Feature Article

First off, everything I said in last month’s Portfolio discussion about reliable dividend growth goes double now. Companies that have it will beat inflation and grow your wealth in coming years. Those that don’t won’t.

Korea Electric Power (Korea: 015760, NYSE: KEP) still hasn’t declared an annual dividend for payment next month. But the company is effectively priced for a zero payout, after announcing a record operating loss for 2021 and guidance for an even larger one this year.

Just when central banks were turning their attention to fighting inflation, the fog of war has descended on global stock markets. The invasion of a major wheat producer by a country with allegedly the world’s second most powerful military is plenty disruptive on its own. But so far as investment returns are concerned, the unprecedented and still escalating global sanctions on Russia are by far the main event. And with the ground shifting rapidly, it’s critical to be sure what we’re standing on is still solid.

On February 2, Conservative Holding Exelon Corp (NYSE: EXC) closed the long-awaited spinoff of its wholesale power generation and retail energy arm. Shareholders received one share of the new company, Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG), for every three Exelon. And I’ve added the stock to the Aggressive Holdings.

NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE: NEP) joined our Conservative Holdings in May 2016. Since then, its dividend has increased by 122 percent. That includes 15.1 percent over the last 12 months, which pushed the yield on our initial investment to nearly 10 percent.

Inflation is back. How long it stays at the official January rate of 7.5 percent depends on myriad, shifting factors. But so long as it’s here, it’s imperative to seek some level of protection against the relentless, corrosive impact on wealth.

Renewable energy stocks went from riches to rags last year. And the downside momentum has continued in 2022, as investor worries have built around the potential negative impact of supply chain disruption, rising commodity costs, a tight labor market and the stalling of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan.