Danial Peris is a portfolio manager for Federated Investors in Pittsburgh, PA. He holds a Ph.D in History, from the University of Illinois, a M.Phil. from St. Antony's College, Oxford and an B.A. from Williams College. As a historian, he brings a fresh and unique perspective to investing.

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Using Robert Schiller's data set, Peris found that from 1926 to 2009, the average total return was 9.7%, of which the base dividend yield represented 4.2% and the dividend growth rate (which over long time intervals is equal to growth rate of share prices) was 4.4%, for a total of 8.6% per year, or almost 90% of the total return of 9.7% per year. That is, almost 90% of the stock market's historical total return can be attributed to dividend payments.  

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And this then, is the secret of successful investing. Buy financially stable companies that have a history of paying their shareholders a signficant and growing dividend. It's that simple.​