If you’re looking for an easy way to invest in international shares for diversification, then exchange traded funds (ETFs) could be the answer.

But which ETFs should you look at? Here are two popular ETFs that have generated strong returns for investors:

BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX: ASIA)

This ETF gives investors easy access to ~50 of the largest technology and ecommerce companies that have their main area of business in Asia (excluding Japan).

This means you’ll be buying a piece of tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com, Meituan Dianping, Pinduoduo, Samsung, and Tencent Holdings.

In respect to Meituan Dianping, it is one of China’s largest e-commerce companies. Its apps connect consumers with local businesses for everything from food deliveries, hotel bookings, movie tickets, and many other services.

Meituan is also spending billions on developing autonomous delivery vehicles. This includes drone and self-driving car deliveries. So, could be one to watch very closely in the coming years.

Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)

Another ETF to consider is the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF. This fund aims to track the performance of the famous NASDAQ-100 Index.

The NASDAQ-100 index comprises 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the world-famous NASDAQ market. BetaShares notes that this includes many companies that are at the forefront of the new economy.

Among its top holdings are Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook (Meta), Intel, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, PayPal, and Tesla. None of these companies need an introduction. In fact, it is quite likely that readers have used many of their services in the last 24 hours.

Given their positive long term outlooks, this ETF could be a great buy and hold option for investors.

The post 2 outstanding ETFs for ASX investors to buy next week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Here’s why the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF has tanked 4% today
• 2 excellent ETFs for ASX investors to buy this month
• 3 excellent ETFs for beginner investors to buy
• 3 wonderful ETFs for ASX investors to buy today
• Why is the Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF leaping ahead on Thursday?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended BETANASDAQ ETF UNITS. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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When it comes to dividend-paying ASX shares, chances are one’s mind doesn’t immediately spring to the tech sector. There are many sectors on the ASX renowned for their hefty dividend payments. ASX bank shares? Of course. Resources? Definitely. But ASX tech shares? Not so much.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has many famous names in its tech sector. But few are famous for paying dividends. This is not unique to the ASX. Some of the largest tech companies in the world don’t pay dividends, despite some having mountains of cash on their balance sheet.

Giants like Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) have never paid a dividend, despite all being valued at over US$1 trillion at various points in time.

But that doesn’t mean the ASX has no dividend-paying tech shares. So let’s embark on a mission to find the highest-yielding tech share on the ASX today.

So yes, plenty of ASX tech shares have never paid out a dividend. This includes Xero Limited (ASX: XRO), Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) and Block Inc (ASX: SQ2). Block’s Afterpay didn’t fund any dividends when it was an ASX share either.

But plenty of others do. Some ASX tech shares that currently pay dividends include Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC).

Dicker Data dividend dominates the ASX tech sector

But these companies are not even close to being the highest-yielding ASX tech dividend share. That honour probably goes to Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR).

Dicker Data is a company that provides a range of hardware, software and cloud-based technology services. It is probably best known for its hardware, which includes selling data storage, servers, networking equipment and more.

This company has spent the past few years cultivating what is now a fairly impressive dividend record. Dicker Data has been paying dividends consistently for over a decade now.

What’s more, it has managed to deliver a dividend pay rise every single year since 2012. That includes through the COVID-ravaged year of 2020.

In 2011, the company paid out a total of 9 cents per share in dividends. But this year, Dicker Data has doled out a total of 26 cents per share in dividends, all fully franked.

That gives this company a dividend yield of 4.87% at the market close share price on Friday, or 6.96% grossed-up with the full franking.

That is a decent dividend yield by any ASX standards, even coming in above what Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is offering right now. And compared to other ASX tech shares, it is certainly a sector leader.

The post Here’s the ASX tech share with the highest dividend yield right now appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Altium, Amazon, Appen Ltd, Block, Inc., Dicker Data Limited, Meta Platforms, Inc., WiseTech Global, Xero, and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc., Dicker Data Limited, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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I’m a big advocate of buy and hold investing and believe it is the best way for investors to grow their wealth.

In light of this, to demonstrate how successful it can be, I occasionally like to pick out a number of popular ASX shares to see how much a single $20,000 investment 10 years ago would be worth now.

This time around I have picked out the two ASX shares that are listed below:

Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG)

It may not be an exciting tech share, but this appliance manufacturer has got its shareholders very excited over the last decade with some big returns. This has been driven by Breville’s consistently solid sales and earnings growth, which has been underpinned by the company’s ongoing investment into research and development, some high quality acquisitions, and its ongoing global expansion.

Over the last decade, Breville’s shares have thoroughly beaten the market with an average total return of 16.1% per annum. This would have turned a $20,000 investment into a sizable $89,000 today.

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD)

This corporate travel specialist has been a great place to invest over the last decade. During this time, Corporate Travel Management has gone from being a small cap flying largely under the radar into one of the leaders in the industry.

This has led to significant revenue and earnings growth, which has driven exceptionally strong returns for its lucky shareholders. And that’s despite the fact that its shares are trading nowhere near their pre-COVID highs. Since this time in 2012, Corporate Travel Management’s shares have generated an average total return of 23.4% per annum. This would have turned a $20,000 investment into a whopping $164,000 today.

The post $20,000 invested in these ASX shares 10 years ago is worth how much? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Wednesday
• Here’s why brokers are bullish on these ASX growth shares
• What’s driving ASX 200 consumer shares on Tuesday?
• 5 ASX All Ords shares going ex-dividend on Wednesday
• 2 of the best ASX shares to buy now according to Morgans

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Electric-vehicle (EV) pioneer Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) is exploring the feasibility of developing a battery-grade lithium hydroxide refinery on the Gulf Coast of Texas or Louisiana, according to its late-August filing of an application seeking a property tax break in Texas.

Like other EV makers, Tesla’s supply chain is dependent on lithium — which has soared in price due to tight supply — because it’s used to produce the lithium-ion batteries that power EVs. Tesla also uses these batteries in its energy-storage products.

Here’s what investors should know.

Tesla’s proposed Texas lithium refining plant and timeline

In its application for a property tax break in Texas, here’s how Tesla described its proposed operation in Robstown, Nueces County, which is about 16 miles west of Corpus Christi (see map below):

Tesla, Inc. is evaluating the possible development of a battery-grade lithium hydroxide refining facility, the first of its kind in North America, as well as facilities to support other types of battery materials processing, refining, and manufacturing and ancillary manufacturing operations in support of Tesla’s sustainable product line.

Tesla will process raw ore material into a usable state for battery production. The process Tesla will use is innovative and designed to consume less hazardous reagents and create usable byproducts compared to the conventional process.

The final product, battery-grade lithium hydroxide, will be packaged and shipped by truck and rail to various Tesla battery manufacturing sites supporting the necessary supply chain for large-scale and electric vehicle batteries.

Tesla estimates the project will create 162 jobs. If it chooses the Robstown site, the company said construction could begin as early as the fourth quarter of 2022, and that it expects commercial operations would start by the fourth quarter of 2024.

A Louisiana site is in the running, too 

As is typical for large companies that are considering building a significant new facility, Tesla is shopping around for tax-break deals from U.S. states. 

In its Texas filing, it said the lithium “project could be located anywhere with access to the Gulf Coast shipping channel” and that it’s also evaluating a site in Louisiana.

The company specified that the final product — battery-grade lithium hydroxide — will be “shipped by truck and rail to various Tesla battery manufacturing sites,” so we can deduce that the Gulf shipping channel is likely needed for incoming raw materials. 

Currently, in the United States, Tesla manufactures its batteries for its EVs and energy-storage products at its Gigafactory Nevada, which it operates with partner Panasonic. The company also has plans to produce batteries at its new Gigafactory Texas, which is located just outside the Austin city limits. 

We can’t know which state will provide Tesla with the most attractive tax breaks. But all other things being roughly equal, Texas would seem the frontrunner since the company already has operations in the Lone Star State. Last year, Tesla relocated its global headquarters from California to the Austin area, and it’s currently ramping up EV production at Gigafactory Texas.

Tesla’s possible lithium refinery site in Robstown is less than 20 miles from the Port of Corpus Christi and less than 200 miles by vehicle from its existing Austin area factory. Any site in Louisiana that’s in close proximity to one of its seaports would be notably further away from Tesla’s current Texas operations, per my review using worldportsource.com. So unless the Pelican State’s economic package majorly dwarfs whatever Texas offers, it seems highly unlikely it will be home to a Tesla lithium refinery.

Tesla will also surely be evaluating weather factors, as hurricanes are not infrequent along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Tesla’s potential lithium production plans aren’t a surprise

In the fall of 2020 at Tesla’s “Battery Day,” CEO Elon Musk announced the company had obtained the rights to 10,000 acres in Nevada where it planned to extract lithium from clay deposits using a proprietary process it had developed.

Tesla hasn’t disclosed what lithium feedstock it aims to use in the battery-grade lithium hydroxide refinery that it’s considering constructing. It’s possible the company has developed a clay extraction technique, though it doesn’t seem likely. No company is producing lithium from clay at commercial scale. (Lithium Americas is close to the commercialization stage at its lithium clay project in Nevada, but that project keeps being delayed by lawsuits from environmentalists and Native Americans.)

A more robust supply chain

Tesla having its own source of battery-grade lithium would be a positive for it and its investors. This would give it better control over its supply chain and lessen the probability that its business would be hurt by a global shortage of this critical battery material. Along with the availability benefit, it’s also possible that Tesla could reap a cost benefit, at least eventually. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Tesla is exploring building a lithium refining plant in Texas appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why Tesla stock dropped today
• Better buy: Tesla stock or a Nasdaq index fund?
• Why Tesla shares moved higher today

Beth McKenna has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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