Easy Income Portfolio: May 2025 Update

It has been anything but a quiet month in markets but quiet is exactly what the Easy Income Portfolio has achieved once again.

The tariff and trade noise has caused violent moves in the markets, and we have missed almost all of them.

We just wrapped up a pretty interesting stretch for the portfolio. It wasn't a runaway rally, but we had more winners than losers, and some of the higher-yielding names really pulled their weight. Overall, the portfolio did what it's designed to do: deliver steady income while keeping a lid on volatility, even as the market tossed a few curveballs our way.

Here's a breakdown of what happened this past month, what we're holding, and how the whole thing holds up if interest rates start to move in either direction.

Winners, Losers, and Everyone in Between

Let's start with the obvious winner: Dorchester Minerals DMLP. This royalty trust keeps pumping out income, and with oil and natural gas prices creeping higher, the market rewarded it. We're not getting our hands dirty in the oil patch—DMLP just collects checks from other people's wells. That's our kind of energy play.

On the credit side, SRLN (floating-rate loans), HYIN (high-yield bonds), BANX (bank credit), and BIZD (business development companies) all had solid months. Interest rates stayed higher for longer, which helped these credit-heavy positions earn their keep. Even PFFA, our preferred stock ETF, held its ground thanks to active management and a tilt toward higher-coupon names.

TYG, which holds pipeline and energy infrastructure companies, saw a little uptick too. It's not flashy, but it does tend to quietly rise when energy demand picks up.

Meanwhile, a few names were flat or down. REM (mortgage REITs) and MTBA (Simplify MBS ETF) were a little soft, mostly due to interest rate jitters. When rates bounce around, mortgage-related funds feel it first. FAX and XBB, our global and Canadian bond funds, didn't do much—but that's fine. They're there to add stability, not fireworks.

FINS and SPE, which invest in financials and special situations, also had a quiet month. But these kinds of holdings are like option tickets. We don't need them to work every month, just when the time is right.

What Exactly Are We Holding?

This portfolio isn't just a bunch of random tickers thrown together. Everything has a role. Here’s a quick rundown of what each fund gives us:

(Ticker: MTBA) – Mortgage-backed securities (very sensitive to rate changes)

(Ticker: FINS) – Banks, insurance companies, and financial services

(Ticker: SRLN) – Floating-rate corporate loans

(Ticker: DMLP) – Oil and gas royalties (no drilling risk)

(Ticker: XBB) – Canadian investment-grade bonds

(Ticker: PFFA) – U.S. preferred stocks

(Ticker: BANX) – Subordinated debt from smaller banks

(Ticker: JRI) – Global infrastructure and real estate

(Ticker: FAX) – Asia-Pacific government and corporate bonds

(Ticker: TYG)– Energy pipelines and infrastructure

(Ticker: CEFS) – A basket of discounted closed-end funds

(Ticker: BIZD) – BDCs, which lend to small and mid-sized companies

(Ticker: HYIN) – High-yield corporate bonds (excluding financials)

(Ticker: SPE) – Special opportunities and deeply discounted assets

(Ticker: REM) – Mortgage REITs (very high income, but high risk)

Bottom line: we've got credit, income, energy, real assets, and a little bit of global exposure all working together.

How the Portfolio Holds Together

Now let's talk about how these pieces move in relation to one another. This isn't a portfolio where everything moves in the same direction. In fact, that's the whole point. Some assets—like DMLP and TYG—move with oil prices. Others—like FAX and XBB—move with interest rates. A few—like REM and MTBA—are tied to the mortgage market and how investors feel about housing credit risk.

When we ran the correlation data, we found that a lot of these funds don't really move together. That's exactly what we want. Low correlations mean if one piece gets hit, something else can hold up or even rally. It's like having a group of friends where one's always calm, one's the life of the party, and one always brings snacks. Everyone has a role.

What Happens if Rates Move? We Ran the Numbers

We also stress-tested the portfolio to see how it would react to big moves in interest rates.

If interest rates jump by 1%:

• Bond funds like XBB, FAX, and REM would take a hit—anywhere from 3% to 5%.
• PFFA and BANX would probably dip a little too.
• But names like DMLP, TYG, and SRLN would likely go up. These types of investments actually benefit when rates rise because they're linked to commodities or float with the market.

If rates drop by 1%:

• Bonds bounce back. REM, XBB, and FAX could gain 4% to 5%.
• Preferreds like PFFA would catch a tailwind.
• Floating-rate loans and energy plays would lag, but we wouldn't expect anything dramatic.

The key takeaway? This portfolio has protection on both sides of the rate spectrum. If rates rise, we've got floating-rate credit and oil. If rates fall, we've got bonds and preferreds ready to rally.

The Bottom Line

This portfolio is built to grind out income while avoiding big drawdowns. We're not trying to shoot the lights out, and we're not betting the farm on any single theme. What we are doing is collecting income from multiple sources—credit, energy, real estate, and discounted assets—and letting time and discipline do the work.

If the Fed gets it wrong, we've got hedges. If they pull off a soft landing, we've got plenty of yield. And if volatility keeps creeping in, we're holding assets that don't all move the same way.