Investment management firms manager assets for individuals, institutions, charities, pension funds and others. These firms provide a full range of services from asset management to wealth advisory to everything in between. Investment managers have strong business models and investment in their stocks are worth considering for the following reasons:

• Investment management firms have for the most predictable earnings.
• They earn a substantial portion of earnings from fees which remains stable regardless of market conditions.
• They are established firms with billions under management.
• They have the capacity to increase revenue by raising fees and charging for additional services to investors.
• Their revenue streams are diversified.
• Though competition is huge in the industry, large firms tend to have long-term contracts to manage funds of big companies and use economies of scale to reduce expenses.
• Unlike banks they are not susceptible to loan losses from mortgages, commercial loans and other types of loans.

Some of the investment managers’ stocks are listed below for consideration with their current dividend yields:

1.Company: Franklin Resources Inc (BEN)
Current Dividend Yield: 0.84%

2.Company: BlackRock Inc (BK)
Current Dividend Yield: 2.87%

3.Company: Morgan Stanley (MS)
Current Dividend Yield: 0.87%

4.Company: T. Rowe Price Group Inc (TROW)
Current Dividend Yield: 1.90%

5.Company: Alliancebernstein Holding LP (AB)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.72%

Note: Dividend yields noted are as of Feb 5, 2013

Disclosure: No Positions

A well diversified portfolio should include some portion of the assets in utilities. Companies operating in this sector include electric utilities, gas utilities, power distributors, producers and multi-utilities.

There are many reasons to invest in electric utilities. In this post let me list a few of them:

• They offer slow and steady growth over time.
• They help reduce volatility in a portfolio.
• They cushion the portfolio when the market tanks.
• Electric utilities offer excellent dividends and dividend growth.
• Most of them operate as a monopoly in markets they operate in.
• They are good for income investors and cab be held for the long-term.
• Electricity demand should increase with the explosive growth in smartphones, tablets and other devices.
• Some producers are closing down expensive nuclear power stations and switching to natural gas powered stations since natural gas is becoming cheaper. This should help drive down costs of power production.

Five randomly-selected electric utilities are listed below for further research:

1.Company: Consolidated Edison Inc (ED)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.31%

2.Company: PPL Corp (PPL)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.74%

3.Company: Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (PEG)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.56%

4.Company: NextEra Energy Inc (NEE)
Current Dividend Yield: 3.32%

5.Company: Southern Co (SO)
Current Dividend Yield: 4.45%

Note: Dividend yields noted are as of Feb 4, 2013

Disclosure: Long NEE

The $80.0 billion dollar U.S. beer market  is highly concentrated with few companies sharing the market. Recently the U.S. Justice Department has filed a suit trying to block Belgium-based  Anheuser-Busch InBev’s $20.3 billion takeover of Grupo Modelo of Mexico. The department argues that the merger would stifle competition and hurt consumers.

Here is a quick over view of the industry. The top five brands by volume in 2011 were:

1. Bug Light
2. Coors light
3. Budweiser
4. Miller Lite
5. Natural Light

Source: Beer Insights

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. beer market share is split by the following companies:

• Anheuser-Busch InBev – 39% of the total market
• MillerCoors – 26%
• Grupo Modelo – 7%
• Heineken – 6%
• Other – 22%

AB InBev is the world’s largest beer company owing 250 labels including many of the world’s leading brands such as Budweiser, Bud light, Beck’s, Corona, Skol, Brahma and Stella Artois (Source: The Plot to Destroy America’s Beer, Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

Three of the above publicly-traded firms are listed below with their current dividend yields:

1.Company: Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)
Current Dividend Yield: 1.69%

2.Company: Grupo Modelo, S.A.B. de C.V. (GPMCY)
Current Dividend Yield: 3.91%

3.Company: Heineken NV (HEINY)
Current Dividend Yield: 1.53%

Note: Dividend yields noted are as of Feb 4, 2013

Heineken NV is based in The Netherlands. From under $40 in mid 2009, BUD has soared to reach around $90 now.

Disclosure: No Positions

Source: The Wall Street Journal