Anniversaries are unusual things. At first, they feel weighty. Then they become an exercise in indistinguishable number-counting. Finally – assuming the subject is still alive, or the memorial is deemed worthy enough – they are imbued with renewed significance.
Although it is sometimes lost amid the din of markets, one subject worth celebrating is consistency. Many congratulations, then, to Scottish and American (SAIN), which recently notched up its 50th consecutive year of dividend increases. According to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), that puts the Baillie Gifford-managed investment trust in an elite group of 10 to have achieved the same feat, and among a 20-strong clique with more than two decades of increases.
The reward for this consistency? For the so-called ‘dividend heroes’, an average discount to net asset value of 11.6 per cent, per the AIC. So much for respecting the elders.