Last year, Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLU) returned almost 26 percent. The iShares Select Dividend ETF (NYSE: DVY), preferred by many advisors to holding individual stocks, did nearly as well at 22.6 percent.
Nonetheless, both ETFs badly lagged gains from our strategy of focusing on high quality individual stocks. Exhibit A: Conservative Holdings returned 35.1 percent for the year, Aggressive Holdings 31.2 percent and Top 10 DRIPs 36.5 percent.
Exhibit B: The top performer from the nearly 200 stocks in our Utility Report Card coverage universe beat the worst by an astronomical 186.5 percentage points. That follows a 171.5-point total returns gap in 2018 and a nearly 217-point difference in 2017.
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Smart investing. Taking advantage of real opportunities and not fads (and knowing the difference). Finding the companies and stocks that will deliver for the long haul, so investing lets you live instead of investing turning into your life. Roger Conrad has dedicated his career to these principles—and that’s what Conrad's Utility Investor delivers.
Roger's favorite utilities for investors seeking superior price appreciation by taking calculated risks.
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Warning: Falling Dividends.
Roger's current take and vital statistics on more than 200 essential-services stocks.