In the bubbling cauldron of volatility and uncertainty that is today’s global markets, dividend paying stocks are worth investors’ attention, according to new insights from Morningstar Indexes.
In a recent article―Dividend Stocks Are Getting a Boost From the HALO Trade. Can It Last?―Morningstar Indexes Strategist Dan Lefkovitz points out a new investment acronym: HALO, which stands for Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence. The idea is that HALO stocks are less vulnerable to AI disruption and, as a result, have done well while companies perceived to be vulnerable to AI disruption have declined. Lefkovitz puts dividend stocks firmly in the HALO camp, with a 4.3% rise in 2026 for the Morningstar US High Dividend Yield Index to help prove the point.
In How Income Investors Can Avoid Dividend Traps in 2026, Lefkovitz goes on to discuss some screening methods investors can use to avoid getting lured into “dividend traps,” or exchanging a healthy yield for an unhealthy investment.
Digging a little deeper into the underlying dynamics of dividend investing, further analysis shows that adding a quality lens to dividend stocks can help further reduce risk in uncertain times. The Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index, which adds several quality criteria to dividend yield in its constituent screening, has risen 11.8% in 2026 through March 8. Looking globally, the Morningstar Developed Markets Large Cap Dividend Leaders Select Index, which also employs quality screens in addition to dividend yield in selecting constituents, has risen 6.4% in 2026.
Alex Bryan, CFA – Director of Product Management, Equity Indexes, Morningstar, said:
“In an environment of heightened global market uncertainty, investors can potentially benefit from a risk-controlled approach to dividend investing. Stocks with strong fundamentals and sustainable dividends tend to be less speculative, more mature, and profitable, all characteristics that can reduce risk and may help performance in rocky periods when there is often a flight to quality.”
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