Find the hidden gems

Australia is a country obsessed with blue-chip companies paying out consistent dividends – fully franked, thanks! These companies are so synonymous with dividends that, in some cases, they’ve carved out a spot in our national psyche. It’s hard to picture Sydney Harbour in your mind’s eye without a kangaroo flying overhead at 1000 feet or so.

But a reality check is called for. We live in a world vastly different from the one that nurtured these companies to such revered status.

Dividends have been sidelined as the blue-chip giants grapple with several seismic events that have dulled their appeal.

First it was the banking royal commission, then the Covid-19 pandemic and the