89 Unlocking Total Return & Yield From Dividends, Growth, and Options with Ben Gossack and Trevor Cummings, TD Asset Management

Ben Gossack, VP & Director, Portfolio Manager, and Trevor Cummings, VP, ETF Distribution, both from TD Asset Management (TDAM), join Pierre Daillie for a deep dive discussion about the innovative ways the asset management team at TDAM are enhancing investment income without sacrificing total return in their enhanced dividend income strategies.

In the conversation, Ben Gossack, lead portfolio manager on TDAM's enhanced dividend strategies, details how he and his team actively manage their core 'dividend-growers' stock selection strategy, which comprises at least 70% of holdings in their ETFs, while integrating a less constrained, 'unlocked' investment process that also involves layering in notional and direct holdings in non-dividend paying secular growth names, e.g. Amazon and Square, for up to a maximum of 30%.

Ben and Trevor further detail the mechanics of the unique feature of TDAM's enhanced dividend income strategy which is the addition of the important second and third layer of investment income generation, which involves two actively managed, proprietary option-yield generating overlays:

1) Writing covered calls against a percentage of the portfolio, effectively putting those shares up for short term 'rent', i.e. the option premium income, and 2) Cash-covered put-writing, the equivalent of 'selling insurance,' thus collecting option premium income, to get paid to buy stocks at lower prices.

Finally, Ben and Trevor disspell commonly held biases, heuristics and myths surrounding the use of actively managed enhanced option-writing strategies. Among those commonly regarded heuristics is the belief that covered option writing yield strategies only effective in markets that are moving sideways or declining. Also diving into the differences between a systematic approach to option-writing vs. the advantages of being active.

To the point, about last year's sharp bullish upturn following the March 23, 2020 low, "from an option premium perspective, it was Christmas every day," said Gossack. In addition, he also points out that since they are active, they have the freedom to choose to write, or not write options, depending on market conditions.

TDAM's active enhanced dividend ETF offerings are available in two market exposures: Global (ticker: TGED), U.S. (ticker: TUED). For more on these, visit td.com/ETFs.

You can also get more intelligence on TDAM's enhanced dividend strategies here.

Trevor Cummings on Linkedin

Ben Gossack on Linkedin

Ben Gossack's TDAM Bio