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The changing dynamics of the asset management industry

The asset and wealth management industry is facing a transformative moment. Despite an 12% increase in global assets under management (AUM) to $120 trillion, the profitability and revenue gains have not kept pace. The revenue needle barely moved in 2023, while profits fell 8.1%. Asset managers are feeling a financial squeeze, facing downward pressure on fees. Retail investors, in particular, pay an average of 50% higher fees than institutional investors, sparking a push towards cost-effectiveness. But cutting costs isn’t enough: they must also expand their client base and prepare for an unprecedented generational wealth transfer as baby boomers pass down wealth to millennials and gen Z, whose collective wealth could reach nearly $84 trillion over the coming decades.

This transfer presents a significant opportunity but also a challenge. Millennials and gen Z, often digital-first and values-driven, expect a modern, mobile-friendly approach to managing wealth. They value transparency, ease of use, and personalization, putting pressure on asset managers to adopt new technologies and pivot from traditional relationship models. Technology has become the cornerstone of any strategy to attract and retain these younger generations, enabling firms to provide the digital experiences, data-driven personalization, and socially responsible investment options they expect. Without a tech-enabled approach, firms risk losing relevance and market share as these emerging generations assume greater financial power.

A demanding customer base

Capturing the attention and loyalty of Millennials and Gen Z is no easy feat. This generation of investors seeks control, transparency, and flexibility — characteristics that often require a more agile digital infrastructure than what many legacy asset management firms currently offer.

Tech creates sticky customers for asset managers

To address these challenges, asset and wealth managers are leaning heavily on technology. They are building tech stacks with advanced analytics, predictive tools, and digital customer relationship management (CRM) systems that enhance the client experience from onboarding to daily portfolio management. Here’s how these tools are reshaping the industry:

The time to pivot is now

The asset and wealth management sector remains healthy, with continued growth projected. However, firms must evolve to fully capture the opportunities presented by generational wealth transfer. By embracing technology-led initiatives, asset managers can appeal to younger investors while navigating the constraints of fee pressures and regulatory demands. Firms that adopt a broad, holistic technology strategy — one that spans the client lifecycle, from onboarding to portfolio personalization — are better equipped to meet the expectations of millennials and Gen Z. This will ensure a long-term foundation for growth, relevance, and client loyalty in the age of digital-first wealth management.

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Numerous conflicts plague today’s world, making economic sanctions a valuable tool for dealing with potential threats such as terrorism, illicit trade and human rights abuses. Complying with these sanctions poses many challenges for international companies. However, digital payments and blockchain innovations — such as stablecoins, the increasingly popular decentralized digital asset — have shown promise for navigating the potentially sticky landscape of sanctions compliance.

Sanctions are legal measures that governments impose against specific individuals, entities or countries to curb activities ranging from war and terrorism to money laundering and human rights violations. They are typically enacted by the United Nations, the European Union or the US.

Sanctions aren’t always as clear-cut as banning the sale of weapons to known terrorist organizations. They can apply to many types of transactions, like supply mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures or advisory services. Enforcing these policies is critical to international security. Companies must be careful to comply to avoid significant legal and financial consequences from engaging with an entity cited on any of the ever-changing watchlists.

Sanctions compliance is particularly important in the context of payments. Financial institutions and payment processors play a pivotal role in executing transactions, and it’s essential that these entities do not facilitate transfers to sanctioned parties.

Understanding sanctions compliance

Definition and importance of sanctions compliance

Sanctions compliance refers to the process of adhering to economic sanctions imposed by governments or international organizations on specific countries, entities or individuals. These sanctions restrict or prohibit certain activities, such as trade, investment or financial transactions, to achieve foreign policy or national security goals.

For businesses and financial institutions, avoiding the violation of these restrictions — sanctions compliance — is crucial. Noncompliance can result in significant fines, reputational damage and legal consequences, which demands that companies have robust compliance programs in place.

History and evolution of sanctions compliance

The concept of sanctions compliance has evolved significantly over time.

Britain and France imposed the first modern sanctions during World War I, in an effort to isolate Germany and its allies from the global economy. Since then, sanctions have become increasingly widespread, with the US, EU and other countries imposing their own sanctions regimes.

The rise of globalization and international trade has added layers of complexity to sanctions compliance. Companies must navigate a web of national and international regulations to avoid inadvertently violating sanctions. This evolution has made sanctions compliance a challenging but vital aspect of global business operations.

Key players in sanctions compliance

Sanctions compliance involves a range of key players, each with specific roles and responsibilities:

• Governments and international organizations: These entities impose and enforce sanctions, providing guidance on compliance requirements. They play a crucial role in shaping the regulatory landscape.
• Financial institutions: Banks, payment processors and other financial institutions are at the forefront of sanctions compliance. They are responsible for screening transactions and identifying potential sanctions risks, making their role vital in the compliance ecosystem.
• Businesses: Companies must ensure that their operations, including international trade, investment and financial transactions, comply with sanctions regulations. This requires a thorough understanding of the sanctions landscape and proactive risk management.
• Regulators: Regulatory bodies, such as the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), enforce sanctions compliance and issue fines for noncompliance. Their scrutiny ensures that institutions adhere to the regulatory obligations.

By understanding the roles of these key players, businesses and financial institutions can better navigate the complexities of sanctions compliance and avoid the severe consequences of noncompliance.

Types of sanctions

Sanctions can take several forms, each targeting a different aspect of the sanctioned party’s activities. The most common types include:

• Comprehensive sanctions: These are typically imposed on entire countries or governments. They restrict almost all forms of trade, finance and interaction with the sanctioned country.
• Sectoral sanctions: These target specific sectors of a country’s economy, such as finance, energy or defense. They might prohibit specific types of transactions or financial dealings with particular industries within a sanctioned country.
• List-based sanctions: These sanctions are imposed on individuals, entities or organizations that are identified on official lists. They often include asset freezes and prohibitions on business dealings.
• Embargoes: These are broad restrictions that can prohibit trade, investment and financial transactions with specific countries or regions.
• Secondary sanctions: These are penalties imposed on non-US entities for doing business with countries or entities that are already under US sanctions. These can be especially challenging for companies with global operations.

Understanding the different types of sanctions is critical to managing sanctions risk, especially when conducting cross-border payments or transactions with foreign entities.

The state of sanctions compliance

Sanctions compliance has become increasingly important and complex in recent years. Financial institutions, corporations and fintech companies must carefully navigate a maze of national and international regulations to ensure they don’t inadvertently violate sanctions laws.

The impact of these regulations on business operations and compliance activities cannot be overstated. The challenges of sanctions compliance are multifaceted, ranging from the sheer volume and global reach of sanctions to the sophistication of noncompliant actors who attempt to circumvent restrictions.

The complexity is compounded by the fast-evolving landscape of digital currencies and decentralized finance, including stablecoins, offering new rails for cross-border payments while raising questions about how they fit into existing regulatory frameworks.

Sanctions compliance challenges

Sanctions compliance has become increasingly complex due to several factors.

One of the primary challenges is the sheer number of global sanctions. To identify and prevent dealings with sanctioned entities before they happen, organizations must deploy such tactics as checking transactions, customers, counterparties and business partners against sanctions lists from:

• Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctions: The US Treasury’s OFAC sanctions list is one of the most widely followed. It includes hundreds of individuals, organizations and countries that are prohibited from engaging in business with US companies.
• European Union sanctions: The EU maintains its own sanctions lists. Tracking both sets of restrictions can be difficult for companies operating in multiple regions.

Keeping track of these lists is a daunting task, as they frequently change, with new names and countries added and others removed.

A secondary challenge is the complexity of sanctions regulations. As noted by KPMG, the regulatory landscape is constantly evolving, and navigating these rules requires businesses to be proactive. The compliance burden is especially heavy for financial institutions that must check a large number of transactions against multiple sanctions lists in real time.

Another major issue is the difficulty of conducting Know Your Customer (KYC) checks in a comprehensive and accurate manner — and applying those standards to other types of business relationships, such as suppliers, advisors, lenders or joint venture partners.

Identifying sanctioned entities or individuals can be challenging due to the constantly shifting nature of the global economy. Fraudsters and other bad actors are becoming more sophisticated in their attempts to bypass sanctions, often utilizing shell companies, fake identities and cryptocurrencies to obscure the true nature of transactions.

Penalties for doing business with a sanctioned entity can range from millions to billions of dollars, depending on the severity of the violation. A robust sanctions compliance program is essential to mitigate these risks.

The role of blockchain and stablecoins in sanctions compliance

The proliferation of fintech solutions in the cross-border payments industry can be a double-edged sword when it comes to sanctions compliance.

While funds can transfer through a digital blockchain to maintain transparency and vet potential bad actors, they can also be used to facilitate undetectable transactions.

What is a stablecoin?

Stablecoins enable seamless global transactions without traditional banking intermediaries. This cryptocurrency is pegged to hard currencies such as the US dollar or euro, giving it a more reliable value than other cryptocurrencies, which can fluctuate drastically.

Mainly, stablecoins are used to trade other crypto assets, but they play a vital role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem as their use cases expand internationally. For example, people in countries with weak currencies can seek a steady and transferable substitute to their local money, enabling global access to the financial services industry and promoting financial inclusion.

Stablecoins transforming the financial services industry

Even if the US does not take action to regulate the use of stablecoins or blockchain technology, stablecoins are likely to grow in popularity among cross-border companies because many other jurisdictions are creating frameworks to license them, including EU, the UK, Japan, Singapore and the UAE.

According to the Brookings Institute, upcoming regulations may require stablecoin issuers to maintain reserves, capital and liquidity levels; set reporting and disclosure standards; and ensure that holders’ claims take priority over issuer debt or other claims. Additionally, stablecoin issuers may be compelled to monitor blockchains for suspicious transactions and possibly freeze the digital currency if the transaction is flagged for noncompliance with sanctions.

One such set of regulations came from the European Parliament in 2023 when it approved the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) policy following the fall of FTX. MiCA is designed to ensure a level playing field for crypto investors, and it offers some guidance on how to prevent cross-border payments from being noncompliant with international sanctions.

Ensuring sanctions compliance amid the rise of stablecoins

The emergence of stablecoins has introduced new challenges for sanctions compliance. Stablecoins facilitate quick and often anonymous cross-border transactions, which can be used to evade sanctions. This creates significant risks for sanctions compliance, as stablecoins may be exploited to circumvent restrictions or engage in illicit activities. Consequently, regulators are increasingly scrutinizing stablecoins and their interaction with sanctions.

To ensure sanctions compliance in the context of stablecoins, businesses and financial institutions must adopt a proactive approach. This includes conducting regular risk assessments, implementing effective screening and monitoring systems and providing comprehensive training to employees on compliance requirements. Additionally, staying informed about evolving regulations and collaborating with regulators can help institutions manage the risks associated with this digital currency.

By taking these steps, businesses and financial institutions can protect themselves from the risks of sanctions noncompliance and create a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Understanding and managing the challenges posed by stablecoins is essential for maintaining robust sanctions compliance in today’s digital age.

How can stablecoins help with sanctions compliance?

In addition to providing an efficient alternative to traditional remittance systems that can be costly and slow, stablecoins offer new ways to ensure compliance. Blockchain’s transparent and immutable nature allows for real-time tracking of transactions, making it easier to trace the flow of funds and identify potential violations.

Leveraging blockchain technology in sanctions compliance can provide an additional layer of oversight, helping companies spot suspicious transactions before they occur.

According to Brookings, regulatory bodies are closely monitoring the national security risks associated with these digital assets. The transparency and traceability of blockchain transactions, coupled with regulatory frameworks, can help combat illicit activity and ensure that stablecoins are not being used to bypass sanctions.

Regulatory technology to manage regulatory obligations

What is regtech?

Looking forward, regtech — the use of technology to enhance regulatory compliance — will be pivotal in managing sanctions risks.

Regtech tools are meant to help protect against risks including market abuse, cyber attacks and fraud. Financial institutions and regulators use them to deal with complicated compliance processes.

Regulatory technology reduces risk by offering data on money-laundering activities conducted online and by monitoring online transactions in real time to identify issues or irregularities.

Regtech tools can automate many of the tasks involved in sanctions compliance, including screening, regulatory monitoring and reporting. Using AI and machine learning, these tools can process a high volume of data at incredible speeds, enabling quick analysis and insights for compliance.

These technologies can also help organizations stay up-to-date with the latest regulations.

The future of sanctions compliance

Europe’s MiCA regulations are expected to bring greater clarity and structure to the regulation of cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins. According to Boston Consulting Group, MiCA aims to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets, ensuring that companies operating in the crypto space adhere to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.

In addition to MiCA, governments worldwide are expected to continue strengthening their sanctions enforcement efforts. The use of digital assets and blockchain technology in payments will only increase, making it essential for businesses to stay ahead of the regulatory curve.

The US is particularly interesting as a new administration is settling in with a pro-crypto agenda and promises to toughen policies governing foreign trade. 

The future of sanctions compliance will undoubtedly be shaped by advancements in regtech and the tightening of regulatory frameworks like MiCA, offering both challenges and opportunities for businesses in the digital age. By building a comprehensive and effective compliance program, businesses can protect themselves from the severe consequences of noncompliance while contributing to the broader goal of global security.

Want more insights on the topics shaping the future of cross-border payments? Tune in to Converge, with new episodes every Wednesday.

Plus, register for the Daily Market Update to get the latest currency news and FX analysis from our experts directly to your inbox.

Updated on February 26th, 2025 by Bob Ciura
Spreadsheet data updated daily

Most companies distribute dividends on a quarterly or semi-annual payment schedule, but there are some that pay dividends monthly.

However, the number of companies that distribute monthly dividends is limited.

You can see all the monthly dividend stocks here.

You can also download our full Excel spreadsheet of all monthly dividend stocks (along with metrics that matter, like dividend yield and payout ratio) by clicking on the link below:

 

This article provides an overview of monthly dividend stocks, and includes a top 10 list of monthly dividend stocks that most income investors haven’t heard of.

Table of Contents

Monthly Dividend Stocks Overview

Monthly dividend payments are beneficial for one group of investors in particular; retirees who rely on dividend stocks for income.

With that said, monthly dividend stocks are better under all circumstances (everything else being equal), because they allow for returns to be compounded on a more frequent basis.

More frequent compounding results in better total returns, particularly over long periods of time.

Of course, there are also potential risk factors when investing in monthly dividend stocks.

Investors should note many monthly dividend stocks are highly speculative. On average, monthly dividend stocks tend to have elevated payout ratios.

An elevated payout ratio means there’s less margin for error to continue paying the dividend if business results suffer a temporary (or permanent) decline.

As a result, we have real concerns that many monthly dividend payers will not be able to continue paying rising dividends in the event of a recession.

The following 10 dividend stocks pay dividends each month, but have risk factors and unique business models that investors should carefully consider before buying.

The following list is comprised of 10 monthly dividend stocks with market caps below $3 billion, which means they are smaller companies than the more widely-followed monthly dividend stocks.

The list excludes extremely speculative monthly dividend stocks such as oil and gas royalty trusts. It also excludes mortgage REITs which are also high-risk securities.

The 10 monthly dividend stocks you’ve never heard of are sorted by dividend yield, from lowest to highest.

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: Global Water Resources (GWRS)

Global Water Resources is a water resource management company. It owns, operates, and manages water, wastewater, and recycled water utilities in Phoenix, Arizona.

It owns 25 water and wastewater utilities in Phoenix and serves more than 74,000 people. It also recycles more than 1 billion gallons of water every year.

The company believes it has the capacity for hundreds of thousands of service connections, but its current scale is quite small.

Annual revenue is about $42 million, and the stock trades with a market capitalization of ~$300 million.

Source: Investor relations

On November 6th, 2024, Global Water reported its Q3 results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. Quarterly revenues fell by 1.5% year-over-year to $14.3 million.

The drop in revenue was mainly attributable to the recognition of $0.5 million in unregulated revenue related to infrastructure coordination and financing agreements (ICFAs) in the third quarter of 2023 that did not recur this time around.

Still, regulated revenue increased 2.2% to $14.3 million, primarily due to total active service connections rising 4.7% to 63,889.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on GWRS (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: Phillips Edison & Company (PECO)

Phillips Edison & Company is a real estate investment trust that is one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of omni-channel grocery-anchored shopping centers.

As of its latest quarterly filings, Phillips Edison & Company owned equity interests in 316 shopping centers, including 294 wholly-owned shopping centers and 22 shopping centers owned through three unconsolidated joint ventures, which comprised about 35.7 million square feet in 31 states.

In addition to managing its shopping centers, its third-party investment management business provides comprehensive real estate management services to its unconsolidated joint ventures and one private fund.

Phillips Edison & Company generates just over $660 million in annual revenues, pays dividends on a monthly basis, and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

On February 6th, 2025, Phillips Edison & Company released its Q4 and full-year results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. For the quarter, total revenues were $173.0 million, an increase of 12.1% year-over-year.

Same-center NOI grew by 6.5% to $110.4 million, while new and renewal leasing spreads stood at 30.2% and 20.8%, respectively. Leased portfolio occupancy remained strong at 97.7%.

Despite slightly higher interest and operating expenses, Nareit FFO for the quarter rose 12.0% to $83.8 million. Nareit FFO per share was $0.61, up from $0.56 last year. For the year, Nareit FFO came in at $2.37.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PECO (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: STAG Industrial (STAG)

STAG Industrial is an owner and operator of industrial real estate. It is focused on single-tenant industrial properties and has ~560 buildings across 41 states in the United States.

The focus of this REIT on single-tenant properties might create higher risk compared to multi-tenant properties, as the former are either fully occupied or completely vacant.

Source: Investor Presentation

However, STAG Industrial executes a deep quantitative and qualitative analysis on its tenants. As a result, it has incurred credit losses that have been less than 0.1% of its revenues since its IPO.

In mid-February, STAG Industrial reported (2/12/25) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Core FFO-per-share grew 5% over the prior year’s quarter, from $0.58 to $0.61, exceeding the analysts’ consensus by $0.01, thanks to hikes in rent rates.

Net operating income grew 9% over the prior year’s quarter even though the occupancy rate dipped sequentially from 97.1% to 96.5%. On the other hand, interest expense increased 25% year-on-year due to high interest rates.

STAG expects core FFO per share of $2.46-$2.50 for 2025.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on STAG Industrial Inc. (STAG) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: EPR Properties (EPR)

EPR Properties is a specialty real estate investment trust, or REIT, that invests in properties in specific market segments that require industry knowledge to operate effectively.

It selects properties it believes have strong return potential in Entertainment, Recreation, and Education. The portfolio includes about $7 billion in investments across 350+ locations in 44 states, including over 200 tenants.

Source: Investor Presentation

EPR posted third quarter earnings on October 30th, 2024, and results were better than expected on both the top and bottom lines. Funds-from-operations came to $1.29, which was two cents ahead of estimates. FFO was down from $1.47 per share a year ago. On a dollar basis, FFO fell from $113 million to just over $100 million.

Revenue was off almost 5% year-over-year to $180.5 million, which was $21.5 million ahead of expectations. For the nine months, revenue was off from $534 million to $521 million.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EPR (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: LTC Properties (LTC)

LTC Properties is a REIT that invests in senior housing and skilled nursing properties. Its portfolio consists of approximately 50% senior housing and 50% skilled nursing properties.

Just like other healthcare REITs, LTC benefits from a strong secular trend, namely the high growth of the population that is above 80 years old. This growth results from the aging of the baby boomers’ generation and the steady rise of life expectancy thanks to sustained progress in medical sciences.

The REIT owns 194 investments in 26 states, with 31 operating partners.

Source: Investor Presentation

In late October, LTC reported (10/29/24) financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2024. Funds from operations (FFO) per share grew 5% over the prior year’s quarter, from $0.65 to $0.68, but missed the analysts’ consensus by $0.01.

The increase in FFO per share resulted primarily from higher income from previously transitioned properties and higher income from loan originations. LTC drastically improved its leverage ratio (Net Debt to EBITDA) from 5.3x to 4.2x thanks to various asset sales.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on LTC (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: Gladstone Land Corp. (LAND)

Gladstone Land Corporation is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that specializes in the owning and operating of farmland in the U.S.

The trust owns about 160 farms, comprising more than 110,000 acres of farmable land. Gladstone’s business is made up of three different options available to farmers, all of which are done on a triple-net basis.

The trust offers long-term sale leaseback transactions, traditional leases of farmland, and outright purchases of farm properties.

Gladstone posted fourth quarter and full-year earnings on February 19th, 2025, and results were somewhat weak. Funds-from-operations per-share came to just nine cents, widely missing estimates for 14 cents.

Revenue fell 14% year-over-year to $21.1 million, but did beat estimates by about $650k.

Total cash lease revenues fell, driven by lower fixed base cash rents, which was partially offset by additional participation rents recorded during the quarter.

Fixed base cash rents fell by about $4.9 million, which was due to the execution of certain lease agreements in 2024 where rent amounts were reduced.

In addition, a large farm in Florida was sold during the first quarter of 2024. Participation rents were driven higher by stronger production yields in almond and pistachio farms.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on LAND (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: Modiv Industrial REIT (MDV)

Modiv Industrial acquires, owns, and actively manages single-tenant net-lease industrial, retail, and office properties in the United States, focusing on strategically essential and mission-critical properties with predominantly investment-grade tenants.

As of its most recent filings, the company’s portfolio comprised 44 properties that occupied 4.6 million square feet of aggregate leasable area.

Modiv has nearly 43 properties in its portfolio that occupy 4.5 million square feet of aggregate leasable area.

Modiv reported its Q3 results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. For the quarter, rental income came in at $11.6 million, down 7.3% year-over-year.

This was mainly due to the elimination of some non-NNN tenant reimbursements related to the August 2023 portfolio disposition of 13 properties.

Management fee income was stable at nearly $66 million. Total income reached nearly $11.7 million, down 7.2% from $12.6 million last year.

AFFO was $3.7 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in line with AFFO of $3.7 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, in the prior year period.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on MDV (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

 

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: Gladstone Investment Corp. (GAIN)

Gladstone Investment is a business development company (BDC) that focuses on US-based small- and medium-sized companies.

Industries which Gladstone Investment targets include aerospace & defense, oil & gas, machinery, electronics, and media & communications.

A rundown of GAIN’s investment process can be seen in the image below:

Source: Investor Presentation

Gladstone Investment reported its second quarter (Q2 2024 ended September 30) earnings results on November 7. The company generated total investment income of $22.6 million during the quarter, which represents an increase of 2% compared to the prior quarter.

This was a better performance compared to the previous quarter, when the growth rate was negative.

Gladstone Investment’s adjusted net investment income-per-share totaled $0.24 during the fiscal second quarter. That was unchanged from the previous quarter’s level.

Gladstone Investment‘s net asset value per share totaled $12.49 on a per-share basis at the end of the quarter.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on GAIN (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: Gladstone Capital Corp. (GLAD)

Gladstone Capital is a business development company, or BDC, that primarily invests in small and medium businesses. These investments are made via a variety of equity (10% of portfolio) and debt instruments (90% of portfolio), generally with very high yields.

Loan size is typically in the $7 million to $30 million range and has terms up to seven years.

Source: Investor Presentation

Gladstone posted fourth quarter and full-year earnings on November 13th, 2024, and results were short of analyst estimates. Net investment income, which is akin to earnings, came to 50 cents per share.

NII was expected to be 53 cents, and was down from 57 cents in the prior quarter. Total investment income, which is a revenue measure, came to $23.7 million, down from $25.7 million in the previous quarter.

Total repayments and net proceeds were $12.6 million, down from $86.4 million in the prior quarter. Total investments at fair value rose 5.1% quarter-over-quarter to $796 million. Net asset value per common share was $21.18 in September, up from $20.18 in June.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on GLAD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock You’ve Never Heard Of: Horizon Technology Finance (HRZN)

Horizon Technology Finance Corp. is a BDC that provides venture capital to small and medium–sized companies in the technology, life sciences, and healthcare–IT sectors.

The company has generated attractive risk–adjusted returns through directly originated senior secured loans and additional capital appreciation through warrants.

Source: Investor Presentation

On October 29th, 2024, Horizon released its Q3 results for the period ending September 30th, 2024. For the quarter, total investment income fell 15.5% year-over-year to $24.6.7 million, primarily due to lower interest income on investments from the debt investment portfolio.

More specifically, the company’s dollar-weighted annualized yield on average debt investments in Q3 of 2024 and Q3 of 2023 was 15.9% and 17.1%, respectively.

Net investment income per share (IIS) fell to $0.32, down from $0.53 compared to Q3-2023. Net asset value (NAV) per share landed at $9.06, down from $9.12 sequentially.

After paying its monthly distributions, Horizon’s undistributed spillover income as of June 30th, 2024 was $1.27 per share, indicating a considerable cash cushion.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on HRZN (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Additional Reading

Monthly dividend stocks may be more attractive for income investors due to their frequent payouts.

Additionally, many monthly dividend payers offer investors high yields. The combination of a monthly dividend payment and a high yield could be especially appealing.

We have compiled a reading list for additional dividend growth stock investing ideas:

New silver collectors’ type to be issued soon:

“950th anniversary of the founding of the Benedictine abbey in Hronské Beňadik“

TECHNICAL DATA
Composition: silver .900
Diameter: 34.00 mm
Weight: 18.00 g
Artist: Tomáš Lamač
Mint: Mincovňa Kremnica (Slovakia)



LINK: Mincovňa Kremnica

The executive order to create America’s first sovereign wealth fund has sparked debate over its governance, transparency, and potential impact on global markets.

US President Donald Trump announced last week the creation of the first American sovereign wealth fund. He had pledged during his campaign to pursue such a policy, but this time, he formalized it with an executive order directing a plan for the fund to be developed within 90 days.

The news about the emerging US Sovereign Wealth Fund should not surprise those who follow trends in sovereign finance. Various developed countries, such as the United Kingdom and France, have explored or executed the idea of a new sovereign fund—despite fiscal challenges—to promote industrial policies, protect national champions from foreign takeovers, or advancing technology-advanced but vulnerable sectors.

The US government’s initiative is also driven by the recognition that federal assets are underutilized, creating an opportunity to “monetize the asset side of the US balance sheet for the American people,” according to the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“America is locked out of the US dynamic capital markets and returns because we are not a player,” argues Chris Campbell, former assistant secretary of the US Treasury for Financial Institutions during Trump’s first term, “and the burden is on the taxpayer to fund the government.”

The Trump Administration has not provided specifics on the fund’s risk profile, asset allocation, governance structure, transparency, or reporting requirements—key factors that typically define a sovereign wealth fund. The news immediately raised skepticism among financial commentators, some of whom view the new initiative as a way to allocate part of the Treasury’s general budget to a discretionary fund controlled by a select group of insiders. Similar structures have, in other countries, led to corruption and inefficient investments—as seen in Malaysia and Libya. Whether the details of the new fund will support these concerns remains to be seen.

In any case, Congress must approve the fund’s creation—an uphill battle, given longstanding resistance to privatizing federal assets and services, according to Campbell.

While certain US states have their own sovereign wealth funds—such as the Alaska Permanent Fund, which is financed by the state’s income from natural resources—the United States lacks a national fund at the federal level. Establishing such a fund could position the US as a major player in the international sovereign wealth community—an intriguing shift at a time when Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda has led the country to withdraw from many global organizations and forums.

One such forum is the International Forum on Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF), which operates under the International Monetary Fund umbrella. According to its mandate, the IFSWF aims to strengthen the sovereign wealth fund community through dialogue, research, and self-assessment. This unique forum brings together funds from different countries, both developing and developed economies, with distinctively different transparency and asset-allocation strategies. Yet, considering the new commercial focus of the US Administration, US participation through state and federal funds can support global markets and promote US leadership. A fund’s affiliation with the Federal Reserve will strengthen US participation in such a forum.

In fact, the announcement alone has already triggered broader debate about how the United States can leverage its resources and financial infrastructure for strategic investments—both domestically and internationally. The discussion could help cultivate the investment expertise within the US government, develop a pipeline of institutional investing talent, and position commercial investments as tools for national security and diplomacy.