For over 30 years, I tried several different investing strategies, as suggested by various financial experts and advisors, however my results were always disappointing. In 2010 I implemented a dividend investing strategy, with the objective of maximizing my annual dividend income. The strategy requires a minimum of my time, is stress free, achieves predictable results and, most importantly, achieves much more dividend income than most managed mutual funds or exchange traded funds.   

The 10 Canadian public companies listed on this table are the only companies I have held in my portfolio since I implemented a dividend investing strategy in 2010 and continue to hold at the present time (March, 2025). The only reason I would consider selling shares in one of these companies is if I see compelling evidence that the company might stop growing their dividend payments, or if I find a company that has much better prospects than one of my current holdings. 

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I have never held any other types of investments in my portfolio, such as preferred shares, shares in foreign companies or fixed income investments such as GICs, T-Bills or Bonds. 

My Results

​It is certainly worthwhile to have a simple investing strategy, but only if you achieve outstanding returns.

The adjacent chart shows the dividend income generated each year, to the end of 2024, for every $100 invested in my dividend investing portfolio in 2010. For comparison, I have also shown the annual dividend that would have been generated each year if I had invested $100 in the iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index exchange traded fund (XIU), which emulates the S&P/TSX 60 Composite Index.​

For example, $100 invested the 10 companies in my portfolio had an average yield of 4.20% in 2010, so that the cash dividend paid in that year on every $100 investment was $4.20, while the same $100, had it been invested in XIU, would have paid a dividend of $2.50. By the end of 2024 (15 years later) the same $100 invested in my portfolio paid a cash dividend of $18.30, while the dividend paid by XIU had only grown to about $6.25. 

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In the case of XIU, which pays an annual distribution, these distributions were assumed to have been reinvested back in the portfolio each year, but no new funds were added nor were funds withdrawn. Similarly in the case of my dividend investing portfolio, all dividend payments were reinvested each year, but no new funds were added or withdrawn. 

There are two reasons why the cash dividends paid into my focus investing portfolio were higher as compared to the dividends paid by XIU:

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1) The 10 companies in my portfolio were selected because they had a relatively high dividend yield (4.2%) when purchased in 2010, as compared to the dividend yield for XIU (2.5%) in that same year.

2) The 10 companies in my portfolio grew their dividends at an average rate of 10.3% per year, from 2010 to 2024, per year. In comparison, the approximately 60 companies in XIU grew their dividend at an average rate of about 6.3% per year during the same period.  

The market prices of the companies in both portfolios fluctuated significantly during these years, in response to Mr. Market's ever changing and unpredictable mood swings. These price gyrations caused the total value (share price times the number of shares) of the portfolios to fluctuate signficantly. These fluctuations in the market value of the companies in my portfolio were never of concern because the changes in share prices had no effect on the dividends paid by the companies held in my portfolio, and I had no intention to sell any of them, as long as their future dividend payments appeared secure. In fact, significant drops in the market price of one or more of my favourite companies, presented an opportunity to purchase more shares if the market price fell below the fair share price. ​​​