Historically, the stocks that have held their value in any market downturn have been those offering a good income. Across the market, that yield is well above 4 per cent. In places, it is significantly better.
So what investments might be deemed bomb-proof? You don’t want exposure to commodity prices, or markets outside the UK, and within the UK, a dividend flow that is not going to have to be cut because of economic trends.
Regular readers will not be surprised to hear me plump for National Grid, forward yield 4.8 per cent, whose earnings, in the UK and the US, are heavily regulated and therefore predictable.
Most of those earnings are in the UK, where the company is in a regulatory regime that gives