In January 2022 we rebalanced our portfolios to reduce exposure to companies that had extended multiples and were paying little or no dividends. These equities are considered long-duration equities because they will grow into their stock pricing multiples over an extended time period. These companies' stock performance have a history of being very volatile in times of economic slowing and high inflation.
In January, we added a number of companies to our portfolio that better met the attributes of short-duration equities. Companies with low multiples, great free cash flow, good dividend payouts, and the expectation that those companies would also increase their dividends in the near future. In May 2022, we rebalanced the portfolio again to add more short-duration equities to the portfolio to assist in weathering the volatility we have been seeing in the markets due to recession risks and inflation concerns.
Today, we want to give you a little history on higher dividend paying stocks and how they help to reduce portfolio volatility in volatile economic times.
Great Dividend Payers Outperform
Dividend payers have continued to outperform compared to their non-dividend-paying peers and have now returned to the levels they were before Covid. With uncertainty higher over the coming months as inflation remains high and the Fed continues along its tightening cycle, these companies should continue to do well. Therefore, we remain in favor of short-duration equities.
Over Extended Periods, Dividend Growers Have Outperformed
As we discussed previously, our bias is towards short-duration equities, which has also proven itself over time. Over the last 30+ years, companies growing their dividend have seen the strongest annualized returns versus other dividend strategies. With an annualized return of 11.8%, dividend growers have a nearly 1% greater annualized return over the next best dividend strategy.
And Dividend Growers Have Experienced Less Volatility
At the same time, dividend growers have achieved strong returns while seeing less volatility. The annualized standard deviation of the dividend growers since 1990 is 15.1%, more than 3% lower than any of the other three dividend policies. Conversely, those companies that pay no dividend have seen the highest volatility at 22.1%. Overall, dividend growers have been able to provide stronger returns with less volatility, a desirable combination.
Source: Strategas
Sincerely,
Fortem Financial
(760) 206-8500
team@fortemfin.com