Isolating and Capturing Dividend Growth With Ryan Ballantyne

In this episode of Strategic Investor Radio, host Charlie Wright interviews Ryan Ballantyne of Reality Shares, a San Diego-based asset management firm focused on dividends. Reality Shares issued its first ETF in December 2014 and won ETF.com’s Best New ETF Issuer award the following year. The firm also provides free ratings for 1,200 dividend-paying stocks at its website.

Mr. Ballantyne says he used to be a trader, but he sleeps much better at night since switching his focus to dividends. Dividends are real, he insists, adding “you can’t fake a dividend.” Regardless of who wins the presidential election or whatever else happens, Apple’s dividend policy is unlikely to be affected, according to Ballantyne. He also points out that companies like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Johnson & Johnson didn’t cut their dividends in the wake of the financial crisis; and recent dividend hikes by Qualcomm and Home Depot have been enough to offset dividend cuts by energy firms in the S&P 500.