Patience is a virtue

As a Swedish investor in the North American stock market, you must have the patience of a saint.

Even though it is January 6, 2026, we are still missing dividends from 7 holdings where the payout date was December 31, 2025. In addition to these holdings, we have another 20 holdings with the same payday where we received the money.

It doesn't appear that these payments are made automatically but are recorded manually by each bank, which should be extremely costly. The reason I believe this is so is that we have several of the same shares in several banks. One of the reasons for this is that we have decided to stop investing on Avanza's platform as they are by far the worst at refunding foreign withholding tax.

We need to let the move from Avanza to Montrose happen organically because we have holdings that were purchased before the EU changed the rules for ETFs and BDCs, we cannot sell and repurchase them, which means this transfer will take time. It is only when a holding is to be sold for some reason that we transfer the money from Avanza. We currently have holdings in Avanza, Montrose, Nordea and Nordnet.

Without my Google Sheet where I track every dividend, we wouldn't have been able to ensure that we get all the dividends we're supposed to. There have been several occasions when I have had to contact the bank concerned because the dividend has not been paid.

Update August 2026: Still the same story. I finally built a small tool that shows me exactly which dividends are still missing. Wrote about it here: July Isn’t Closed Until the Last Krona Lands

AI generated image with Grok

Easy come, easy go

Blue Owl Capital Corporation Common Stock (OBDC), which normally makes its extra dividend in connection with the ordinary dividend, has this time chosen to postpone it until next month. (OBDC) makes its extra dividend of ¢6 on October, 15.

Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. Common Stock (CCAP) is the only holding that has yet to announce whether it intends to pay an additional dividend in September.

TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp. Common stock (TPVG), on the other hand, is cutting its regular dividend by 25 percent to ¢30 from prior dividend of ¢40. (TPVG) constitutes 2% of our portfolio value, meaning this decline will be noticed. Already next month, it will be clear how noticeable (TPVG's) reduction will be for us.

In the best of worlds, some of our holdings chooses to increase its ordinary dividend so the end result is the status quo.

Ignorance costs

OFS Credit Company, Inc. Common Stock (OCCI) has announced that it is increasing its dividend by 9.5 percent to $0.115 per share. The holding of (OCCI) in our joint portfolio amounts to 3.5 percent. In my pension insurances, the holding in (OOCI) is significantly more dominant in relation to the total value, which means that this increase will be significantly more noticeable in these.

I worked for a couple of years in my youth at a company that paid into traditional pension insurance for me. Because I worked there for a short period of time, I only qualified for a smaller amount, $1,200. I have been neglecting this retirement saving and until today have never logged in to see any potential progress. I was very surprised to see that the value had increased to $7,205.

Tomorrow I will contact the manager and request a login code that will allow me to switch funds if I so wish. There is still more than 10 years to go before the first payout is due so I still have the chance to take control of this money. If I had committed to this savings and made sure to have a return of 10% per year, today's value would have been $18,355 instead.

No one cares about your money as much as you do. - Liza Dewlar

The best is saved for last

Today we received both ordinary and special dividends regarding Fidus Investment Corporation Common Stock (FDUS). The world's most perfect husband bought a small number of shares in British American Tobacco Industries, p.l.c. Common Stock ADR (BTI) for the money he received for (FDUS) dividend.

We chose to wait to invest the money in the other endowment insurances as there should be plenty more dividends within the next few days. Among others, we will receive dividends from (ARCC), (MAIN) and (TSLX).

We will not reach the same total amount as the March 2024 dividends for several reasons, including the fact that Hercules Capital, Inc. Common Stock (HTGC) is not regular in its distribution plan. Usually the companies are consistent in their plan but (HTGC) distributes during March, May and November. Exactly how much lower the dividends will be in June compared to March cannot be determined due to the unusually large fluctuations in the exchange rate. Anything lower than 7% is good.

(MAIN), where are you?

Nordea, which is usually the fastest of our banks to handle and pay foreign dividends, has still not paid the Main Street Capital Corporation Common Stock (MAIN) regular dividend as of June 14, 2024.

I called Nordea the day before yesterday and asked about the dividend, a couple of hours later I received an email that they are working on the matter. We still have not received our dividend nor have we been given any further feedback as to when we can expect to obtain our dividend.

As (MAIN) is our largest holding, this is one of our larger payouts.

Ka-ching

The Nordic region consists of Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Aland. The largest bank in the Nordics is Nordea, which is based in Finland.

It was Nordea that changed the time frame for refunding foreign withholding tax. Previously, depending on the month withholding tax was deducted, it took between 3-2 years before foreign withholding tax was refunded.

In 2018, Nordea started paying back the foreign withholding tax 6 weeks after the deduction was made. That was the only reason why we sold off large parts of our holdings at Avanza and Nordnet and moved the money to Nordea instead. Despite, mainly Avanza's, fantastic website with an unbeatable user-friendly interface.

In addition to the quick tax refund, Nordea is by far the fastest in paying out dividends. Yesterday we had the dividend paid for both Main Street Capital Corporation Common Stock (MAIN) and Fidus Investment Corporation Common Stock (FDUS) by Nordea. Which in practice means that we Swedish shareholders with holdings placed with Nordea get our dividends paid just one day after the actual payment date.

As the Swedish krona continued to weaken against the US dollar and the share prices of our planned acquisitions rose yesterday, we refrained from reinvesting these dividends for the time being.

Nordea impresses

Today we got some payouts. Exactly which companies' dividends we received will not be visible until tomorrow. I have to give credit to Nordea for their speed in disbursing the money, meaning we had access to the money today.

Although we didn't make any acquisitions today, it's a good feeling that we had the opportunity if we wanted to.

The hunt continues

OFS Credit Company, Inc. Common Stock (OCCI) announced the day before yesterday that it is lowering its dividend for next year from $2.2 per year per share to $1.2 per year per share. At the same time, they change the distribution rate from once every three months to every month.

Our holding in the company amounts to approximately 1,400 shares, which means that the dividend reduction makes a clear impression on our forecast for next year.

This year's acquisitions as well as changes in the existing holdings have been a protracted quest to reach the starting value of the 2023 projected dividends when these imploded due to NewtekOne, Inc. Common Stock (NEWT).

Although December is by far the best dividend month of the year for us, I don't think we will be able to repair the damage that OCCI just inflicted on us. The only positive thing is that OCCI announced changes in good time so I had time to adjust all the values in my Google Sheet before the turn of the year.

🎵 Money, money, 🎵money 🎵🎵

Half of August has passed but we have only received 25% of the month's estimated dividends.

Today is MAIN's payment day. Hopefully we will receive MAIN's dividend on Nordea already today. It takes a few extra days for Avanza and Nordnet to pay out the money.

Well needed

Hercules Capital, Inc. Common Stock (HTGC) is increasing its dividend from $0.39 to $0.4 per share as of August. No information has been provided on whether they intend to pay the previous $0.08 per share supplemental distribution as well.

If that happens, it will be much-needed air in my air cushion and addition to the existing deficit.

After the recent and hopefully final correction of my Google Sheet, I am confident that the connections and calculations are correct. I will get the answer at the beginning of September.

If correct, the bars for outcome and forecast will be side by side in the chart where I adjust for acquisitions made during the month. While the forecast will be significantly higher than the outcome in the chart without adjustments, mostly because to NEWT.

Extra money

Cummins Inc. Common Stock (CMI) increases its dividend by 7% to $1.64 per share dividend. Our total holding in this company amounts to 5 shares.

Although in our case it only means a total of ¢55, I am grateful for all the pennies we get.

All additions are welcome

PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. Common Stock (PFLT) raised its dividend this month. The increase is ¢0.25 per share. Any increase in the ordinary dividend and/or any additional dividend is always gratifying, no matter how small the amount.

If all the numbers are correct, the current month will be the 5th best dividend month of the year. It is already established that February will be the most unfavorable month of the year. Which one will be the best remains to be seen. Currently, June is the best month of the year.

Another reduction

Every time I get a notification from Seeking Alpha, I check the upcoming dividend against my Google Sheet. As soon as I discover a discrepancy, I correct my document.

Last morning I discovered that one of our holdings, Two Harbors Investment Corp (TWO), is cutting its dividend by 25%.

From $0.68 per share on an annual basis to $0.45 per share per year. Fortunately, we only have an extremely limited number of shares in this company.

The overall picture we have of our holdings via Google Sheet combined with Seeking Alpha is fantastic.

Winter is coming

I woke up to the sweet sound of ka-ching.

It was the Sixth Street Specialty Lending, Inc. Common Stock (TSLX) supplemental dividend of ¢4 that was credited to the account.

Whether it was worth waking up for ¢56 is extremely doubtful. It seems increasingly likely that it will snow on Midsummer.

I ❤️ a good confirmation

In order to have total control over any deviations regarding the individual dividend occasions compared to my spreadsheet, I have created a portfolio in Seeking Alpha's app.

As soon as the next dividend is set, I get a notification from the app that I compare with my spreadsheet. Next month will be the first month where I double check all dividends.

Today I received confirmation that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. Common Stock (BXMT), Ladder Capital Corp Class A Common Stock (LADR) and Starwood Peoperty Trust, INC. Starwood Property Trust Inc.'s (STWD) upcoming dividend is completely in phase with my Google Sheet.

More air which I will need

I have discovered 2 more holdings that have a higher dividend than what I entered in the spreadsheet.

In the case of Realty Income Corporation Common Stock (O), it's about $1.38 on each dividend occasion. The amount is negligible but since it is in our favor I will let the error remain. Regarding the holding in TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp. Common Stock (TPVG) it is $38.6 on each dividend occasion.

It is now beyond doubt that the outcome will exceed the adjusted chart forecast. In addition, there is a high chance that the outcome will also exceed the forecast for the unadjusted chart. Almost halfway into June, we've only received about 20% of the month's projected dividends. We will get some payouts in the next few days but most of the payouts will come at the end of the month.

Additional air in the air cushion

Two of our holdings have increased their dividends in 2023. They are Main Street Capital Corporation Common Stock (MAIN) and Oxford Lane Capital Corp. Common Stock (OXLC).

At the beginning of the year, MAIN had a monthly dividend of ¢0.225, which from July they will increase to ¢0.23. During the same time period as MAIN, OXLC raises its dividend from ¢0.075 to ¢0.08.

I will not adjust my spreadsheet for these changes. Instead, I will use these small increases to reduce my deficit.

My little helper

My spreadsheet helps me keep track of whether we get all the dividends we're entitled to.

Every time I discover, which happens more often than you might think, that we are missing a dividend, I always wait 10 days before contacting the bank.

Most recently, it was Nordnet that had not paid our dividend from Oxford Lane Capital Corp. Common Stock (OXLC). We cannot be many shareholders in OXLC in Nordnet because no one else had contacted Nordnet, which means that they always distrust me from the start. Once it's established that I'm right, the same phrase always comes quote "we've had a technical error, thank you for taking the time to address it" unquote.

I am impatient but not foolhardy

Yesterday we received several dividends including NewtekOne, Inc. Common Stock (NEWT).

The only dividends missing for the spreadsheet to be complete for the month of March are those credited to my better half's account.

He is more of an evening person than I am so both he and the offspring are still sleeping. Waking my husband up to ask him to log into his account is definitely not an option as his morning mood leaves a lot to be desired.😉

In total, we have received 1/4 of April's estimated dividends so far.

It finally came, my tsunami of money

We received a large sum of money during the very last day of March. The combination of tax refunds and dividends gave us almost half a month's salary in one day. If all the months were like Mars, dividend-wise, I'd stop working.

We increased our holdings primarily in Ares Capital Corporation Common Stock (ARCC).

Even though we have reinvested the majority of all the money, we are far from the final goal for the full year 2023.