I have a question relating to the performance of the Betashares ETF “HVST” over the last 12 months.

The objective of the ETF is to pay a monthly Dividend, so naturally this is of interest to retirees like myself that need regular income.  But this seems to be at the expense of steadily eroding the investments in the Fund.   Over the past 12 months the NAV per share has steadily declined from around 19.9 to the current 17.03.  That’s a capital loss of around 15%.

Meanwhile, the total dividends that I have received (including franking credits) amounts to just over 12%.  Net net, my total return over the last 12 months is around MINUS 2.5% to 3%.   Meanwhile the market as a whole has returned significantly more.

Can you give me some general comments of the HVST strategy please?  Is the HVST fund’s investment approach strategically flawed:- (a) in terms of their investments being focused only in the highest dividend paying stocks, and (b) in terms of their dividend payout percentage being unrealistically high?

I am trying to decide whether to dump all my shares in this ETF.

Kind Regards