Looking for steady income? Consider these dividend investment trusts

These dividend investment trusts could offer safe, predictable, and growing income.

| More on:

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

When investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in.

Read More

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of personal advice. Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposed to currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing, which may affect the value of the investment in sterling terms. You could lose money in sterling even if the stock price rises in the currency of origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange rate charges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection as in the UK.

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool’s Premium Investing Services. Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. Learn More.

For investors who have come to rely on equity income funds for safe, predictable, and growing income, investment trusts could hold an advantage over unit trusts and other open-ended funds.

Even during the recent financial crisis, when many companies were forced to cut their dividends or even stopped payouts altogether, many investment trusts managed to continue to increase their shareholder payouts. As such, there are a number of trusts with multi-decade-long track records of rising payouts today.

Why?

This is because investment trusts, unlike many open-ended funds, are not required to pay out all of the dividends generated by their underlying equity portfolios. They can hold back up to 15% of the dividend income they earn to supplement payments to shareholders in leaner years, smoothing out their dividend payments over the long term.

And following a rule change in 2012, investment trusts now have even more flexibility. They are even allowed to fund dividends out of capital returns, meaning that should their revenue reserves run out, they can sell some of their investments to make dividend payments.

Inflation-beating dividend growth

The £1bn-plus Bankers Investment Trust (LSE: BNKR) has one of the longest track records of consecutive years of dividend increases, with 50 years under its belt, according to data from the AIC.

Although shares in the investment trust yield just 2.2%, a major attraction of Bankers is its dividend growth. Not only does it plan to raise dividends each year, but it is targeting inflation-beating regular dividend growth of more than the rise in the Retail Price Index.

The trust also aims to achieve long-term asset growth in excess of the FTSE All-Share Index by means of its flexible investment approach and broadly diversified international equity portfolio. Big multinationals dominate its portfolio, with BP (1.8%), Apple (1.7%), British American Tobacco (1.5%), American Express (1.5%), and American Tower (1.4%) being its top five positions.

Performance figures for the past five years are encouraging as shares in the fund delivered a total return of 123%, easily beating its benchmark index performance of just 63%.

Diverse range of investments

Caledonia Investments (LSE: CLDN) became the latest trust to reach the impressive milestone of 50 years of consecutive dividend increases earlier this year.

Unlike Bankers, Caledonia is self-managed and owns a very diverse range of underlying investments. And one thing which really sets the it apart from many of its peers is that it invests around 27% of the value of its portfolio value in unquoted companies, which gives those trusting it with their cash exposure to a sector which is generally reserved for private equity investors.

Despite its strong dividend growth record, Caledonia trades at a rather big discount to its net asset value (NAV). Although this is partly due to the difficultly in valuing its unlisted equity investments, recent moves made by the fund manager should allay some of the concerns.

The fund recently sold down some of its unquoted investments, including a £197m stake in Park Holidays, in order to realise value for shareholders. And with the proceeds of the sale, it paid a special dividend of 100p per share in August, demonstrating that it is a shareholder-friendly fund.

At its current share price, Caledonia Investments currently trades at a 19% discount to NAV, with a regular dividend yield of 2%.

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

Jack Tang has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

More on Investing Articles

Investing Articles

Can the filthy cheap BP share price rocket in 2025? Here’s what the experts say

Harvey Jones took advantage of a tough year for the BP share price to add the stock to his portfolio…

Read more »

Investing Articles

I aim for a million buying just 10 or so shares!

Rather than investing in dozens of different companies, our writer is focussing on finding a few great ones to help…

Read more »

British Pennies on a Pound Note
Investing Articles

Has this 6% yielding penny share fallen too far?

After a testy few days for a penny share our writer holds, he revisits the investment case and weighs management…

Read more »

Investing Articles

These are the 3 top-yielding FTSE 250 stocks in my passive income portfolio

Mark Hartley explains why these three mid-cap stocks make good additions to his passive income portfolio, despite lacking the stability…

Read more »

Investing Articles

3 stock market pitfalls for beginners to look out for

When investing in the stock market it's easy to fall foul of these three big mistakes. Our writer considers some…

Read more »

Growth Shares

The second phase of AI’s started. I expect these UK shares to benefit

Edward Sheldon believes these UK shares could do well as artificial intelligence solutions are introduced within the corporate world.

Read more »

Investing Articles

How much will be needed to start buying shares in 2025?

Christopher Ruane explains why he thinks it need not cost the earth to start buying shares and details some considerations…

Read more »

Investing Articles

Can the Next share price defy the odds and grow another 25% next year?

Harvey Jones is in awe of the Next share price, which has shrugged off the troubles hitting retail for another…

Read more »