IT geek: higher dividends alone are not a remedy

Last month Aberdeen Japan Investment Trust (AJIT) announced plans to change its strategy to pay a higher level of dividends, which it will do in part by drawing on its capital, rather than just relying on the income from the companies it invests in. For its financial year ending 31 March 2020, Aberdeen Japan hopes to pay shareholders at least 15p per share, up from 5.4p in respect of its last financial year ended 31 March 2019. It would fund this via dividends from its underlying holdings, 3p from its revenue reserve and an amount from its capital reserves which it expects to be at least 5.2p or 0.85 per cent of its net assets.