The topic of "Why Dividends Are Irrelevant And Don't Matter" was posted recently by a famous local YouTuber which has once against stirred up lots of emotion online judging by the comments left on his video...haha. He has over 100K of subscribers. What he says is true in theory but is just bullsh*** in reality as there is simply no stock market with perfect information in terms of valuation of stocks being traded by buyer and seller. This was also covered in my Accounting Theory module decades ago. According to one school of thought, dividends are irrelevant so that the amount of dividend paid has no effect on the valuation of a firm. Also share price will drop by the same amount after the dividends are being declared.
1. MODIGLIANI AND MILLER ("MM") HYPOTHESIS:
The crux of the MM position on the irrelevance of dividend is the arbitrage argument. Arbitrage refers to entering simultaneously into two transactions which exactly balance or completely offset each other.
The two transactions here are the acts of paying out dividends and raising external funds. When dividends are paid to the shareholders, the market price of the share will decrease. What is gained by the investors as a result of increased dividends will be neutralised completely by the reduction in the market value of shares.
2. Why Dividend Strategy Adopters Are Always Presumed to be Stupid or Adopting an Inferior Approach?
First and foremost, I do not understand why people keep on posting such topics to whack dividend investing. Of course, all dividend investors know that fundamental of a company are important and that one cannot just invest in a company with the highest yield in dividends to determine good or bad companies.
3. Thoughts on Dividend Investing
I will just write a short paragraph here as there are already many posts and online materials available on what are some of the good side of dividend investing. For example, the past 2 years of SREITs Bear market that hammered their prices to crazy low means that if you sell away your REITs to buy into other form of assets due to a change in your diversification & concentration review, you will not be able to enjoy the recent strong rally in their prices after the rate cut. The dividends being declared will help investors to use them for investment into other asset classes while retaining ownership of one's REIT holding to wait for a recovery from the bear market.
Parting Thoughts
If you believe that growth investing approach such as investing in companies like Tesla that pays little or zero dividends, then go ahead. It's a free world...do what one likes lor. But don't discount another person strategy due to one's own blind spot.
This is not the first time I seen this kind of post by the above mentioned You-Tuber. He also has another group channel with other finance influencers (think it is called the "Bagholders Pod") which has also launched similar anti-dividend investing content this year to generate views.
I totally feel you. I have also mentioned that there are many investment strategies, if an individual doesn't like one strategy, probably it's just because he/she is unable to appreciate the beauty of that strategy... But dividend investing still bears the brunt of these attacks, and yes, they like to view us as dumb axx... It's depressing...
ReplyDeleteBFIRE
Hi Bro BF, good to see you! Yup...fully agree with you...there are many investment strategies out there. That Kelvin guy really jialet....think he is full time working on YouTube. He has to constantly keep thinking of new video ideas in order to keep his subscribers entertained on his channel and also need the views by stirring controversies.
DeleteI used to subscribe to his channel but no longer these days as I think he too commercial liao...haha.
i will be happy if everyone else buy the tech shares and leave an open field for my dividend investing
ReplyDeleteHi Mate, that's a good one....haha.
DeleteHi Blade, totally agree with you that one should not discount dividend investing.
ReplyDeleteI believe many people bash dividend investing as they are under the impression that dividend investors simply prioritise yield above all. Reality is that every decision has its nuances, and I believe most investors will not blindly go into dividend stocks just for the yield. If the management is able to achieve a higher rate of risk-adjusted return when cash is with the company, I have no doubt typical dividend investors would have no qualms with investing in what are deemed as growth stocks.
Many stocks are trading at below NAV as well, dividends allow investors to realise the business' cash at a 1:1 ratio despite market sentiment as well.
Many more reasons why dividend investing can appeal to someone...
Hi Bro PL, long time no see...haha....how are you doing? Still very busy these days?
DeleteVery well said on all the above points. I think these days dividend investors actually adopt a mix of approaches also as you said. We are all definitely not some simpletons who just think that whatever pays out the most dividends/distributions considered best for us and discount other business that do not pay out dividends/distributions.
Hi Blade!
DeleteYep, getting busier and busier as the days go... balancing learning driving, courses and work! But overall doing great! Won't be able to post too much though, maybe 1 or 2 short posts before year end.
Dividends reduce the idle cash with the company as well, more of our dollars going into productive assets.
How is everything on your side?
Hi Bro PL, wonderful that you are doing quite a number of personal developments from various courses! As for me, I am not too bad....just that been busy lately from work and transition to new owner which took over my company.
DeleteYou take care and have a great week ahead!
Ah yes, saw your earlier post about it, hope the transition goes smoothly!
DeleteYou take care and have a great week ahead too Blade!