In September 2017, I’ve received slightly over $100K as a result of the commuted value of my pension plan. I decided to invest 100% of this money into dividend growth stocks. Each month, I publish my results. I don’t this to brag, I do this to show you it’s possible to build a portfolio during an all-time high market. The market will crash… eventually. In the meantime, I rather cash some juicy dividends!
Portfolio holdings
Numbers are as at April 2nd 2018:
Canadian portfolio (CAD)
| Company Name | Ticker | Market Value |
| Alimentation Couche-Tard | ATD.B.TO | $4,927.80 |
| Andrew Peller | ADW.A.TO | $7,548.85 |
| Royal Bank | RY.TO | $5,923.80 |
| Canopy Growth Corp | WEED | $5,921.85 |
| Enbridge | ENB.TO | $4,343.90 |
| Fortis | FTS.TO | $4,320.35 |
| Lassonde Industries | LAS.A.TO | $5,355.00 |
| Magna International | MG.TO | $4,898.60 |
| Shopify | SHOP.TO | $6,306.40 |
| Cash | $938.12 | |
| Total | $50,484.67 |
I am particularly proud of my Canadian portfolio results for the first 3 months of the year. First, my portfolio shows a total return of 3.3% since the beginning of the year (as at March 30th) while the XDV (Canadian Select Dividend ETF) shows a total return of -7.03% and the XIU (S&P/TSX 60 ETF) a total return of -4.63% ytd. In other words, my portfolio is crushing it in this beginning of the year.
Ironically, a big part of my return has been realized by the only two non-paying dividend stocks of the group: Canopy Growth and Shopify. My best performing stock in this portfolio remains Andrew Peller at over +50% stock price returns since I bought it. Andrew Peller was actually part of my top 3 Canadian holdings mentioned to my DSR readers back in December.
U.S. portfolio (USD)
| Company Name | Ticker | Market Value |
| Apple | AAPL | $5,167.08 |
| Disney | DIS | $4,439.70 |
| Gentex | GNTX | $5,341.55 |
| Hasbro | HAS | $3,852.50 |
| Honeywell | HON | $4,557.76 |
| Lazard | LAZ | $5,268.30 |
| Microsoft | MSFT | $5,311.20 |
| Starbucks | SBUX | $4,780.40 |
| Texas Instruments | TXN | $5,032.50 |
| United Parcel Services | UPS | $3,842.08 |
| Visa | V | $5,919.50 |
| Cash | $977.89 | |
| Total | $54,490.46 |
My results are not as impressive as the Canadian side, but my U.S. portfolio (+2.7%) beat both the VIG (Dividend Appreciation ETF) (-0.56%) and SPY (S&P 500 ETF) (-1.00%) by 3-4%. This time, I can link my performance to a good selection of stocks that globally performed well. Hasbro took a hit following the Toys’R’Us fiasco and poor marketing with the latest Star Wars action figures (they were launched 2 months before the movie hit the screen). Still, the company is solid and will perform in the future. This just opens the door for investors to grab shares at great price!
Breaking $1,000 Dividend Received Since Inception!
While I didn’t do any transactions this month (I’m currently building cash in the account!), I’ve crossed an important milestone in March. My total dividend received since I started this portfolio crushed the $1,000 mark!
I took me about 3 months to fully build my portfolio and I now reap the benefit of this strategy. While some investors are wondering how much they are going to lose in this semi-bear market, I wonder when I will hit the $2,000 total dividend received mark! This should happen somewhere around August or September. When I built my portfolio, I didn’t focus on the dividend yield, but put my attention to dividend GROWTH. I can see this strategy pay over the long haul.
Now let’s take a look at how much I received this month!
Dividend income: $278.51 CAD
This is already my second month with more than $200 in dividend. For the first time (I think!), my Canadian dividends are more important than my U.S. payments. Thanks to the addition of two high yielder (ENB and FTS), I’ve received over $150 from my Canadian portfolio.
Canadian Holdings payouts: $158.27 CAD
- Fortis: $42.08
- Enbridge: $73.81
- Lassonde Industries: $12.81
- Magna International: $29.57
U.S. Holding payouts: $93.21 USD
- Visa: $10.50
- UPS: $33.67
- Microsoft: $25.20
- Honeywell: $23.84
Total payouts: $278.51 CAD
*I used a USD/CAD conversion rate of 1.29.
Since I started this portfolio in September 2017, I have received a total of $1,100.67 in dividend.
Final thoughts
During my last dividend report, I mentioned that I wanted to call my broker and start dripping. Well, I failed at my objective! I was so focused on building my company, taking 1 week of vacation with my family and another one in Guatemala with my wife that I completely forgot about it!
Then, my April’s objective is the same; start dripping my favorite holdings! It’s a good thing I have this blog, it forces me to take care of my investment seriously!
The post March Dividend Income Report – Breaking $1,000 Dividend Received Since Inception! appeared first on The Dividend Guy Blog.
