dividends

Dividends from UK firms last year grew at the slowest rate since 2010 as the strong pound continued to weight on payouts.

M&G has written to investors in its £9.5bn Global Dividend fund and acknowledged "there may well have been some complacency" around underperforming stocks in 2014.

Investors are continuing to fall into the 'trap' of buying companies with a high dividend yield, according to Invesco Perpetual's Mark Barnett.

UK companies are acting as a drag on an otherwise buoyant global dividend outlook, according to Hendersons' Global Dividend Index.

Dividends paid out by UK companies this year are expected to undershoot previous estimates as the impact of the strong pound hammers payouts, Capita's latest Dividend Monitor has warned.

UK Equity Income

Dividend growth will continue to disappoint the market unless some 'financial alchemy' comes in to play, explains Charles Luke from the Murray Income trust.

M&G's Global Dividend fund has had a setback in performance this year as a number of stocks disappointed with dividend cuts, but manager Stuart Rhodes remains convinced the companies can increase payouts from here.

Global dividends jumped 11.7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2014, according to Henderson's global dividend index.

The trend of slowing dividends from the blue chip income stalwarts is well underway, and Tesco is next in line. The business faces 'significant' cuts to its margins and the dividend may be slashed too, predicts EEA FM's David Urch.