One of BHP Billiton's biggest shareholders says the miner has succeeded in resetting expectations after slashing its dividend to cope with lower commodity prices, but says the miner has been a questionable investment over the past decade.

Ross Barker, managing director of Australian Foundation Investment Company, said the commodity price carnage had forced a reset at BHP. He had previously called for the miner to drop its progressive dividend policy, which held that the dividend would not fall in US dollar terms, saying it was a bad fit for a cyclical company.