Investment Goals for 2012

As the new year starts, instead of resolutions, I've decided to set some investment goals for 2012.  The investment objectives relating to my portfolio management are outlined below.

1. Get Rid of Non-Dividend Growers
Having previously followed other investment philosophies before experiencing the fantastic results of dividend growth investing, I have a couple of non-dividend growers left in my portfolio. My goal by the end of 2013 is to rid myself of all stocks in companies that have failed to increase their dividend in the last 12 months. Specifically, I'll target exiting such companies as Power Financial and Transalta unless they re-commit to increasing their dividend regularly.

2. Increase my Dividend Income and Total Portfolio Value by 25%
In 2012, I managed to increase dividend income by 45% while increasing my total portfolio value by 34%. My goals for 2013 are more modest, as I won't have the proceeds of the gain on the sale of my condo to invest, and I also have a wedding to pay for. Having said that, by re-investing my current dividend income, making modest monthly transfers of new funds into my portfolio, and focusing on high quality dividend growth companies, my 25% targets are definitely achievable in 2013.

3. Increase my Non-Canadian Investment Holdings from 20% to 25%
As per my last post, I'm having an increasingly difficult time finding solid companies with a long history of dividend growth in Canada. Although I'm limited by how much I can contribute to my self-directed RRSP, I feel there is an opportunity to divert some funds currently invested in Canadian banks and telecoms (my two heaviest sectors) into foreign companies. I'm also going to commit to examining if foregoing the 15% with-holding tax on dividends from US companies might be worth it in the long-term to add international diversity to my TFSA.

In addition to the above investment goals, I also plan to write at least one blog post per week. I'm finding these posts help me sort out my thoughts on various companies and provide a different perspective from my normal investment research.

Here's wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous 2013!