Another quarter has come and gone. And another quarter of where my best-laid plans of reviewing my holdings in this account didn’t quite happen the way I had hoped. Yet, despite that lack of direct attention, the former iPIG Portfolio performed reasonably well.
It appears the account’s Sept. 30, 2023 value is $117,748.90, which is down about 3.9% from its quarter closing value in June of 2023. That compares slightly unfavorably with the S&P 500 tracker SPY, which delivered about a -3.2% return with dividends reinvested.
Still, on the dividend front – the former iPIG portfolio’s key original design criteria – the account performed admirably. If I’m reading my broker’s reports correctly, the account received $837.01 in dividend-like income, up around 7.1% from the $781.78 it received in the same quarter last year. That compares favorably to the 4.3% year-on-year inflation reported in the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index report.
By contrast, the dividend that SPY declared in the Sept. quarter of 2023 appears to be slightly smaller than the dividend it declared in the Sept. quarter of 2022. That ETF’s dividends aren’t always smooth, so I’m not quite ready to declare a decline there, yet…
Of the 27 companies paying dividends to the account in the quarter, 21 paid higher dividends than they did in the same quarter last year, 5 paid flat dividends, and 1 was not in the portfolio at the time it went ex-dividend on its payment for the same quarter last year. (For reference, though, its dividend is higher than the comparable quarter last year.) There were no decreases or eliminations vs. the same quarter last year.
Using dividends as a signaling device, the 5 that paid flat dividends are the ones I should probably focus on first for a review, should I actually get around to it this upcoming quarter. With the holidays (read: vacation time) and use-it-or-lose-it vacation days (read: more vacation time) coming up, there’s a chance I’ll actually get around to at least starting a review this upcoming quarter.
Overall, I’m reasonably satisfied with the portfolio’s performance, and with one quarter to go, I remain optimistic on its trajectory when it comes to the possibility of besting inflation when it comes to receiving more in dividend-like payments in 2023 than it did in 2022.
Regards,
-Chuck
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