The World’s Most Peaceful Countries 2020 – U.S. Rank 121

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The Institute for Economics and Peace based in Sydney, Australia published the Global Peace Index 2020 report that ranked 163 countries and territories of the world based on their level of peacefulness. All the countries were evaluated and assigned a Global Peace Index (GPI) which was used to rank them. From the report:

The Global Peace Index (GPI) measures more than just the presence or absence of war. It captures the absence of violence or the fear of violence across three domains: Safety and Security, Ongoing Conflict, and Militarisation. Both the Ongoing Conflict and Safety and Security domains recorded deteriorations, with only the Militarisation domain recording an improvement. Of the 23 GPI indicators, eight recorded an improvement, 12 had a deterioration, while the remaining three indicators did not change in the past year.

The most peaceful country in the world is Iceland followed by New Zealand and Portugal. Canada took the sixth spot.

The U.S. was ranked at 121 ahead of Burkina Faso and South Africa. Mexico ranks worse than the US. All the developed European countries were ahead of the U.S. in this ranking.

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Source: The Global Peace Index 2020 – Measuring Peace in a Complex World, IEP

The World’s Top 20 Dividend Payers 2020

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Janus Henderson published the latest edition of Global Dividend Index report yesterday. The report showed global dividends plunged by about a fifth in Q2 this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However for the first two tech companies – Microsoft (MSFT)and Apple (AAPL) – appeared in the top 10 global dividend payers list. The Top 20 Global Dividend payers are shown in the chart below:

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Source: Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index Edition 27, August 2020, Janus Henderson

Perennial topper Nestle (NSRGY) is the world’s top dividend payer in 2020 also. Out of the top 20, 8 are from the US.

Disclosure: No Positions

The Top US Regional Banks 2020

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The Top Regional Winners in the US listed in the Global Finance magazine’s The World’s Best Banks 2020 are shown the table below. These banks are the top banks in the respective region. For example, the Great Lakes region includes states of  Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Minneapolis-based US Bancorp(USB) is the winner in this region. Truist is the top bank in the Southeast region which includes the state of Georgia.

Truist was formed by the merge of Suntrust and BB&T banks.

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Note: The name Truist is misspelled in the above table.

Source: World’s Best Banks 2020: US Regional Banks, Global Finance

The tickers of the above banks are:

  • Union Bank (UNB)
  • Citizens Bank (CFG)
  • Zions Bancorp (ZION)
  • US Bancorp(USB)
  • Truist Corp (TFC)

Disclosure: Long USB

UK Dividends Declined by 57% in Second Quarter

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The UK is one of the top equity markets for dividends. Traditionally British firms have a dividend yield that is substantially higher than their US peers For instance, the dividend yield on the FTSE 100 at the end of June was 4.81%. This is more than double that of the S&P 500 rate which is just under 2%. However the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession it triggered has led to many British companies slashing or suspending dividend payments. According to a recent report called the UK Dividend Monitor by Link Group the dividends have plunged by 57% in the second quarter.

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Source: UK Dividend Monitor Q2, 2020, Link Group

Below is an excerpt from an article at Citywire on this topic:

In the second quarter, 176 companies cancelled payouts and 30 cut them, representing three-quarters of those paying in the period. Payouts fell by £22bn to £16.1bn on a headline basis and by £16.4bn to £16bn on an underlying basis when special dividends were stripped out.

Payments from FTSE 100 stocks fell 45% while those from UK ‘mid-cap’ companies listed on the FTSE 250 dropped 76%. The cuts dwarfed those seen in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2008, when just two-fifths of companies cut or cancelled dividends.

While the second quarter dividend decline is the biggest on record, Link’s estimates suggest little sign of improvement for the rest of this year.

The report estimated that in a best-case scenario, dividends would fall 39% to £60.5bn on an underlying basis this year, or 45% when special dividends were factored in. In Link’s worst-case scenario, dividends will fall 49% on a headline basis and 43% to £56.3bn on an underlying basis.

Source: UK dividends crash 57% as coronavirus takes toll, Citywire

This is not surprising since some of the major dividend payers have cut dividends. Banks for example have been forced to suspend dividend payments by the Bank of England. So Barclays (BCS), HSBC (HSBC), Lloyds Banking Group (LYG), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Standard Chartered (SCBFY) have suspended dividends.

Other companies that cut dividends include oil major BP PLC(BP) which axed its payment by 50% earlier this month. This is the first time the company has reduced payments in a decade.

From an investment perspective, income investors can avoid British banks for now. Other firms should return to their normal payouts once the current crisis ends.

Disclosure: Long LYG