Is this the perfect place to start investing in ASX shares with $500?

There are a wide range of potential ASX share investments that Australians can make when starting out with $500.

One of the tricky things is that a beginner portfolio can be quite unbalanced. If one’s first investment was a business like Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) or Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), then 100% of the portfolio is invested in just one name.

It would be good to invest in an option that provides everything a beginner investor may want. I think the philanthropic investment business Future Generation Australia Ltd (ASX: FGX) could meet a beginner’s criteria.

Diversification

Future Generation Australia is a listed investment company (LIC) which is different to most other LICs on the ASX. It is invested in the funds of a number of Australia’s leading fund managers.

However, these fund managers don’t charge Future Generation Australia with management fees of 1% (or more) as a typical fund might. Instead, they work for free so that the LIC can donate 1% of the value of its net assets each year to youth charities.

By having exposure to numerous funds, investors can benefit from owning a lot of underlying stocks, just by owning this ASX share. At the end of November 2025, its portfolio contained more than 400 underlying securities.

Some of the fund managers it’s invested in include Paradice, Bennelong, L1 Group Ltd (ASX: L1G), Wilson Asset Management, Cooper Investors, Vinva, Eley Griffiths, Firetrail and QVG Capital.

These fund managers provide better diversification than the overall ASX share market, in my view, because their portfolios are much less focused on the ASX banking sector. Instead, more is allocated to industrials, discretionary retailers, communication services, IT and cash.

Returns

Diversification is helpful for lowering risks and overall portfolio volatility. But, ultimately, we want to see positive returns. Market-beating returns would be preferable.

Future Generation Australia’s portfolio has been very satisfactory.

At the end of November, the ASX share’s portfolio return was 11.8% per annum over three years, 10% per annum over five years and 10.9% over seven years. These figures compare favourably to the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO).

The funds are focused on smaller businesses than the ASX 300 is focused on, giving investors the chance to buy in faster-growing companies.

Philanthropy

As a shareholder myself, I’m very pleased to know that Future Generation Australia is donating millions of dollars each year to a number of youth charities.

Some of the charities that the ASX share supports are Australian Children’s Music Foundation, Brave, Yiliyapinya, The Mirabel Foundation, Raise, Giant Steps, Karinyahouse, KidsXpress, Yawarda and Lighthouse Foundation.

According to Future Generation Australia, the donations to date have totalled $49 million.

Dividends

Some beginner investors may be looking for passive income from their investments. Plenty of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) don’t have a good dividend yield.

Future Generation Australia aims to deliver investors a mixture of capital growth and dividends over time. Pleasingly, the business has increased its dividend every year over the past decade.

The ASX share’s FY25 dividend yield translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of 7.8%, including franking credits, at the time of writing.

For investors who don’t want cash payments, they can utilise the LIC’s dividend re-investment plan (DRP) and see the value of the holding increase over time.

Overall, this ASX share offers everything a beginner investor could want.

The post Is this the perfect place to start investing in ASX shares with $500? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Don’t want to rely on your wage? Build a second income with these ASX shares
• $20,000 in excess savings? Here’s how to try and turn that into a second income in 2026
• A dividend giant I’d buy over BHP shares right now!

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has positions in Future Generation Australia. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.