Is it fair that investors earn more than workers? That’s the question at the heart of this week’s episode, sparked by a listener comment that challenged one of our most repeated lines on the podcast.

News of the Week

Derek flagged an exciting development in the robotics space: Texas Instruments announced a collaboration with Nvidia to accelerate the development of humanoid robots. TI’s role centres on providing low-latency chips and sensor technology essential for real-world robotic environments. For dividend investors, this represents a compelling “picks and shovels” play within the AI and automation space.

Dividend Announcements

A strong batch of hikes this week:

Company	Increase
American Express	+16%
Munich RE	+20%
Aviva	+10%
Sweetcoe AB	+12.1%
Cheesecake Factory (CAKE)	+11%
ASM International	+8.3%
London Stock Exchange (ITRK)	+5%
Wreck-It Bank & Seller	+5%
Smith & Nephew	+4.3%
DHL Group	+2.7%
Bunzl	+0.3%

Main Topic: Why Owners Earn More Than Employees

A listener left a pointed comment on Spotify: “Stop saying that stuff about how dividends grow faster than wages. There is nothing fair about the economic advantage of a company being better for an owner than an employee.”

Rather than brush it off, Derek and EDGI took it head-on. Key takeaways from the discussion:

• Risk vs reward: Business owners sacrifice capital and take on significant risk. Employees trade time and skills for a stable (but capped) income. The higher dividend growth reflects that risk premium.
• European protections: In Western Europe, employees are well protected — redundancy pay, unemployment benefits, and labour laws all reduce the downside risk of employment compared to investing.
• The automation incentive: If labour costs rise too aggressively, it incentivises companies to automate — ultimately reducing jobs. This is the tension at the heart of the wages vs profits debate.
• Shareholders are often former employees: Pension funds, retirement accounts, and employee share schemes mean many of the people benefiting from dividend hikes are workers themselves.
• The core message: Work hard, develop rare skills, grow your income — then invest the surplus. Participating in ownership through dividend stocks doesn’t require starting a business.

“Life is unfair. But you can use some things to your advantage — and even a small amount invested can slowly turn things in your favour.” – Derek

Using AI in Investment Research

Listener Jason from J. Rake Wealth Management asked how the guys use AI in their research. Highlights:

• EDGI uses Notebook LM and custom Gen AI pipelines to speed up research, but insists on reading annual reports himself to form independent conviction. His view: AI is great for productivity, but outsourcing your thinking means outsourcing your conviction.
• Derek uses Notebook LM and Perplexity — he values Notebook LM because it links directly to source material rather than giving generic summaries.
• Both agree: critical thinking remains the key skill in an AI-assisted world.

Listener Q&A Highlights

L&G Global Quality Dividend ETF (LNG) Launched January 2025, this ETF holds 944 stocks with a forward yield of ~3.75% and fees of 0.29%. Very early stage with only ~$34M AUM. Watch for wide bid-ask spreads and limited track record. Interesting, but too new to evaluate meaningfully.

HIKMA Pharmaceuticals (HIK) FTSE 100 pharma with a 12-year dividend growth history and ~5% yield. Margin compression in the injectable division has pressured the share price (~15% drop YTD). Payout ratio ~46%, progressive dividend policy maintained. Slight flag: founder’s son has returned as Chair.

Petrobras 14%+ dividend yield but heavy political interference, six CEO changes in three years, and government pressure to reduce payouts. Too much noise for a compounding dividend portfolio.

Frontline One of the world’s largest crude oil tanker operators. Cyclical, politically exposed, with a history of unpredictable dividend cuts. Not suitable for dividend growth investors.

T. Rowe Price ~$139B in outflows in 2025, but their active ETF suite has crossed $20B AUM and doubled market share in two years. Effective fee rate continues to decline quarter-over-quarter — dividend safety looks okay for now, but growth is the question mark.

BRAVIDIA (BRAV) – Sweden Described as the “Scandinavian A.O. Smith.” Operates in electrical plumbing and HVAC systems. 14% dividend CAGR since 2016, ROCE of 14.9%, free cash flow yield of 9.52%, yield of 3.65%. Solid numbers — worth further research.

Links & Resources

• Website & Newsletter: dividendtalk.eu
• Community: Facebook & Discord
• ETF Research Tool mentioned: JustETF
• Dividend tracking: Divi Diary, Morningstar

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