Dating back to medieval falconry, the proverb “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” suggests that one should be thankful for the sure thing rather than boastful gambling on the spectacular.

That theme of modesty over hubris has also been an important one within portfolio management. One might rephrase it as “a dividend in hand is worth two expensive growth stories.”

Investors’ guidelines regarding the basics of building wealth seem distorted by the current speculative period. As investors have done during other late-cycle and speculative periods, they are taking spectacular portfolio risk and ignoring the power of compounding dividends.

It might be an appropriate time to remember the proverb. Investors seem universally focused on “AI” which seems eerily similar to the “.com” stocks of the Technology Bubble and the “tronics” craze of the 1960s. Meanwhile, we see lots of attractive, admittedly boring, dividend-paying themes….Read More