The top stock for a long-term portfolio is not necessarily the one that has posted the strongest share price gain.

So what exactly should investors be looking for, and is it possible for a single portfolio to hold three very different companies?

DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) is the largest bank in Singapore.

Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SGX: Z74), better known as Singtel, operates telecommunications businesses in Singapore and Australia, and holds stakes in phone operators across the region.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the American software giant behind Windows and the Azure cloud platform.

These three companies play quite different roles within a portfolio.

DBS and Singtel are held mainly for their dividends, whereas Microsoft would be owned for growth.

DBS: A Dividend-Paying Banking Powerhouse

Let us begin with the one that is a firm favourite among Singapore investors.

DBS has operations spread across Asia, and it is highly effective at generating profits.

In its most recent results, covering the first half of 2026 (1H2026), the bank posted a record net profit of S$6.01 billion.

Importantly, this was achieved with an impressive return on equity (ROE) of 17.9%, the highest among the three local banks.

DBS's wealth management business contributed to this, with fees from affluent clients reaching a record S$1.83 billion.

That money was returned to shareholders.

Over the last twelve months (LTM), DBS distributed S$3.18 per share in dividends to shareholders, of which S$0.60 per share was a capital return and the remainder consisted of ordinary dividends.

That translates into a trailing yield of 4.3%.

DBS can comfortably afford this.

Its capital cushion, the common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, stands at a healthy 14.6%, and only 1.0% of its loans have turned bad.

Declining interest rates represent the primary risk for DBS investors.

Banks earn less on the loans they extend when rates fall.

DBS is not shielded from this, although loan growth and fee income from areas such as wealth management can help soften the impact.

Slower loan growth and rising credit costs could also drag on the bank's earnings.

The key point is that DBS is a solid choice for those seeking dividends from an established bank, provided you accept the interest-rate and economic risks that come with it.

Singtel: A Blend of Dividends and Regional Growth

Singtel is a different beast altogether.

People continue paying their phone and internet bills regardless of what the economy does, and that dependable stream of income is the foundation the company is built on.

It operates telecommunications businesses in Singapore and Australia, the latter through Optus.

Stakes in telcos across the region, including Airtel in India and AIS in Thailand, offer further geographical diversification.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2026 (FY2026), Singtel produced S$2.44 billion in free cash flow.

In the three months to 30 June 2026 (1QFY2027), Singtel's regional stakes generated S$543 million in profit after tax, a rise of 16% year on year (YoY).

Its data centre arm, Digital InfraCo, grew its revenue by 19%, while Optus lifted its EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) by 14%.

As a result, Singtel's underlying profit climbed 21% from a year earlier to S$831 million.

The dividend warrants close attention.

Singtel paid S$0.185 per share for FY2026, but only S$0.134 per share represented a regular dividend.

The remaining S$0.051 came from asset sales, something that cannot continue indefinitely.

Singtel still has roughly S$2.25 billion in planned asset disposals to complete, after which the additional payout may come to an end.

At current prices, this equates to a dividend yield of 4.5%.

The risks facing the telco giant include intensifying competition in its telecommunications operations and the capital expenditure required to grow its data centre business.

Currency fluctuations are also worth monitoring.

On balance, Singtel offers steady telco cash flow along with exposure to the digitalisation and data centre boom.

However, as noted above, its extra dividend payout could be trimmed once its asset disposal programme runs its course.

Microsoft: A Global Technology Growth Engine

Microsoft is the outlier here.

It does pay a dividend, but investors buy it for growth.

A large portion of its revenue is recurring.

Businesses pay for Microsoft 365 through subscriptions, while Azure, its cloud platform, charges them based on what they actually consume.

Microsoft says what distinguishes Azure is its hybrid cloud architecture, which allows companies to run their own servers alongside it.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has given Azure a significant boost.

In the first quarter of its FY2027 (1QFY2027), Azure revenue grew 48% YoY, while total revenue rose 19% YoY to US$92.3 billion.

The catch is how much Microsoft is spending to keep pace.

It invested US$115.9 billion in property and equipment in FY2026, and it has not slowed down since.

Capital spending reached US$46 billion in 1QFY2027, which pushed free cash flow down to US$18.6 billion.

Shareholders were not forgotten, though.

Microsoft still returned US$10.2 billion through dividends and buybacks during the quarter, and the expectation is that all this spending will translate into larger profits a few years from now.

You do pay for that growth.

Microsoft trades at roughly 27 times forward earnings.

The dividend was recently raised 8% to US$0.98 per quarter, but that still amounts to a yield of only about 0.75%.

This valuation leaves little margin for error, given strong competition from rival cloud providers and AI model makers.

Microsoft may appeal to investors who prioritise long-term capital appreciation, although its relatively low dividend yield makes it less suited to those seeking substantial immediate income.

Should You Hold All Three in One Portfolio?

You could, and the combination makes sense.

Banks, telcos, and technology companies tend to behave differently.

DBS and Singtel provide dependable dividend income (reinvesting the payments received can further supercharge your compounding journey).

At the same time, Microsoft offers a stronger growth dimension for the portfolio.

But three stocks alone do not constitute a portfolio.

Both DBS and Singtel depend heavily on the region, so if the region slows down, you would feel it in both at once.

Microsoft brings a different problem: it earns in US dollars, leaving you exposed to currency swings.

It is better to view these three as a starting point, not your entire portfolio.