When it comes to investing, it’s important to reflect on past and current strategies. I created a passive income plan around a year ago, so I thought it would be worth assessing how it’s going. And I want to see whether I’d buy the same dividend shares today.
Keeping score
The income shares that I was targeting were Phoenix Group, Rio Tinto, Imperial Brands, Land Securities, and NatWest Group.
If I had invested £20,000 into this basket of shares, it would be worth around £25,400 today. This 27% gain also includes dividends. Note, that’s greater than the FTSE 100, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100.
Not bad for a bunch of ‘slow-growth’ dividend shares. In terms of passive income, I would have earnt around £1,600 in dividends.
At the time, this selection offered an 8% dividend yield. Today that has dropped to 6.9%. So what would I do now?
Although the original five shares could continue to offer a decent passive income, I’d make some small adjustments.
New passive income pick
First, I’d swap NatWest Group for HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA). NatWest currently has a forecast dividend yield of 5.6%, whereas HSBC offers 7.5%.
HSBC has also planned a $3bn share buyback programme this year. That’s up 50% from the $2bn announced the prior year.
Buying back shares can support a company’s share price as fewer shares are available to buy. Like Warren Buffett, I’m a big fan of share buyback programmes.
HSBC’s investment in its wealth departments should deliver more diversified revenue, even in a lower interest rate environment. Interest rates are likely to turn lower now as central banks attempt to support a slowing economy.
Its share price has lagged that of NatWest this year. Its exposure to a weakening economy in China hasn’t helped. In the near term, this could hold the shares back.
That said, I’m looking ahead at the coming year. A lagging share price and chunky dividend yield looks like an opportunity to me.
A mindful swap
Next, I’d remove Imperial Brands from last year’s list. Its share price has risen by 36% over the past year. This has resulted in the yield dropping from 8.6% to 6.5%.
The sector appears to be in favour due to its defensive characteristics. And the risk of removing this investment is that its share price could climb higher along its recent trend.
In its place, I’d add insurance giant Aviva. It currently offers a 7% dividend yield. This has managed to hold steady for several years.
There’s no guarantee it will continue to do so of course. Dividends come from profits, so I’d be on the lookout for any signs of economic slowdown.
That said, right now, this business is steadily growing and looks promising. In the first half of the year, pre-tax profits jumped by 50%. It enabled the company to raise its interim dividend by 7.2%.
Aviva also executed a £300m share buyback, and indicated that it intends to distribute regular returns to shareholders going forward.
To summarise, my new selection of passive income shares includes Phoenix Group, Rio Tinto, Aviva, Land Securities, and HSBC. Hopefully these picks will provide both chunky dividends and share price growth over the coming year too.
