Investors may find better opportunities in dividend-paying companies than growth stocks, argues Newton IM’s Nick Clay.

Investors may find better opportunities in dividend-paying companies than growth stocks, argues Newton IM’s Nick Clay.
In Q3, global dividends set a record 5.1% growth, but Asia-Pacific ex-Japan dropped 8.8% — and corresponding funds followed.
Don’t hold strong concerns about tariffs, says Robert Horrocks, chief investment officer of Matthews Asia.
Asia led globally with the highest dividend payouts year-on-year in Q2, with Singapore and Hong Kong dividends soaring.
Rising interest rates and inflation have shifted the dividend opportunity to the financial and energy sector rather than traditional defensive stocks, said Thomas Buckingham, London-based portfolio manager at JP Morgan Asset Management.
Dividend-paying stocks in Europe can be a steady income stream, but they come with caveats and cautions, according to Will James, UK-based investment director for European equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments.
High dividends are tempting, but they are not the place to look for a steady income stream, according to Kotaro Miyata, M&G Investments’ London-based investment specialist for global dividend strategies.
FSA compares the strategy of two exchange-traded funds, the BMO Asia High Dividend ETF and the DB x-trackers MSCI AC Asia Ex Japan High Dividend Yield Index Ucits ETF.
Sherwood Zhang, co-manager of the Matthews China Dividend Fund, finds wide variance among sectors that pay dividends and those that don’t.
Companies in China paid lower dividends in 2016, but Japan and Hong Kong payouts rose, according to a report by Henderson Global Investors.
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