With so much focus on the “magnificent seven” technology stocks, passive funds, ETFs and private markets, some investors may be forgetting the fundamental case for dividend investing.

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Stocks that regularly pay shareholders a portion of their earnings provide investors with upside exposure to bull equities and downside protection against volatility and inflation, according to a panel of portfolio managers at this week’s Morningstar conference in Chicago moderated by Todd Trubey, a senior analyst of equity strategies with Morningstar’s manager research unit.

Noting that Morningstar articles about dividends get “monster hits” from readers, Trubey asked the managers, “How do we have this area where some people are wondering…