Hello
I am interested in the idea of trying to set up a portfolio that has a few objectives and I wonder if it is possible
I would like my to experience less volatility than the wider market. Should I just search for lower beta shares?
I would value income over growth - so a good yield and steady dividend history.
Any advise and screen pointers would be appreciated.
Thanks
Hello Weedubbya, In the two years I've been with Stockopedia (is it really two years already?) I have found the Authors Ben Hobson & Ed Croft articles about portfolio & screens interesting. One you may want to look at for a start if you haven't already is Ed Croft's 'High Return from Low Risk - Van Vliet - a book review and recommendation.'
Low volatility ETF investors are quite well served - not sure how many also have a focus on dividends but if income is required simply arrange to sell some of the ETFs as and when needed. The attached article from Fidelity US discusses the topic and names a few low vol ETF candidates in different target sectors.
https://www.fidelity.com/viewp...
Given the objective of low vol/decent income stream, I’d also be inclined to look at a portfolio of U.K. investment trusts which will give you good diversification (one protection against volatility) often at a discount to NAV although make sure you look under the bonnet at what they hold/what their investment policies are as many of the best performing ones have high exposures to US Tech which might be expected to be more volatile if and when a future shake out comes.
Gus.
One really good option for building a low volatility income portfolio is to utilise investment trusts. This has been a key area of research for me this year and I have a shortlist of 30 or so ITs, including REITs and other alternative assets, that would generate a combined income of 4-6%. Seeing as it is my last day on the old site, I will share that shortlist here later today if there is interest. Alternatively, there is a single trust that does it for you BMO Managed Portfolio Trust (LON:BMPI) - a fund of funds that invests only in other investment trusts and yields just over 4%, paid quarterly and iirc, around 10 consecutive years of dividend growth and currently trading close to par.
Cheers
Simon
I had a little trouble posting a table here (even though I am such an expert on the old site - lol!), so I have created a new page on my website in order to share my research/ideas of a low volatility, diversified income portfolio containing only investment trusts:
http://shareknowledge.blog/investment-trust-dividend-ideas/
I hope others find it useful and all comments are welcome, especially if I have included something that should have an extra health warning.
Cheers
Simon
Last trading day for the old site, such a shame as that worked perfectly for me unlike the new site. So many problems with it.
Hi Weedubbya
If you want to construct a screen on Stockopedia, then you should include a requirement about the "RISK RATING". For example, if you exclude both the Highly Speculative, and the Speculative risk ratings, then this will mean that the results of the screen will be less volatile than the wider market. Whether this will improve or reduce your returns is a more complicated question.
You can also include in your screen other requirements relating to the dividend. If you type "dividend" into the "Select Metric" field, then you can investigate different ways of meeting your objectives.
I find that the best way to set up a screen is to try a few different ideas and keep changing the screen until you are happy with it. Keep an eye on how changes to your screen affect the number of shares which meet your criteria. I try to arrive at a screen which selects between 5 and 50 shares for me to look at in a bit more detail.
Good luck.
