The dividend arrived. Here is exactly what I did with it.

Something arrived in the portfolio over the past six weeks that I have been waiting to write about since I started this newsletter.

The dividends landed.

Not from one position. Five of the eight paid; Jarir, Al Rajhi, SNB, STC, and Aramco, across April, May, and June. Here is what that looked like in actual numbers.

Eight positions. Total cost deployed: SAR33,463. Market value as of 5th June: SAR36,214. Unrealised gain: SAR2,751, up 8.2% since I started.

The portfolio is not equal-weighted. The Albilad MSCI US Equity ETF (9406) is the largest position at 34.5% of the portfolio, 770 units bought at SAR14.00, now trading at SAR16.80. That is an unrealised gain of SAR2,156 on its own, up 20%. A US equity ETF listed on Tadawul, denominated in SAR, giving me global market exposure alongside the local dividend positions.

Aramco (2222) is the second largest at 18.1%, 258 shares at SAR26.09, now SAR27.16. Up 4.1%.

Jarir Marketing (4190) is up 11.2%, 250 shares bought at SAR14.55, now at SAR16.18.

On the other side: Saudi National Bank (1180) is the weakest position. 52 shares at SAR41.63, now SAR39.16, an unrealised loss of SAR128, down 5.9%. SNB paid its dividend and continues to grow earnings. The capital loss is the price of buying a bank during a period of regional geopolitical uncertainty. I am holding.

Six dividend payments across six weeks. Here is the breakdown:

Jarir Marketing paid SAR0.26 per share for Q4 2025. Eligibility date 6 April, payment 15 April. On 250 shares: SAR65.00.

Al Rajhi Bank paid SAR1.75 per share for H2 2025. Ex-date 21 April. On 41 shares: SAR71.75.

Saudi National Bank paid SAR1.15 per share for H2 2025. Eligibility 15 April. On 52 shares: SAR59.80.

Saudi Telecom (STC) paid SAR0.55 per share for Q1 2026, part of their fixed quarterly policy running through Q3 2027. Eligibility May 2026. On 41 shares: SAR22.55.

Jarir paid again for Q1 2026, SAR0.21 per share. Eligibility 1 June, payment 10 June. On 250 shares: SAR52.50.

Aramco paid SAR 0.3393 per share for Q1 2026. Eligibility 1 June, payment 9 June. On 258 shares: SAR87.54.

Total confirmed dividends received: SAR359.14.

The three ETF positions, Albilad US (9406), Albilad Saudi (9412), and Alinma Sukuk (9404), have not yet made confirmed distributions. Those are periodic and I will report them when they arrive.

Most personal finance content treats dividend reinvestment as obvious. "Reinvest automatically. Compound forever."

The reality of sitting with actual cash in your investment account is different. There is a moment, t lasted about four minutes for me, where I looked at SAR359 and thought about something else I could do with it.

I transferred it straight back into the portfolio.

Specifically, into Aramco. It is the largest single-name position. It has the clearest dividend policy of anything I hold. The logic was simple: concentrate reinvestment into the position with the most reliable and growing income stream. Let that compound first.

That is not a sophisticated framework. It is a rule. Rules beat decisions in these moments.

The dividends landing made something else more visible: the cash still sitting in a Saudi bank account earning around 2% as global rates ease.

The portfolio is yielding approximately 2.6% on cost from the five income-paying positions alone and this is before the ETF distributions arrive. That gap is not dramatic today. Compounded over five years, the difference between idle cash at 2% and a dividend portfolio growing at 5–6% yield on cost is substantial.

The remaining cash position is being deployed into the portfolio over the next two months. The same logic as the original seed capital: the money compounds when it is in the market, not when it is in the analysis loop.

Based on current holdings and confirmed dividend policies:

Aramco (quarterly, SAR0.34/share on 258 shares): SAR350/year
Jarir (quarterly, SAR0.21/share on 250 shares): SAR210/year
SNB (semi-annual, SAR0.30/year est. on 52 shares): SAR120/year
Al Rajhi (semi-annual, SAR2.50/year on 41 shares): SAR103/year
STC (quarterly, SAR0.55/share on 41 shares): SAR90/year

Estimated annualised income from five positions: SAR873 per year.

That is not a retirement income. It is what year one looks like. The positions are small. The reinvestment cycle has just begun. The compounding has not started in earnest yet.

In five years, with consistent monthly surplus deployment and full dividend reinvestment at current rates, this number looks materially different. I will show that model in a future issue.

Next issue: Something I got wrong, and what I changed.

— The Quiet Compounder

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