5-Bullet Sunday

Another week has finished and we’re nearing the end of September. Time flies when you’re heaving fun!

And I’m having a lot of fun for sure. I really love analyzing stocks and this week I was able to share with you my analysis about Red Electrica and I analyzed Diageo PLC together with my buddy Engineer My Freedom.

Red Electrica Corporacion – Stock Analysis
Dividend Talk Podcast – Episode #15 – Diageo Stock Analysis

Episode 15 of the Dividend Talk podcast was almost reaching the full hour, so a bit longer than we prefer it to be. However, this is mainly due to all the great questions that we’re getting from you, the listeners.

Thank you for that 🙏, because we really love the engagement and it’s our goal to build and inspire the European investment community.

Having said that, enjoy today’s edition of 5-Bullet Sunday and as always, have a lovely remainder of the weekend!

5-Bullet Sunday is a weekly blog post with 5 topics that were on my mind this week related to Financial Independence and Dividend Growth Investing or something that just fed my curiosity. An overview of earlier posts can be found here

Quarterly Results – Heads-up and my Routine

Are you just as me ready for 10 PM CET at 30 September?

Most of us will quickly dive into their gSheets to track the monthly performance of their portfolio or if you’re like me, the Q3 performance of the portfolio. These are the typical questions that I ask myself kind of in the same order or priority

Has the cash flow from dividends increased compared to the quarter and the year before?
Which were the companies that increased their dividends?
How was my savings rate?
How has the total value of the portfolio performed?

At the same time I am planning my calendar to block the timeslots for earnings calls that I’d like to attend. Few companies that I will follow with special interest are:

Danone SA – I purchased quite a bit this year, so I will be eager to see if my understanding of the company stays confirmed
Royal Dutch Shell – How do the numbers look like with less dividends distributed to the shareholders?
ExxonMobil – Is the dividend safe?
Ahold Delhaize – How do the numbers look like after all the stockpiling from Q2. Were those numbers sustainable or a one-off?
Unilever NV – How has the summer which was influenced by Covid-19 impacted their sales? Less ice-creams?

All of this should give me the right focus for the upcoming weeks, because I expect it to be very busy. Especially because of the US elections which are heating up right now.

How does your quarterly routine look like as a retail investor? Would you advise me something additional to look into? I’m always open to improve my routine 👌

A single access point to EU company data?

The EU has launched a new Capital Markets plan to support the recovery of the European economy after Covid-19 impacted had a severe impact on it. The plan consists of the following three components:

Ensuring that the EU’s economic recovery is green, digital, inclusive and resilient by making financing more accessible for European companies, in particular SMEs;
Making the EU an even safer place for individuals to save and invest long-term;
Integrating national capital markets into a genuine EU-wide single market for capital.

There are 16 targeted measures which the EU is considering, but the below one really caught my attention:

Create a single access point to company data for investors

Does this mean that we will finally get a single overview of dividend history for all the companies that are listed in Europe?

I really hope so and I’ll try to figure out whom I can send our requirements so that the European Dividend Investment community is also considered and supported. Stay tuned! 😉

Attachment: a full quote from the Q&A which should excite every European Retail Investor

What measures are being put forward to make capital markets more attractive for retail investors?

Europe has one of the highest individual savings rates in the world. However, the level of retail investor participation in capital markets remains very low compared to other economies. This fails to serve the interests of people whose savings generate low or even negative real interest rates. It also deprives EU companies, and the EU economy in general, of much needed long-term investment. The individual investors who invest in the EU capital markets should, in many cases, be able to receive higher returns than is currently the case. At present, retail investors do not benefit sufficiently from the investment opportunities offered by capital markets and cannot adequately address their retirement needs.

Encouraging capital market investments from European households and savers can help meet the individual challenges posed by population ageing and low interest rates. It would allow people to build or protect their wealth and to meet their financing needs related to health, education and retirement.

Availability of deep and efficient capital markets can also contribute to the development of funding sources alternative to bank credit, therefore funneling money into other financial instruments that firms use to diversify their funding. This can help improve access to financing also for SMEs and benefit the real economy in general by enabling companies to invest and create jobs.

The new CMU Action Plan puts forward a number of measures that seek to enhance the financial literacy of retail investors in order to enable them to make better financial decisions and leverage the possibilities provided for by capital markets. It will assess and review the applicable rules in the area of inducements, meaning the practices that encourage individuals to buy a particular item, such as the promise of a price reduction. This will ensure that investors receive fair advice and comparable product information. It will seek to improve the level of professional qualifications of financial advisors as well as facilitate the monitoring of pension adequacy in Member States and seek to develop best practices in the area of pension systems.

AND

Another example is taxation. A significant burden in this area is caused by divergent, burdensome, lengthy and fraud-prone refund procedures for tax withheld in cases of cross-border investment. These procedures lead to considerable costs that dissuade cross-border investment where taxes on the return on investment need to be paid both in the Member States of the investment and of the investor, to be reimbursed only afterwards, after a lengthy and costly process. In order to lower costs for cross-border investors and prevent tax fraud, the Commission will propose a common, standardised, EU-wide system for withholding tax relief at source.

Kiva Campaign Update

Thank you all for leaving your comments to the articles 🙏 . It has resulted in 38 Euro already. Hence I made the first Kiva contribution as part of this “1 Euro to Kiva per Comment” campaign. You have been helping to improve someone’s life, even if it’s just a very small contribution in the grand scheme of things.

Having said that, this time I selected to lend the money to a person from Togo. Togo is a hard country to survive in and it’s ranked in the lowest 10-percentile of countries according to the IMF. It’s a country which is mainly dependent on agri-culture and the internal economy. Hence poverty seems to be at every corner.

Togo and its location on the African continent

There’s no particular reason for me to lend money to someone in Togo. It’s rather that I prefer to lend money to the underserved in one of the poorest countries in the world. This time I have lend money to Kossiwa who needs money to purchase 30 blouses, 25 dresses, and 40 skirts as inventory for her small business. You can read her story below.

Kossiwa’s story
Kossiwa is a married woman, 45 years old, and a mother. She sells secondhand clothing on foot around her neighborhood, stocking up on merchandise twice a week at the marketplace.

With this loan, Kossiwa plans to purchase secondhand blouses, dresses, and skirts. Her revenue from the sales will go towards supporting her household.

Once again, thank you for leaving your comments and to support a bigger cause 🙏

Disclaimer

I’m not a certified financial planner/advisor nor a certified financial analyst nor an economist nor a CPA nor an accountant nor a lawyer. I’m not a finance professional through formal education. I’m a person who believes and takes pride in a sense of freedom, satisfaction, fulfillment and empowerment that I get from being financially competent and being conscious managing my personal money. The contents on this blog are for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting, or legal advice. I can’t promise that the information shared on my blog is appropriate for you or anyone else. By reading this blog, you agree to hold me harmless from any ramifications, financial or otherwise, that occur to you as a result of acting on information provided on this blog.

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