Over the long term, dividends have been the main contributors to total return in equity investments. Figure 2 illustrates this point by looking back at the S&P500 returns since 1940. In this period dividends and dividend reinvestments accounted for over 90% of the index total return during that time. If you had invested $100 at the end of 1940, with dividends reinvested this would have been worth approximately $174,000 at the end of 2011, versus $12,000 with dividends paid out.

This is a hugely powerful phenomenon, and one that in recent times seems to have been overlooked; investors have chased quick profits through short-term trading strategies, which come with much increased risks. The average holding period for NYSE-listed stocks between 1950 and 1970 was approximately six years. Today it is under one year. We believe investors should once again think about their investments in the long term and return to the 'buy and hold' strategies espoused by Benjamin Graham and others. This way investors can harness the power of dividends and dividend reinvestments.

David Fuller's view Fullermoney subscribers are very familiar with this information and the importance of compounding dividends in their long-term equity portfolios. Nevertheless, everyone is likely to appreciate the historic information presented in graphic form, which you will find in this report.

The Chart Library contains a number of funds in which subscribers have expressed interest over the years. We are pleased to add the Ireland-listed Guinness Global Equity Income Fund to the Guinness stable and show its performance in both GBP and USD since its launch in January 2011.

The PDF is useful because among its contents you will find benchmark funds (page2), the managers' selection criteria discussed over a number of pages, sector breakdown (p13), geographic spread (p14), top 10 holdings (p22), portfolio breakdown (p25) and the seven different categories of this fund plus costs (p26). The latter vary considerably, depending on the size of one's investment.

(Search the Library for Dividend Aristocrats to see Eoin's frequent chart reviews of these shares.)