The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor Canada and Dividend Investor Canada services have both beaten the market since their beginnings in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Here’s what sets these leading stock newsletters apart.
One of the primary goals of any investor who buys stocks should be to beat the broader market’s performance. But that’s no easy feat considering the S&P/TSX Composite Total Return index’s historical annual return of nearly 9%.
Yet both the Motley Fool Stock Advisor Canada and Motley Fool Dividend Investor Canada newsletters are beating the market since their respective launches in 2013 and 2017. From Stock Advisor Canada‘s inception, for example, its members have enjoyed an average return of over 20%, crushing the market by nearly 9 percentage points. And the average Dividend Investor Canada pick has climbed almost 6%, beating the (losing) market by just shy of 7% percentage points in the process (returns as of 6/15/2017).
But Stock Advisor Canada and Dividend Investor Canada have generated these strong returns using two separate investing methodologies. So what makes them different, and which stock newsletter is the best fit for you?
How Dividend Investor Canada aims to make you money
First, Dividend Investor Canada is led by advisor Bryan White, who previously worked on other unique Motley Fool services in the U.S. including Motley Fool ONE, Million Dollar Portfolio, and Stock Advisor. Together, Bryan and team have a primary goal through Dividend Investor Canada to find high-quality Canadian companies that can grow their dividends over time.
There’s no definitive guide for what makes an ideal Dividend Investor Canada stock. But the team does prioritize three ends: Wealth preservation, capital appreciation, and — just as its name implies — income.
Drilling down even further, Dividend Investor Canada hones its approach to dividend investing as follows:
- Dividend Investor Canada picks must pay a regular dividend. Across all recommendations, the team aims for an average yield near or above the S&P/TSX Composite average (some higher, some lower).
- Generic businesses won’t do. Dividend Investor Canada loves superior, differentiated companies with wide competitive moats, and those that offer “must-have” services and products.
- Seek “stealth value.” Dividend Investor Canada doesn’t just look for “value” or “growth” stocks, but rather wants to find “good companies whose potential isn’t quite appreciated or is the subject of temporary disdain.” Similarly, the team tries to finds moats that are less obvious and continuing to grow. This often means looking closely at underappreciated small-cap and mid-cap stocks.
- Partnering well, which means finding companies whose management teams have a track record of capable capital allocation.
- Considering less conventional dividends. For example, this can mean looking at “dividend compounders,” or companies that might currently pay a small dividend but have significant room to grow their payouts over time.
When all is said and done, Dividend Investor Canada harnesses this approach to provide members with one investment idea each month, ongoing coverage of its ideas in real time, weekly updates with a recap of the past week’s news, and an enviable message board community with some of the best investing conversations the internet has to offer. Dividend Investor Canada also maintains its own lists of Buy-rated stocks, representing companies whose shares it believes are attractive investments today.
Finally, in keeping with the Fool’s long-term investing methodologies, Dividend Investor Canada encourages members to own their stocks with a long-term mentality and avoid frequent trading. This is the best way to allow the magic of compounding returns to do its work.
How Stock Advisor Canada goes its own way
Meanwhile, Motley Fool Canada’s Chief Investment Advisor, Iain Butler, CFA, wears the hat of Lead Advisor of Stock Advisor Canada, where he leads a team of analysts in the pursuit of market-beating returns.
But rather than focus specifically on dividend-paying stocks, Stock Advisor Canada takes a broader look at the stocks across Canada and the U.S. with strong management teams and sustainable business strategies. To consistently accomplish that goal, the Stock Advisor Canada team embraces these seven principles:
- Buy Businesses, Not Tickers.This one is straight from the mouth of famed investor Peter Lynch, who generated 30% annual returns while at the helm of Fidelity’s Magellan mutual fund.
- Be a Lifetime Investor.We’re long-term investors who believe in capitalism and thriving industry. But we don’t just buy our stocks and forget about them. We keep tabs on them, follow the news, study the earnings reports, and strive to learn more about the industries.
- We believe in building a diversified portfolio.
- Fish Where Others Aren’t.We’re not interested in following the crowds. We are interested in thinking for ourselves, doing our own research, and making our own decisions.
- Check Emotions at the Door.We recognize that stocks will move up or down for a variety of reasons — and often these movements happen daily.
- Keep Score.We believe in accountability and have tracked our positions from the get-go. Day or night, you can find the performance of all of our picks on our online scorecard.
- Be Foolish and Have Fun.People are conditioned to believe that investing is too difficult for the average Joe saver — and that money issues are best left to the professionals. But we believe you can do it better than your broker — and we think you should have fun along the way.
As opposed to Dividend Investor Canada, the Stock Advisor Canada team offers two new stock recommendations each month (one Canadian and one U.S.). In addition, it provides sell recommendations as needed and its own monthly “Best Buys Now” list of timely investing opportunities taken from its pool of open recommendations. And, like Dividend Investor Canada, it maintains its own message board community bursting with stimulating investing conversations.
Start crushing the market today!
Whether you identify with Motley Fool Dividend Investor Canada’s dividend-centric approach, or instead share Motley Fool Stock Advisor Canada‘ wide-ranging mandate, both services offer compelling methodologies for any investor seeking to both consistently beat the market over the long term and continuously grow their understanding of the investing world.
Best of all, you can sign up for either — or both — at a special introductory rate right now. Rather than paying the usual price, take advantage of this offer and click here to pay as little as $149 per year for Motley Fool Dividend Investor Canada. Or you can click here to pay as little as $89 per year for Motley Fool Stock Advisor Canada. Either way, it could mark the beginning of your journey to life-changing wealth.
