What’s in your portfolio? The Dividend Guy

A few weeks back I reached out to various bloggers and financial experts recently to ask what’s in their portfolio.  I did this to find out what their investing goals were, learn a little about their investing strategies, uncover some of the products they own and see what advice they might have for other investors.  So far, here is what these investors shared:

Larry MacDonald’s portfolio

Dividend Ninja portfolio 

Big Cajun Man portfolio

Here is what I asked The Dividend Guy a few weeks ago and what he kindly shared back:

1. Describe your investing goals in one or two sentences:

My investing goal is to build up a core portfolio of strong companies that continue to increase their dividends on a yearly basis with the sole purpose of providing me with a stream of passive income upon my “retirement” in 15-25 years.   In addition to my core portfolio, I aim to pick a few underpriced companies and hold them until they reach their fair value. These picks include companies such as Seagate Technology (STX) a few years ago and Apple (AAPL) when it reached the $400 level.

2. Describe your investing strategy that helps you fulfill your goals in one or two sentences:

I focus on strong dividend payers that demonstrate potential growth in sales, earnings and dividend payouts. It is crucial for me that the company I select will not only pay and increase its dividend but will also increase in share value due to overall business growth.  I look primarily at the past 5 years for trends in terms of sales, earnings and dividend payouts. Then, I look into the company’s financial statements and try to forecast its future.

3. List some of the investing products you own that help you with your investing strategy:

For tools, I currently use a paid subscription with ycharts. It’s probably the most powerful stock screener I’ve seen so far.  As far as free tools, I also use Bloomberg and Reuters to get financial information on various companies.  I’ve used several investing products over the past years but nothing was quite what I was looking for. This is why I decided to create my own investing product.  It is designed to provide high quality stock lists (for both Canadian and US investors) along with 8 different stock portfolios (from beginner to advanced, from conservative to growth investors). You can get more information about my own new product here.

4. What advice do you have for other investors based on what’s working with your approach?

For seasoned dividend investors:  don’t focus on current dividend yield. A higher than average dividend yield means there is likely a problem with the company.

For beginners:  read several resources of information before making decisions.  You can also read great investing blogs.  Don’t follow one guru; chances are you will lose money.  Aim for holding long term investments after developing your own financial plan.

If you’ve read the other investor profiles above you’ll see a theme emerge by now.  Time in the market and sticking with your investment plan is far more important than market timing.   The way The Dividend Guy invests reminds me of what Diane McCurdy said in her book:  How Much Is Enough?

“There are no rules for getting rich quick.  There are, however, rules for getting rich slowly.”

I want to thank The Dividend Guy for participating in my series what’s in your portfolio?  Stay tuned for more profiles in future blogposts.

Disclaimer:  The contents of this post are not recommendations for any individual investor but have been shared to educate readers and provide insight into how others are managing their portfolios.  My Own Advisor is not a financial professional.   Every reader is encouraged to seek help from a financial professional before making any important investment decisions.