startling - Impax Asset Management (LON:IPX) down 46% and Tracsis (LON:TRCS) down over 40%, Renew Holdings (LON:RNWH) , Next 15 (LON:NFG) , Focusrite (LON:TUNE) and Warpaint London (LON:W7L) down over 30% and a long list of the better stocks down over 20%. Churchill China (LON:CHH) - a good company facing a difficult hospitality market - has seen its share price drop by 60% in the last year (and now yields over 7%).

You can find company specific reasons for many of these (and where people can't find them they make them up), and the markets are obviously terrible, but I'm wondering if there's something else going on. Maybe a reaction to changes in AIM IHT relief and/or some funds selling up?

REITs, renewable trusts and fund managers look cheap, but possibly there's selective value on AIM too, now? I'm running out of things to sell in order to buy (although there's a wall of dividend income going to descend in the next couple of months).

The Phoenix

Tim just be careful on Pollen Street (LON:POLN) part of their business is buying up IFA's you have probably seen the numbers Quilters and St James Place have had to put aside for annual client reviews not being done.

Pollen Street (LON:POLN) comes up on my quality garp screen but I've avoided as its not been flagged by the fca how far down the IFA food chain they are going.

Thank you Ken - I appreciate the time and effort you've taken to reply, and the level of insight you've imparted. Much clearer for me now, and I'll be watching Premier Miton (LON:PMI) et al carefully.

18th Mar

Perhaps it’s time for an update on the shares covered in the header article. I’ll exclude all the Investment Trusts in that article as Trusts get well covered on the excellent Investment Trust threads here.

As for the shares; this post will again only cover those in the header article that I still hold, and with dividend yield of at least 6% at the current share price. Focus is on year to date and 1 year performance figures along with brief comments. I’ve also added the Stockopedia rank for each share. There are plenty of alternative big yielders but those can be added in replies if there are any. That big regular income from these shares (and the Investment Trusts too) quickly provide income for new investments, AND these big yielders do sometimes give big capital gains too.

What’s extraordinary is that there are still so many big dividend paying shares and Investment Trusts available, which surely reflects how cheap most of these shares and Trusts are?

So here goes. The share price gains and losses below are excluding dividends.

TP Icap (LON:TCAP) 6.2% dividend. Year to date Up 2% and 1 year 21%. Stocko rank 98. Recent Results were good. My dividend is 16% thanks to luckily timed buy. That’s another thing to bear in mind imo. I.e well timed buys ahead of big share price gains give the double plus of that big capital gain and a very big annual dividend too.

Smiths News (LON:SNWS) 10.1% dividend with further increase likely. YTD up 19% 1 year Up 13%. Stocko 95.

Reach (LON:RCH) 9.5% dividend YTD Down 7% 1 year Up 2%. Stocko 91.Recent update was ok and the end of that big pension deficit is in sight.

Aviva (LON:AV.) 6.4% dividend with mid single digit annual increases. YTD Up 18% and 1 year 16%. Stocko 76. Has had a very good run and best of the gains have probably been had now.

Harbour Energy (LON:HBR) 10.2% dividend if held. YTD Down 24% and 1 year Down 28%.Stocko 92. I’m well down too! It’s taken a big hit partly from UK North Sea oil policy. As low as it’s going to go?

M&G (LON:MNG) 9% dividend which could be increased. YTD Up 12% 1 year Down 2%. Stocko 76. Results tomorrow. If good they could , as with Phoenix group (LON:PHNX) this week, be a trigger for decent share price gain.

Polar Capital Holdings (LON:POLR) 10.6% dividend. YTD Down 15%. 1 year, flat. Stocko 92 and 99 for quality. It is the best quality Fund Manager choice, but they’ve all taken a hit, thanks to AUM outflows but Polar Capital Holdings (LON:POLR) update was arguably the most reassuring one. Now at a turning point?

Phoenix group (LON:PHNX) 9.25% dividend with yet another dividend increase announced this week. YTD Up 14% and 1 year Up 21%. Stocko 73.

Legal & General (LON:LGEN) Dividend 8.7% and 2% annual increase. YTD Up 7% and flat over 1 year. Stocko 87.

Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) Dividend 6.3%. Up 3% YTD and flat 1 year. Big Miners have been held back by lack of China demand, but signs now of a China turnaround. Dividend is much higher in good years for Mining sector; arguably at bargain price now, Stocko 91.

Newriver Reit (LON:NRR) 8.5% dividend. Flat both YTD and 1 year. Stocko 70. REITS look to have bottomed now and one after another is getting a bid or wind down. All this is well covered on the Investment Trust threads,

Chesnara (LON:CSN) Dividend 9% and they’ve increased it for multiple years. YTD up 2% and 1 year 3%. Share has been dull for years now. Stockopedia 49.

Liontrust Asset Management (LON:LIO) Dividend 18% but surely it will be cut! YTD Down 16% and 1 year Down 39%. Terrible share price performance reflects long run of AUM outflows along with far too many underperforming funds. Hope that is all priced in while improvement (dream on!) if it happens isn’t. Stocko 73 hit by deserved 13 for momentum but surprisingly it gets 93 for quality.

Aberdeen (LON:ABDN) Dividend 8.4%. YTD Up 24% and 1 year up 26% and big gain after recent improved Results at last. Good recovery share now? Stocko 85.

Ithaca Energy (LON:ITH) Dividend 14.5%. YTD Up 17% and 1 year flat. Stocko 96.

Serica Energy (LON:SQZ) Dividend 16.7% if held. YTD Down 3%. 1 year Down 24%.Stocko 99. (Really?). I sold at a loss because of yet another hit from failing equipment but then bought back in case Enquest tie up works well. Despite that 99 for quality, there are mo far higher quality alternatives.

Petrotal (LON:PTAL) is the only one in that previous post that I’ve sold. Dividend9.5%. YTD up 15%. 1 year up 17%..with the gains coming just after I sold! Stocko 93.

19th Mar

Thanks again Ken - extremely helpful and informative again. Surely TP Icap (LON:TCAP)

Rusty2

Hello Ken, l make Smiths News (LON:SNWS) down around 15% YTD, not up 19%.?

Serica Energy (LON:SQZ) Is down again today, should have sold these a while ago.

Agree about Aviva (LON:AV.)

Continued! surely TP Icap (LON:TCAP) due a further re-rate? To paraphrase Graham Neary last week, this co. thrives on market volatility, and is too cheap…

Oops. Smiths News (LON:SNWS) is down 18% YTD and not up.

I’ve sold Serica Energy (LON:SQZ) today after the further delays. The high risk of this happening was why I had sold in the first place!

M&G (LON:MNG) have upped the dividend and announced a progressive dividend policy today. Share modestly up after their Results.

It really is extraordinary that very high yields, with shares like M&G(LON:MNG),Legal & General (LON:LGEN) , Phoenix group (LON:PHNX) , Aviva (LON:AV.) and plenty of others, are no longer a warning sign. Instead these shares have got progressive dividend policies showing that the dividends are not only sustainable but going up year on year. It’s bonkers that big Pension Funds who only invest about 4% in the UK, can’t see what sensational value these shares are.

Thanks Orthodon.

You can edit your posts for up to one hour after posting. You’ll see the pen icon (next to the flag) at the bottom of a post. Just click on that and we can edit our posts. If you see this in time it’s not too late for you to do it.

lightningtiger

21st Mar

Hi Ken,

What a great interesting post. About 8 years ago I decided to change mainly from growth stocks to dividend paying shares, mainly because of Plus 500, which I should have held on to, when bought at about 3p a share! A big mistake.

Now in retirement & checking my average dividend income over the last 7 years it is just over £15,000 pa, ( £17,670 last year.) All held in an ISA.

Just today, I have received in the post that my company pension has been increased by 3% but, subject to being taxed.

I am currently looking at buying LGEN before the XD date to add to the mix. Just a couple of clicks away with the mouse. Good hunting everyone.

Click click done. top sliced SFM & bought LGEN.

23rd Mar

Thanks for that reply lighteningtiger and good luck with Legal & General (LON:LGEN) . That’s very impressive dividend income you’re getting every year. As with my portfolio the dividend income provides funds for free for new big dividend (and other) investments. So few investors seem to realise just how rewarding it is to see regular big income every month, nor how that so helps our portfolios to ride out bear markets.

Lincs

28th Mar

Chesnara - CEO & CFO buy just shy of £70k of shares between them.

Brucie5

An anagram of "Earns cash". Still doing so.

ShoeShineBoy

29th Mar

Listened to the following on my daily commute the other day:

https://tinyurl.com/3ekhkdsf

A written article is also available:

https://tinyurl.com/4uz9mt64

Shares Portfolio

The shares portfolio contains some obvious holdings. It generated very little capital growth which could be viewed as a good or bad thing. £152K required in order to generate £10K income (overall yield of 6.5%). Stockopedia has the following details ordered by yield.

Edit: I have just looked at the article again and can see the above list is what is staying in the portfolio for 2025 rather than what was invested for 2024. Plus the article says the yield was actually 6.2% with a small capital gain of 2.4%. I should have read the article more carefully - doh!

Funds Portfolio

I'm not that familiar with the funds. Full list available in the above article. There seems to be a global spread which is probably wise. £230K at the start of the year generated capital growth of almost £23K (+9%). £230K required in order to generate £10K income (overall yield of 4.4%).

Investment Trusts Portfolio

I'm much more familiar with the investment trusts and there are some long standing names invested in UK equities in the list. £195K at the start of the year generated capital growth of £18K (+9%). Jpmorgan Global Growth & Income (LON:JGGI) has clearly come of it's highs in early 2025. And Greencoat UK Wind (LON:UKW) recorded a capital loss in 2024. Balanced Commercial Property must have been acquired given the capital gain on that name. £195K required to generate £10K income (overall yield of 5.1%).

For me personally, it's a mixture of shares and investment trusts.

SSB

Are big dividend paying shares and Investment Trusts too boring? 1 year performance of my holdings.

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Ken Mitchell

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