The
Scottish American Investment Company ( SAINTS ) was taken over by Baillie Gifford in 2004 , but it was going for well over a century before then . It was established in 1873 and has a lengthy track record of either maintaining or increasing its dividend – the last time it cut its payout was in 1938 . Yet the trust is not a typical income strategy – its current yield of 2.8 % is below that of its average peer , as it focuses more on dividend growth than a high starting figure . In addition , the trust is more biased towards growth than value , which has counted against it this year : it is down 9.4 % compared with 7.1 % from its IT Global Equity Income sector . However , its strategy has proved to be the right one over the long term : it has made 205.3 % over the past decade , compared with 152.3 % from its average peer . Managers James Dow and Toby Ross say their focus on companies capable of maintaining or increasing their dividend regardless of what is happening in the wider economy is not just of benefit to income investors . “ Dividends are a really strong signal of financial discipline and capital allocation ,” said Dow . “ A lot of our clients couldn ’ t care less about the dividend distribution .
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