The holiday season is in full swing, and 2019, with all its volatility, will finally come to a close in just over two weeks. If there’s one thing that this strange investment year has taught us, it would be the importance of diversifying your portfolio across a broad section of the market.
Fortunately, the market provides us with plenty of options to choose from to help make that selection process a little easier. Here are three suitable investment options for nearly any portfolio.
Do not adjust your portfolio — keep it steady!
Telus (TSX: T)(NYSE: TU) is an interesting pick for those investors looking for something a little bit different from the typical telecom. While Canada’s third-largest telecom does offer the typical subscription services that one would expect from Canada’s Big Three, Telus appeals to investors in several other ways.
One such example is Telus’s increasing presence in the healthcare segment. Telus is actively working with partners on enabling virtual healthcare technology solutions. This segment, which is still very much in its infancy, has the potential to be a major growth driver for Telus over the long term.
Finally, let’s talk about Telus’s dividend. The company offers a quarterly payout that currently works out to an appetizing 4.64% yield. Adding to that appeal is the fact that Telus has provided investors with handsome upticks to that dividend twice per year spanning over the past decade.
During that time, Telus’s dividend has more than doubled, making this Dividend Aristocrat a must-have for any income-seeking investor.
Another investment to put your portfolio on autopilot
Are you a client of insurance behemoth Manulife Financial (TSX: MFC)(NYSE: MFC)? If so, congratulations. You are one of every three Canadians that Manulife has as a customer.
That’s an incredible amount of business, which brings with it the fear of market saturation. To counter that, Manulife expanded aggressively into nearly every market in Asia, and the strategy has paid off immensely. Manulife’s Asia segment continues to realize double-digit growth during earnings season, accounting for over 80% of all new business growth across the company. By way of example, in the most recent quarter, that amounted to $430 million in new business, compared with a total of $96 million new business from both Canada and the U.S. segments.
In terms of a dividend, Manulife offers a quarterly dividend that boasts a respectable 3.92% yield that comes with a history of providing generous annual increases that goes back years. For example, over the past five-year period, those upticks have resulted in the dividend witnessing gains of 75%.
Keep the lights on to get paid
Perhaps one of the most lucrative and stable investments to make involves getting into the power business; specifically, I’m referring to Hydro One (TSX: H).
As the largest player in Ontario’s sprawling transmission network by a wide margin, Hydro One boasts what is likely the largest moat on the market. This is a key point that can’t be underestimated, particularly as a growing number of pundits now see some form of a market slowdown hitting the market within the next 12-18 months.
Unfortunately, Hydro One’s dominance in the market also earns it a reputation for being a prime target for regulatory watchdogs and politicians that have put the brakes on the company’s attempts at growth. One such example was the failed attempt to purchase U.S.-based Avista.
Still, with a handsome 3.73% yield and a defensive business model that will shine in any type of market, including Hydro One in nearly any portfolio makes perfect sense.
