Dogs of The Footsie 2012 portfolio

Constructing this strategy is simple: choose the 10 FTSE 100 shares with the highest yield, invest an equal amount in all 10 and hold for a year.

The Dogs of the Footsie strategy is explained in the March 2012 edition of the magazine.

Over the decade the Dogs strategy has produced spectacular performance. For example, the 10 Dogs of 2009 made an average return of 86.5 per cent after one year compared with 31.9 per cent for the FTSE 100 index (dividends included). The 2011 Dogs returned 5.6 per cent compared with a loss of 1.2 per cent for the Footsie 100.

The dogs are also well ahead over the last 10 years, growing by an average annual 7.3 per cent in share price terms, two-and-a-half times the 2.86 per cent on the index, while the average total return at 13.4 per cent was more than twice the 6.5 per cent for the FTSE 100.

The 2012 portfolio's start date is 1 February and the constituents are listed below, along with their share price performance and links to fact sheets at our sister website Interactive Investor. Please note that dividend payments are not included in the current value (notional £1,000 invested in each) as listed below.

The current value below assumes allows for 0.5 per cent stamp duty reserve tax, along with Interactive Investor's £10 dealing charge in each share.

Investors can follow this portfolio or set one up themselves. The first step is to find the 10 highest yielding shares of the FTSE 100 index. You can do this here: www.iii.co.uk/markets/?type=stockfilter. Check that a potential member has not already warned that its dividend will be cut. When you have identified the 10 shares you must split your chosen investment level between all 10 shares equally and hold all of them for one year.

Current value calculated using data at least 15 minutes delayed. Source: Interactive Investor.