• NextEnergy Solar insists there are sunny uplands ahead after following a dividend cut with news of a 10.4% quarterly fall in NAV

• 03 June 2026
• QuotedData
• NextEnergy Solar Fund : NESF
• Gavin Lumsden

Shares in NextEnergy Solar (NESF), the £279m renewables fund that disappointed investors with a dividend cut in March, fell again today after the company revealed a 10.4% fall in net asset value (NAV) in the first quarter.

The worse-than-expected decline saw NAV per share drop 8.8p to 76.1p from 84.9p, although with the quarterly 2.5p dividend included the total loss was reduced to 7.4%.  

Some of the hits to NAV were known, such as 2p per share off from the government’s changes to the inflation measure used in subsidies to renewable power generators, or not unexpected, such as the 1.5p negative impact from lower generation and power price forecasts and 1.6p deducted from lifting the discount valuation rate in line with rising government bond yields and interest rates.

However, a 1.3p per share write-down to a development asset that NESF is selling and a 0.5p per share reduction in its investment in NextEnergy III, an international fund run by its fund manager, were not anticipated.

Chair Tony Quinlan said: “This has been a very difficult period for the sector, NESF and for our shareholders. The wider renewables backdrop has been uncertain, and recent government consultations and announcements have not helped to provide the clarity the sector needs and therefore had a detrimental effect on the company’s net asset value.”

However, Quinlan said the reduction in the dividend from 8.43p to 4.5p-5.1p per share for the current year to 31 March 2027 would strengthen the balance sheet and enable NESF to deliver long-term growth.

“Today’s NAV is a technical measure, taken at a point in time, but certainly not reflecting the substantial upside optionality inherent in the portfolio,” he said.

NESF shares fell 3.8% or 1.9p to 46.6p. They peaked at 122p in September 2022 before interest rates spiked in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Our view

QuotedData senior analyst Matthew Read said: “While NESF’s update is a difficult read for shareholders, the causes behind its NAV fall are well understood – a combination of government policy changes, higher discount rates, weaker long-term capture price assumptions and a write-down on a development asset – and it does draw a line under some of the uncertainty that has weighed heavily on the share price.

“The dividend reset was painful for income investors, but we still think that this makes sense in the current market backdrop. Moving to a 75% payout of operating free cash flow should make the dividend more sustainable, retain more capital within the business, help reduce gearing and put the business on a better footing going forward.

“Repairing the balance sheet remains a priority and NESF has already completed disposals, reduced its RCF and is targeting further sales to bring gearing down to 40%–45% of gross asset value. The portfolio is still made up of long-life, cash-generative solar and storage assets, and there may be upside from repowering, batteries and future policy changes such as voluntary wholesale CfDs. However, if NESF can demonstrate that the strategic reset can stabilise NAV and therefore rebuild confidence, the discount has the potential to narrow meaningfully.”

Investor’s Daily brought to you by Sam Volkering | June 2, 2026

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“I smell a crash coming…”

So says Lloyd Blankfeinn, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs.

As does Ray Dallio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world…

And the ‘Big Short’ investor, Michael Burry.

Never mind that the economic storm caused by war in the Middle East is already pushing up mortgage payments and driving costs…

With the head of the International Energy Agency also warning that the impact on global energy supplies will surpass the combined effects of the two 1970s oil crises – and the war in Ukraine…

It’s not just another cost of living crisis that could see you seriously out of pocket in 2026.

Concerns over an AI bubble and unprecedented debt levels…

Are fuelling fears of a major stock market crash.

Logic states that anyone buying towards the end of a major bull run is likely to lose money.

I’ve booked a ‘profit’ of £300 with ORIT.

The current profit for the SNOWBALL including earned dividends is £1,007 but a profit is not a profit until the underlying share has been sold and the cash is sitting in your account. Current yield 9.6% so still a hold for the SNOWBALL.

Remember you Snowball should be different from the SNOWBALL as it should reflect the number of years you have before you want to spend your income rather than re-invest all of it.

7.5% yields! Here are 2 very different dividend stocks to consider buying in June

Dividend stocks can be great investments, but they’re not all the same. Stephen Wright outlines two for passive income investors to consider in June.

Posted by Stephen Wright

Published 2 June

AEWU PHP

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Twelfth Magpie’s Premium Investing Services. Become a member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. 

Stocks with high dividend yields can be risky investments. But they can also be huge opportunities for passive income.

Sorting the risks from the opportunities isn’t easy. In my view, however, there are at least a couple that are worth looking at in June.

REITs

When it comes to passive income, I’m a big fan of real estate investment trusts (REITs). These are distinctive businesses with some unique features.

REITs were designed to help people access the property market without needing a huge deposit. And from that perspective, they work.

Fundamentally, REITs own and lease properties to tenants. And they return 90% of their taxable income to investors as dividends. 

Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice.

The downside is that growth can be limited. If you have to distribute all your cash, you can’t use it to buy more properties. 

So why do it? The big advantage is that real estate investment trusts – legally – are exempt from paying tax on the income they generate.

In general, this makes REITs some of the more stable passive income stocks around. And the trade-off for limited growth is higher dividend yields.

Primary Health Properties

I said that REITs are known for stability. But Primary Health Properties (LSE:PHP) arguably takes this to the next level. 

The firm owns and leases GP surgeries and healthcare centres. And around 88% of its rental income comes from government-funded entities.

That means high occupancy rates, strong rent collection metrics and low default risk. All of these are very positive for long-term income investors.

With a 57% loan-to-value ratio, the firm has a lot of debt. And despite long-term leases and reliable tenants, that’s something to keep an eye on.

At 92.45p a share, the stock comes with a 7.79% dividend yield. And its record of increasing this over time is a thing of beauty. 

Source: Fiscal.ai

The growth isn’t spectacular, but it is consistent. That’s why I think income investors should have the stock on their radars.

AEW REIT

In many ways, AEW REIT (LSE:AEWU) is the polar opposite of Primary Health Properties. Instead of stability, it looks for opportunities.

The firm focuses on leases that are close to expiry. This is a high-risk strategy – no REIT wants vacant properties.

That’s a danger when contracts start to run down. But AEW aims to limit this danger by focusing on areas with limited supply.

This means tenants have limited alternatives. And by targeting properties where it can add value, re-leasing becomes a chance to increase rents.

With this type of strategy, managing debt levels is extremely important. But this is something the firm does very well.

Source: Fiscal.ai

A 7.55% dividend yield means AEW shares are worth considering. And the stock could add an interesting dimension to a passive income portfolio.

Passive income

Different investors – rightly – have different ambitions. My own focus is on looking for companies that can reinvest and compound their earnings.

This is a real challenge for REITs that have to distribute their income as dividends. For passive income, however, they can be a great choice.

REITs have a lot in common, but they aren’t all the same. But with Primary Health Properties and AEW, there might be something worth considering for everyone.

NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited

(“NESF” or “the Company”)

Unaudited Quarterly Net Asset Value & Operational Update

NextEnergy Solar Fund, a specialist investor in solar energy and energy storage, announces it has today published its unaudited Q4 Net Asset Value (“NAV”) and Operational Update for the three-month period ended 31 March 2026.

Tony Quinlan, Chair of NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited, commented:

“This has been a very difficult period for the sector, NESF and for our shareholders. The wider renewables backdrop has been uncertain, and recent government consultations and announcements have not helped to provide the clarity the sector needs and therefore had a detrimental effect on the Company’s Net Asset Value.

“We announced in March a strategic reset. To re-base the dividend policy at a sustainable but still healthy level, reduce gearing and reinvest a modest level of incremental capital into the existing portfolio, including complementary battery storage. We believe this will, over time, strengthen NESF and deliver long-term growth, unlocking opportunities within the asset base, over and above current cash flow forecasts.

Today’s NAV is a technical measure, taken at a point in time, but certainly not reflecting the substantial upside optionality inherent in the portfolio.”

Dividend update:

Total dividends declared of 8.43p per Ordinary Share for the twelve months ended 31 March 2026 (31 March 2025: 8.43p). Dividend cover for the twelve months ended 31 March 2026 was 1.2x (31 March 2025: 1.1x).

Following the completion of the target dividend of 8.43p for the financial year ended 31 March 2026, the Company has transitioned from a progressive dividend policy to a percentage-based dividend policy, targeting a 75% distribution of operating free cash flows, post debt servicing and portfolio and fund operating expenses.

The estimated dividend guidance range for the financial year ending 31 March 2027 is between 4.5p – 5.1p per Ordinary Share, subject to portfolio performance, which is above the estimated range previously presented during the strategic reset in March. This guidance is the equivalent to a dividend yield range of c.9% – c.11% as at 2 June 2026.

Guidance is still above the current income for the SNOWBALL of 7%, so still a hold whilst the dividends are paid.

The SNOWBALL started on the 9/09/22 with seed capital of 100k. The SNOWBALL buys and hold currently Investment Trusts as most trade at a discount to NAV and have higher dividends than the market average, also there is usually an unloved sector of the market. Mr. Market is a fickle customer, when/if prices rise and therefore the yield falls, the SNOWBALL may invest in higher yielding ETF’s.

I had a previous portfolio of shares, posted on ADVFN where I applied the following.

Buy and hold higher yielding Trusts.

Sell any shares that made a profit, returning the amount to the capital amount invested. e.g.

Invest 10k and if the share made a profit of say £500,excluding dividends sell shares to the value of £500 and re-invest in the portfolio.

Re-invest all dividends back into the portfolio and sell if you are lucky enough to have one of shares receive a bid above market value.

The portfolio performed ahead of plan and the income yield was twelve percent, achieved in a few years. I may one day have time to write an E book detailing the journey.

All trades don’t work out. BSIF had previously been sold at a loss of £1,091 and was subsequently bought back where the SNOWBALL sold at a modest profit.

BSIF had earned around 2k in dividends which has been re-invested back into the portfolio and earned more income. Remember when you start to live off your dividends, there will be very little cash to re-invest, subject of course to the number of years you have to starting to spend your dividends rather than re-invest them. If you start early enough you should have spare dividend income to re-invest after withdrawals.

The SNOWBALL has protected the capital sum invested and modestly increased the total, although this is very little interest as the plan is never to sell any shares, subject to the rules and live off the income.

Progress to date.

The SNOWBALL is well ahead of the plan with the current fcast the year 2031.

Remember the totals will be achieved but subject to market conditions the actual time may be longer than in the plan.

Story by Alan Oscroft

The Motley Fool

I’ve been doing a bit of research on the habits of successful passive income investors, and I came across a bit of a surprise.

They all seem to name dividend stocks as a major part of their investment portfolios — though that’s not the surprising part. No, what I hadn’t expected was to find a large number of them recommending real estate.

Yes, real estate has been profitable for a number of people. But I had a very shaky venture into it. And it has a fair few drawbacks for individual investors.

Not really passive

One is that many of us won’t have the capital to go for, say, rental properties. It’s not the kind of thing we can get started with just a few hundred pounds, like we can with a Stocks and Shares ISA.

It’s not entirely passive either. Finding tenants, collecting rent consistently, and maintenance all take time and effort. And the latter can sometimes prove very costly if you’re unlucky.

But there’s a way we can get into real estate without facing those major hurdles. And that’s to consider buying real estate investment trusts (REITs). They’re investment companies that put their money into various kinds of properties, and they do all the management. All we have to do is buy shares in them, just as we do with shares in general.

Healthy property

I like Primary Health Properties (LSE: PHP), which invests in GP surgeries, pharmacies, dental clinics. Importantly, they’re mostly rented to the NHS on long-term leases.

Having the UK government as its main customer provides some stability and predictability. But it hasn’t made the trust immune to weak property values in recent times. Over the past five years, the PHP share price has fallen 35%.

Higher interest rates are a burden, especially with debt on the books. At the end of the first half this year, net debt reached £1,367m, up from £1,323m in December 2024. There doesn’t seem to be any liquidity problem, but it could keep the shares down for longer.

Big dividends

On the bright side, a lower share price means a bigger dividend yield. Right now, we’re looking at a forecast 7.9%. And analysts are forecasting rises between now and 2027. We could have long-term capital appreciation too — especially when interest rates fall.

Is Primary Health one to consider for long-term passive income? Even in the current tough real estate market, I think it has to be, especially while the share price is low.

There are plenty of other REITs to choose from, addressing different sectors of the property market.

Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice.

Millionaire style

Quite a few millionaire investors also invest for deferred income. That is, they aim for total returns — capital and dividends — and plan to convert it to income later.

So how do we emulate the millionaire approach to passive income? If we focus mainly on dividend shares, include a REIT or two in our portfolio, and look for long-term growth opportunities too — we could get pretty close. And we don’t have to be millionaires to start.

AI Stocks Are So 2025. This Snubbed 8.1% Dividend Is the Next Big Play

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: June 1, 2026

The stock market is roaring, and according to the media, it’s all because of AI.

But is that really true?

Because if it is, there must be other corners of the market, beyond tech, that are being overlooked. And that’s where we contrarians want to go hunting for high, steady (and cheap!) dividends.

Let’s break this question down, starting from a 50,000-foot view, then zeroing in on an ignored 8.1%-yielding fund with strong upside as investors come to realize its true value.

Source: State Street Investment Management

This table is a great starting point—a kind of roadmap to where the cheapest stocks in the S&P 500 might be hiding out.

It’s simply a table of ETFs for every S&P 500 sector, and it shows us that, yes, tech is a big factor behind this year’s 10% gain (as of this writing) in the overall index.

Since the start of the year, tech has gained an eye-watering 29.4% as of this writing, pretty well all on AI strength.

But that’s not the only reason for the market’s gain. Energy, for example, edges it out, up 28.6% on the oil shortfall caused by the Iran conflict. Materials, industrials and even real estate have also beaten the market’s return.

What I really want to draw your attention to in the chart above is the flat performance of consumer-discretionary stocks.

On its face, you can understand why this is the case: Inflation is high. Hiring is sluggish. Wage growth is waning (to the point it slipped behind the CPI in April). Consumer sentiment? In the tank.

And yet, there’s plenty of evidence that consumers, while grumpy, are still spending. Consider home renos, which, according to the chart below from Apollo Global Management, have surged to account for a quarter of all private-construction spending.

Source: Apollo Global Management

Today’s level even tops the pandemic reno boom, when we were all building home offices and redecorating, thinking we may never go outside again!

It also clearly shows the strength of the American consumer. Compare it to the surge in 2010, for example. Back then, interest rates on home-refinance loans were low. Today, they’re high. Inflation was 2% then. It’s 3% now—after only gradually moving down from its sickening 9% peak in 2022.

But none of that has put off consumers from spending on one of the biggest-ticket items there is for most people. This, in other words, is a textbook contrarian opportunity: a powerful force (consumer spending, in this case) mainstream investors are downplaying.

Here’s how we’re going to go after it.

Forget ETFs—This 8.1%-Paying CEF Is the Best Play on Resilient Consumers

The first place most people would look in a case like this is an ETF like the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY). But we’re dividend investors, and XLY’s sad 0.75% yield just won’t cut it for us.

Instead, we’re looking to this 8.1%-yielding closed-end fund (CEF) called the Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Opportunities Fund (ETV). As we’ll see, it’s nicely positioned to profit from the strong US consumer, including one holding that’s tied directly into the home-reno boom.

Let’s start with the fund’s performance:

ETV Crushes Consumer Stocks

As you can see in purple above, ETV has beaten XLY—the consumer-discretionary ETF, in orange—on a total NAV return basis over the last five years.

(By “total NAV return” I mean the performance of the fund’s portfolio, including dividends collected, as opposed to its market price. The difference between the two creates the big discount ETV currently sports, which we’ll talk about shortly.)

And while the fund’s 150 holdings are weighted toward tech, at 39% of the portfolio, that’s a bit deceiving because its top tech holdings are mainly consumer-focused, including Apple (AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Tesla (TSLA).

And there are plenty of other consumer favorites further down ETV’s holdings list, including Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Best Buy (BBY), Carvana (CVNA), Hershey (HSY), Nike (NKE), Darden Restaurants (DRI), Yum! Brands (YUM), Marriott International (MAR) and Home Depot (HD).

All of these companies are benefiting from Americans’ continued strong spending, with Home Depot directly profiting from surging home renos. That, in turn, is supporting ETV’s 8.1% dividend, which rolls out monthly.

That income also comes from the fund’s covered-call strategy, which provides some downside protection while bringing in cash, since it collects fees on all the options it sells, regardless of how the underlying trades turn out.

One would think a dividend as high as this one, backed by an undervalued basket of blue chips and a proven covered-call strategy, would be high on investors’ buy lists.

Instead, ETV’s 8% discount to NAV is at one of the widest levels I’ve seen in years. That markdown has also bottomed out recently, suggesting investors are finally starting to take notice of this smartly run CEF.

ETV’s Discount Hits Bottom—Then Bounces 

With this momentum, ETV will likely get more bids, boosting its market price and shrinking the discount further. In fact, that’s already starting to happen, as ETV’s total return (based on market price this time) has outrun XLY this year.

ETV’s Narrowing Discount Pushes It Past the Benchmark

Before we wrap, let’s shift back to the dividend: To most investors, ETV’s 8.1% payout seems high, but it’s actually lower than the 8.8% average for all CEFs tracked by my CEF Insider service. So there’s nothing particularly unusual here.

ETV had a stable dividend for years until the 2022 crash, which forced management to reduce it. But another cut is unlikely given the economy’s strength. But even if that were to happen, it would likely only reduce ETV’s 8% yield to something like 7.2%. That’s still a monster payout.

With its high income and still-wide discount, ETV is clearly a better way to profit from America’s underappreciated consumer spending than XLY. And it’s just one of many CEFs that crushes index funds—whether you measure by dividend yield, past performance or both.

One counter intuitive aspect of energy cost rises that I wanted to flag, is just how badly UK listed Renewables Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs) have performed since Putin invaded Ukraine. Below is a chart showing that even the best performing funds, such as HICL and Greencoat UK Wind are down by over -25% since Feb 2022. Solar panel funds like Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF) and Foresight Solar Fund (FSFL) have fared worse, down by almost -40%. Next Energy Solar Fund (NESF) and battery funds like Gore Street Energy Storage (GSF) are down by around -55%. Hydrogen One (HGEN) fell -95% as hydrogen infrastructure is capitally intensive and the returns are uncertain (sound familiar?). The shares were delisted last month.

Since Donald Trump began hostilities against Iran, performance has improved for Greencoat Renewables (GRP) +17% and Octopus Renewables Infrastructure (ORIT) +13%, but these are still down -30% to -40% over the longer term horizon in the chart above.

This can serve as a reminder that investing is not about predicting the future. If you had had perfect foresight that Putin would invade Ukraine, and the Labour governments would be keen to encourage investment in renewables as a source of energy independence, then the REIFs might have seemed like an obvious way to play this theme. The reality was that their business models suffered more from rising interest rates than they gained from rising energy costs.

Posted on 27th May 2026 | By Bruce Packard

Don’t you love markets, you make a market comment as above and then a bid arrives and the whole world of Renewables suddenly appear more appealing.

The SNOWBALL currently has £12,351 invested in XSTR cash fund. The fund is a rainy day fund but currently only pays income of 4% pa.

The fund is to buy a couple of coveted Trusts, if the market falls. If the market hasn’t fallen by the end of this year, the cash will have to be re-invested into the SNOWBALL as the extra income will be needed for next years target.

All future income will be re-invested into the SNOWBALL or a new position will be opened.

Current cash to invest £388