Of late, the headlines on dividends have been primarily focused on the proposed removal of some of the more favourable tax treatments should the Labor Party get elected to power. While franking credits on dividends certainly enhance the attraction of dividends received from Australian companies to many investors, we believe... Show More
Traditionally, when seeking income, investors have turned to fixed income investments such as term deposits or bonds. However, persistently low-interest rates have seen investing in higher yielding stocks become an increasingly popular strategy for investors seeking to generate an income stream. Show More
Are Australian bond-like proxies going to suffer a bondcano moment? Certainly, stocks that have defensive characteristics have been sold down in recent months. And bond bears would have it that they are collateral damage from rising US yields. However, we believe this is a false narrative. Hence, we need to... Show More
Dividend lovers: we’re witnessing a bit of a changing of the guard when it comes to the performance of ASX listed companies. Financials and in particular banks – where investors have traditionally looked for their sustainable dividend growth – are beginning to be threatened for the mantle of sustainable dividend... Show More
Bill Shorten caused quite a stir last week as Labor proposed a policy of removing the cash refunds for franking credits that some investors currently receive. While the changes affect a relatively small number of people compared to the broad Australian taxation system, it’s hard to ignore the serious impact... Show More
Get the full scoop on what Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong-Un, Labor’s $59b cash refund plan, and Spotify’s unconventional IPO means for you and your investments. Show More
When I was first asked to comment about the ALP’s proposed scrapping of franking credit refunds my response was I was “flabbergasted”. “Flabbergasted” that the party whose Treasurer Paul Keating created franking credits would cut those benefits accruing to retired workers, “flabbergasted” that the Leader of ALP Opposition who earns... Show More
In my AFR column I explain the consequences of Labor leader Bill Shorten's proposed new taxes for shares, property and hybrids---it's worth noting that even the Greens appear to have a problem with the notion of king-hitting prudent retirees with the Greens' leader vocally criticising Shorten's desire to deny retirees... Show More
CommSec Advisory’s Justin Wynne speaks with Tom Piotrowski about the upcoming February reporting season, including the factors to focus on in the results of the banks & miners. Show More
There was a time when Telstra was a staple of almost every Australian investor’s portfolio. Stable earnings and a big fully-franked yield meant that it never had problems attracting buyers. Things are different now. After cutting its dividend in August, Telstra is now down >30% year to date. Show More
The old saying goes; ‘there are two sides to every trade’, but in the case of Telstra, we have three. In this second part of our equity income series, we take a close look at Telstra following the announcement of the upcoming dividend cut, and the associated share price fall. Show More
Telstra and the banks are mainstays of any Australian income-focused portfolio and make up nearly half of the dividends paid out by ASX companies in FY17. However, all five are down year-to-date, and Telstra recently announced an approximately 30% cut to its dividend. Show More
One of our largest holdings in the TBF Small Cap Value Growth Fund is a company with a market cap of $170M that reported a profit of $27M in CY2016 and paid a dividend of $18M. The business does not have a lot of debt on the balance sheet and... Show More
Beware the dividend stock for which the share market starts anticipating a significant deterioration in operational dynamics and thus, eventually, a reduction or even removal of the dividend. It happened to prior stalwarts such as Metcash, Fleetwood, Origin Energy, even to BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum. One look at price... Show More
Listed Australian companies have paid out $72 billion in dividends since the start of 2017, and that is a disaster for the country. This may come as a shock to those for whom dividends are an indicator of sound financial performance or a source of perceived return corporate stability going... Show More
Cash payouts: Last week, dividends started flowing from those companies that reported early in the recent earnings (profit-reporting) season. Conservatively around $22 billion (or around 1.3 per cent of GDP) will be paid out by companies over the next few months. Show More
Plato Income Maximiser Limited (ASX:PL8), a new Australian shares Listed Investment Company (LIC) with a high-income focus, has just launched. Show More
Dr Don Hamson, Managing Director of Plato Investment Management, says the best prospects for dividends now sit with Australia’s big iron ore miners. From a highly uncertain outlook just one year ago Hamson now says companies like RIO, BHP and Fortescue present dividend investors with a compelling outlook. Significant cost... Show More
As investors have searched for yield and growth in a market where they’re increasingly difficult to find, large-cap stocks have responded by increasing payout ratios at the expense of reinvestment, says Vince Pezzullo, Portfolio Manager at Perpetual Equity Investment Company (ASX:PIC). “The problem with that strategy is that at some... Show More
Back in May, when ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) cut its dividend and flagged a lower dividend payout ratio, it was a strong signal that bank investors should not count on an unending stream of rising dividends. As dividend payments – and, more precisely, the dividend payout ratio – is a... Show More
