Be upfront and get the bad news out of the way – advice that no PR person or politician has ever felt confident enough to follow. So the dividend distribution from the Bearbull Income Portfolio for the first half of 2022 was 10 per cent lower than 2021’s first half (see table). It was also the lowest level for the first half since 2012, which means it was below 2020’s Covid-affected payout.
| Bearbull Income Portfolio distributions | |||||
| Year ended | Payout (£) | Change | Fund yield (%) | Cumulative payout (£) | |
| 2018 | 1st half | 6,396 | -9% | 4.1 | 182,223 |
| 2nd half | 9,186 | 10% | 6.3 | 191,409 | |
| Total | 15,581 | 1% | 5.2 | ||
| 2019 | 1st half | 7,882 | 23% | 5.5 | 199,290 |
| 2nd half | 8,719 | -5% | 5.9 | 208,009 | |
| Total | 16,601 | 7% | 5.7 | ||
| 2020 | 1st half | 5,223 | -34% | 4.5 | 213,233 |
| 2nd half | 5,290 | -39% | 4.7 | 218,522 | |
| Total | 10,513 | -37% | 4.6 | ||
| 2021 | 1st half | 5,342 | 2% | 4.1 | 223,865 |
| 2nd half | 7,639 | 44% | 5.5 | 231,504 | |
| Total | 12,982 | 23% | 4.8 | ||
| 2022 | 1st half | 4,821 | -10% | 3.4 | 236,325 |
| Source: Investors' Chronicle | |||||
To sugar the pill a bit – the timing of payments meant there was just one first-half distribution from Real Estate Credit Investments (RECI), so there should be three in the second half. The snafu at insurance specialist R&Q Insurance (RQIH) – formerly Randall & Quilter – which cost 2021’s final dividend, was an event way out on the fuzzy end of the distribution curve so could it have been anticipated? Reverse engineer these two and the payout would have been 5 per cent higher than 2021.