ETFs and More Added

Well, I finally gave in to adding some ETFs. Looking at the riskier foreign end and high yield end of the dividend growth spectrum, this made a lot of sense to me. The number of these funds that have increasing payouts is quite small actually. A lot of the ETF managers do not consider payouts to be of highest concern despite the supposed focus of their funds. The best of these funds is Alpine Global Dynamic Dividend Fund. Sporting an impressive 8.2% yield, it pays monthly dividends. It does not have a long trading history, which does merit some caution, so my initial position is not that large.

The other ETF I added is PowerShares HighYield Dividend Achievers. It also pays monthly, and although it yields 'only' about 3%, it is one of the few funds I found that has coverage in areas not represented by the rest of my portfolio. Not one of its top ten holdings is currently in my portfolio. I like getting all this added diversification and what looks like a focus on increasing dividend payments over time.

One of the best 'high QDV' stocks out there is Zenith National. Although we already have more than enough insurance company holdings, I couldn't resist adding this one. Insurance stocks are just such great long term investments. This one has a 3.5% yield and a strong up-trending QDV which is pushing 35%.

Finally, our position in Automatic Data Processing was just doubled, given its large moat to competition. It's closest competitor, Paychex, also one of our holdings, and ADP combined, dominates the payroll processing industry. Owning these two companies, both with growing dividends and great growth prospects, is one of the greatest investment stories for long term growth out there today.