• Anglo American: 14.08% dividend return
• BP: 8.69% dividend return
• Royal Dutch Shell:  7.59% dividend return
• WM Morrison: 7.51% dividend return
• HSBC: 6.11% dividend return

While these returns look fantastic in today’s current climate of low interest rates and investment returns, caution is well advised. For example, while from the above BP looks to have given a great dividend return of 8.69%, the selling price per share is around £3.20 at the time of writing.  10 months ago, however, the selling price was £4.80 so the value is down over 33%.  It is true that the markets in general are down over the last 12 months but this shows that caution still must always be taken even when investing in so-called blue chip companies.

The most important thing to do when looking at buying shares is spreading risk or ‘diversification’.  If a large enough spread is created this can improve your chances of getting a good performance and decent income without taking the hit of one or two underperforming companies.

Shares should definitely be looked at as long term investments (5 years plus) but buy selecting a portfolio that has the companies that consistently produce good dividend returns, an income can be enjoyed while the capital is invested for the long term.

Many of my clients do not want the pressure or hassle of selecting their own shares so a professional fund manager can be selected to do this for them – this usually incurs a cost of around 1-2% per annum but what can be achieved is expertise knowledge and experience alongside the benefit of pooling investments with thousands of others, creating a larger a pool of money to allow broader diversification and lower dealing costs.

In today’s financial climate it is essential you do everything you can to make sure your money is safe and secure so what you want to transpire in the future has the best chance of happening.