Still, in the wake
of the 2008 U.S. financial crisis, he started thinking that the way
of the
future for financial institutions might be a different
kind of business model — one that emphasized social good as much as turning a
profit.
While I wouldn't expect that
kind of dividend growth to continue on for the foreseeable
future, as much
of this growth was propelled by a growing payout ratio, the current payout ratio
of 45.3 % still leaves a lot
of room for continued dividend increases, even increases that exceed the rate
of underlying
profit growth for the next few years.