The U.S. equities showed modest gains, with the S&P 500 posting a gain of 0.7% last month and 12.6% year-to-date, driven by continued optimism on COVID 19 vaccines, but concerns on inflation. Also in Europe, major indices extended their gains. The S&P Europe 350 rose 2.70% in May, increasing the year-to-date return to 14%.
Our International Dividend Portfolio gained 1.95% in US$ and 0.2% in euros in April. Year-to-date the performance is now 12.34% in euros and 11.97% in USD for this Dividend Portfolio.
Since its inception in 2009, the portfolio has returned 381% in US$ and 449% in euros, excluding reinvesting dividends.
Last month’s performance dashboard shows again positive month with several stocks up. Top performers are L Óreal (+7.8%), 3M, and ADP. Year-to-date 11 stocks are already above a 9% return and this is excluding dividends received.
The chart below displays the portfolio value from 2020 to May 2021 in USD.
Dividend growth is a key element of our dividend portfolio. Last month (May) is always dividend season, especially in Europe. Seven stocks in the portfolio paid a dividend, adding $2425 to the portfolio value.
The dividend growth rate since inception is 7% and our International Dividend Portfolio has only experienced one dividend cut since the start (RD-Shell).
Getting started
We created the International Dividend Portfolio, so customers can follow a selection of international dividend stocks. Some investors could mirror the portfolio holding for holding, but others use the list to generate investment ideas and make sense of trends and risk/returns in their own portfolios.
If you decide to mirror the portfolio, our recommendation would be to invest equally across all holdings. This provides diversification between stocks, sectors, and currencies. Preferable the value of one individual stock is always below 5%-8%. Some holdings may appear undervalued and some overvalued, so we provide some guidelines/rules when to buy or not to buy. Please take into account that there is currency risk.
More details and the dividend stocks in portfolio are available to members.
