Dividends, Growth or Both

The two-year-long vertiginous roller-coaster ride may have driven investors to safer and more stable investment destinations. Or so would suggest the steady stream of recent media articles that seem to place more-than-moderate focus on dividend stocks. Dividend funds, he says, have benefited more from a general desire for income in a low-yield environment. "I don't think it's so much a growth stocks versus dividend stocks [debate]."

The need for comfort in these volatile times is what it's about, says Serge G. Pepin, head of investments, BMO Investments Inc. "Over the last year, there's been more comfort with dividend-paying stocks rather than the growth stocks because of market volatility." The aging population is also driving investors toward dividend stocks. "Baby boomers are retiring, or are near retirement, and are looking for a stream of income, so yield is becoming increasingly important," says Pepin. "I think it is most definitely a real shift, not a passing fad."

Source: Advisor.ca

Related Articles:

• Who is Ben Grossbaum and Why Should We Listen to Him?
• What Would Warren Buffett Do?
• Increasing Dividend Yield Part IV: Bonds
• Six Great Dividend Stocks, But...
• Yield on Cost: Measuring for Success