The Important Lesson Kevin O'Leary Learned From His Mother's Trading Portfolio

The O’Shares FTSE Russell Small Cap Quality Dividend ETF OUSM has been reorganized with new criteria met by only 224 companies in the Russell 2,000.

The changes included dropping REITs and demanding profitability and a higher return on assets, O’Shares ETF Investments Chairman Kevin O’Leary said during a Tuesday appearance at Benzinga’s Detroit headquarters.

“I love the cash. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy,” the “Shark Tank” judge said to laughter in the room.

After O’Leary’s mother Georgette died, he learned of a trading portfolio she kept for almost 50 years — and said he discovered an important lesson in the process: 70 percent of stock market returns come from dividends rather than capital appreciation.

“If you look back over generations, all the returns came from the cash returned … by profitable companies,” O’Leary told an audience of business students and interns.

Investing With Beanstox

O’Leary also highlighted the importance of saving and investing for millennials.

Last year, he launched the fintech app Beanstox, which allows users to invest small amounts into any of 1,000 stocks or 100 ETFs, including fractional shares of highly priced equities that young or inexperienced investors may not otherwise be able to access.

“People say, ‘I can’t save 10 percent of my salary,’ and I say ‘bull----,’” O’Leary said.

The app allows users to learn about dividends and building a portfolio, O’Leary said — providing an advantage over roboadvisors.

“The only problem with them for me is you don’t know what you own,” he said. “You don’t learn anything about a stock or an ETF or a bond.”

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"Shark Tank" judge Kevin O'Leary tunes a guitar following his talk at Benzinga in Detroit on Tuesday, May 22. Photo by Dustin Blitchok.