Welcome to the second Dividend Investor Interview featuring two dividend investors of different ages, investing backgrounds and from different parts of the world.

With New Year's resolutions on the minds of many investors December is a month of bringing new perspectives to readers to see how others approach dividends, risk and the current market environment.


Dividend Investor Interview II:
John (aka: jonnyrotten)

First let’s explore your current investor profile with some back ground information if you don’t mind.
Can you give readers some demographics?

I am 46 years old, married, with 4 kids. I teach at a university in Japan. I consider my risk tolerance to be high.


When did you first begin investing?

I began buying GICs as a young teenager, and mutual funds by the age of 25. I bought my first stock when I was about 27. During my university days, I would receive interest-free loans and bursaries and simply deposit them. I paid my school expenses from earnings from summer jobs and other part-time work. When I graduated, I paid back the loans in full and pocketed the interest. I suppose this was possible in my day when tuitions were not that high.

Some might think this unethical, but I don't feel that way: I took advantage of what was available to me and made the most of it in an entirely legal way. Like buying with a credit card, paying the bill in full with no interest when it is due, and receiving cash back at the end of the year.


How did you start investing? What style?

I began with mutual funds. I bought a wide variety of them with no particular understanding of asset allocation or specific goals.

I merely hoped to invest and make money. I was attracted to the stunning returns of the Altamira Equity Fund in its early days under Frank Mersch, and this was one of my first funds.

What were your previous investing objectives?

To make money. I did not have a long-term target or goal in mind until I married and began thinking about retirement.


What has helped to influence you over the years you've invested?
(Media, mentors, family, experience, etc)

My father, first of all. He has invested all his life, and we share a love of stock and economic talk. He used to manage investments for his mother, and even as a small child, I always heard about my grandmother's stock, how it had risen or split or paid dividends. I grew up thinking it natural and lucrative to invest in the stock market, and only in encounters with friends and other relatives did I realize that many regard the stock market as a form of gambling that they avoid. Many people I know are very, very conservative and only invest in term deposits or managed funds.


How long did you invest in actively managed mutual funds?

About 15 years.


What was it about dividends that immediately caught your interest?

During the dot-com meltdown, I watched my spectacular paper gains evaporate, leaving me with nothing to show for my time and trouble.