Hamlin Capital Management, LLC

New York, NY
Concentrated Equity Income and High Yield Municipal Bond

Hamlin

Our Partnership

Dakota began working with Hamlin Capital Management in 2009 and assisted in the launch of their Equity Income mutual fund back in March of 2012.

You can visit Hamlin's website for more information, or visit Hamlin on Dakota Pages and view over 75 current and historical documents.

Get to know our partners

We are grateful for our relationship with Hamlin, and for the opportunity to help grow their Equity Income strategy assets from $80 million in 2009 (as of 12.31.2009) to over $3 billion today including over $1.2 billion in their mutual fund (as of 12.31.2023)

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Hamlin Capital Management, LLC is an Equity Income and High-Yield Municipal Bond manager based in New York City. Hamlin was founded in 2001 by Mark Stitzer who is the Managing Partner of the Firm. Hamlin is 100% employee owned by its seven partners, and the Firm has a distinct focus on generating substantial income.

Their goal is to compound that income at attractive rates over time by generally investing in high-yield, unrated tax-exempt municipal bonds and high dividend-yielding equities.

The Firm manages $7.1 billion* in assets, $3.2 of which is invested in the Equity Income Strategy. The strategy is available via mutual fund and separately managed accounts. The Equity Income Strategy is a concentrated portfolio of high-quality companies that pay a generous and growing dividend, trading at a discount to Hamlin’s proprietary valuation assessment. Portfolio holdings are vetted through an intense, bottom-up research process. The strategy is managed by a team of two Portfolio Managers and one Analyst.

*As of December 31, 2023

Strategy Overview

Philosophically, Hamlin believes a well-constructed portfolio should run like a good business, and a good business generates cash flow. The Hamlin Equity Income Strategy is a concentrated portfolio of 25-35 companies that meet the investment team’s strict criteria. The process looks for stocks generating a high current level of yield (1.5x – 2x the S&P 500 yield at purchase), a growing dividend stream with manageable debt, ample free cash flow, and attractive returns on equity. After a detailed fundamental review of the business and management, the team employs an extensive valuation assessment to identify fair value.

Staying disciplined to investing in quality businesses that meet Hamlin’s strict criteria, while trading at an attractive valuation, is why the strategy is concentrated, sector and market cap agnostic. The end result is a high active share, differentiated portfolio that yields over 3.4% (as of 12.31.2023) with a high single-digit dividend growth rate over time. The Hamlin Equity Income strategy is often found in income-oriented portfolios, but investors also use Hamlin as a core value manager. The portfolio has historically exhibited strong downside protection as the dividend has historically smoothed investor returns in down markets.

1

Focus and Alignment

Hamlin does not compromise in their search for durable income streams to compound investor returns. A majority of the partners’ liquid net worths are invested alongside their clients.

2

Strict and Concise Process

Hamlin is clear on the types of businesses that they want to own and the management teams with which they want to align their client capital. They are willing to look across sectors and company sizes for quality, yield, growth, and valuation. The portfolio’s concentration reflects the team’s effort to focus on the companies with the best combination of these characteristics. 

3

Differentiated Portfolio

While the Hamlin portfolio is categorized within the Equity Income universe, the underlying holdings look very different than their peers. “Traditional” equity income managers tend to favor the defensive sectors of Utilities, REITS and Staples. Hamlin is agnostic to sectors and market capitalizations, allowing flexibility in their mandate to execute their process. 

Contact Information

If you would like to learn more about Hamlin and/or speak with a Portfolio Manager, call Dan DiDomenico at (610) 937-5211 or email at dan@dakota.com.