There are few ASX dividend stocks that I'd wager most ASX investors could say with confidence that they plan on holding forever. After all, forever is a long time. And the world is arguably changing at its fastest pace in history, making it difficult to assess which companies will be as dominant today in multiple decades' time.
As such, there are few companies in my own portfolio that I fully expect to hold forever (although there are many more that I hope I will). But here are two that I can say with the conviction of Kate Winslet that I'll never let go.
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2 ASX dividend stocks I plan on holding until Judgement Day
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL)
Washington H. Soul Pattinson, or Soul Patts for short, is one of my favourite ASX dividend stocks. It is an investment house with more than a century of ASX history. This company specialises in managing a portfolio of diversified investments on behalf of its shareholders.
It holds a massive portfolio of ASX blue-chip shares, including major stakes in Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW), TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPG) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC).
Soul Patts is simply a gift that keeps on giving. Its management has had unparalleled success in achieving outsized returns for investors over a very long time span. Early last month, Soul Patts confirmed that its investors have enjoyed a market-crushing average return of 12.9% per annum over the 20 years to 30 April 2023.
Part of that success comes from this dividend stock's incredible and unrivalled income streak. Soul Patts has increased its annual, fully-franked dividend every single year since 2000.
So for all of these reasons, one day someone will be prying my Soul Patts shares from my cold, dead hands.
MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF)
MFF is a rather obscure ASX share. It is a listed investment company (LIC) and dividend stock that grew out of the early days of Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG). While Magellan has had its fair share of struggles over the past few years, MFF Capital continues to go from strength to strength.
Warren Buffett-esque portfolio manager (and Magellan co-founder) Chris Mackay has carefully built a portfolio of mostly US stocks for MFF's portfolio. His modus operandi is to find the best companies on the markets, and buy and hold. That's it. Some of MFF's long-time holdings include Visa, MasterCard, Alphabet and American Express.
MFF doesn't publish regular performance figures, but by my estimations, investors have enjoyed a total shareholder return of slightly above 10% per annum over the past decade.
In terms of dividends, MFF has been consistently raising the bar as well. In 2020, shareholders received a total of 5.5 cents per share in fully-franked dividends. But by 2022, this was up to 7.5 cents per share.
For easy access to some of the world's best companies, a rising dividend yield, as well as the expertise of one of ASX's top fund managers, I can't ever envision selling out of my MFF shares either.
