Interview with Jean-Louis

Jean-Louis is contributing member since May 8, 2013 on dividendes.ch. Concerned about monetary risk and tax aspects, he looks for growing dividend stocks that are outside the usual American framework. He is interested in Swiss stocks of course, but also in European stocks. His analyses are always very detailed and bring a different perspective to the site. Thank you Jean-Louis for your relevant articles and for taking the time to answer my questions.

Why did you decide to write for dividendes.ch?

Writing allows me to do in-depth stock analyses, forces me to present my reasoning and thus develop my knowledge! If these analyses can interest someone else, then that's great. Moreover, US dividend-oriented stocks are widely covered by multiple blogs, which is not the case for Swiss stocks. So I focus on these in particular. It's also a hobby.

What do you like about growing dividends?

In particular, the prudent and rational nature of the strategy. On the one hand, this strategy focuses on good quality stocks, on the other hand it reduces uncertainty by targeting the most predictable part of the return on investment, namely the dividend rather than the price variation. The long-term perspective and the "self-feeding" by reinvesting dividends in other stocks are other aspects that I appreciate.

Two aspects still pose a problem for me in applying the strategy to North American stocks: the gradual devaluation of the US dollar against my reference currency (the Swiss franc) and the non-recoverable portion of the withholding tax on the dividend (i.e. 15%). These two factors lead me to look at stocks whose companies are located in other countries (for example in Great Britain) as well as stocks listed in other currencies such as Danish kroner (for example Novo Nordisk) or Norwegian kroner (for example Statoil).

How did you come to follow this strategy?

I have been interested in the stock market for a few years. After reading books such as "Secrets to Winning in the Stock Market" by Stan Weinstein, "Bollinger Bands" by John Bollinger or "Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders" by Curtis M. Faith - three books that I do not recommend! - and having tried investing in stocks through a simulation on the Boursorama website, I discovered a multitude of North American blogs as well as dividendes.ch. I quickly became interested in the strategy of increasing dividends as well as the analysis of financial fundamentals. After a few months, I tried writing articles, particularly stock analyses.

How long have you been investing in the stock market?

Since June 2012. I invest as my savings allow and as I identify interesting opportunities.

Why did you decide one day to invest your money in stocks?

Because savings sitting in an account earn almost nothing and real estate prices between Geneva and Lausanne are inaccessible (at least for the moment). Investing in stocks is a way to increase these savings and possibly become a property owner a little faster or build up a source of additional income for travel, leisure activities, etc.

Do you remember your first purchase?

The first stock I bought was UBS. I held it for a few weeks and quickly sold it at a profit. I was afraid that the price would fall again! The other stocks I initially bought (Novartis, Roche, Nestlé) turned out to be interesting in terms of dividends, so I still have them in my portfolio. I think I entered the market at a favorable time; I expect to experience bear markets soon.

As an investor, did you experience the bursting of the internet bubble and the subprime crisis? What memories do you have of them today and what did you learn from them?

I was not investing in the stock market at that time. However, what I know about these two crashes pushes me to move towards stocks offering a dividend yield rather than stocks (often more volatile) where price differences are the only way to make the investment profitable.

What do you do for a living? Do you have a job or are you already a rentier?

I am professionally active and have no intention of becoming a rentier, at least that is not my current goal.