Contrarian: Return of the dividend

CONTRARIAN

clock • 4 min read

Fans of the humble dividend are riding high. According to Capita's latest Dividend Monitor, UK-listed companies paid out a record amount worth £23.2bn in the last quarter. This good news story is not just confined to the UK, as dividends have become progressively more important across the globe.

It is notable that investors in places as diverse as Russia, China, and Japan have been receiving steadily increasing dividend payouts as large corporates worldwide release huge amounts of hoarded cash to their long-suffering investors. Obviously it is a slightly different picture in the US, where buybacks are seemingly more important than dividends. According to the most recent FactSet report, for the last 12 months total buybacks for S&P 500 companies amounted to $394bn - an increase for the second quarter of 15% but a year-on-year decline of 11.5%. At an aggregate level, that buyba...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

More on Investment

Partner Content: Is the interest rate descent the time to harvest bonds?

Partner Content: Is the interest rate descent the time to harvest bonds?

Markets expect interest rates to fall this year, offering investors the strongest opportunity for fixed income seen for a long time. Watch this video podcast to learn how best to harvest this exciting opportunity.

Sarka Halas
clock 28 March 2024 • 1 min read
Partner Insight: How effective are impact investments?

Partner Insight: How effective are impact investments?

Impact investing has transformed over the past decade, giving investors the opportunity to pursue both financial returns and social and environmental outcomes.

Sarka Halas
clock 27 March 2024 • 2 min read
Partner Insight: High-yield investors should keep a close eye on the default cycle

Partner Insight: High-yield investors should keep a close eye on the default cycle

As central banks start to think about cutting interest rates, forecasts for a peak in credit default rates are not far behind — and could happen sooner than expected, says Wellington Management’s Alex King.

Sarka Halas
clock 27 March 2024 • 2 min read
Trustpilot