Stating that every Aussie portfolio should hold ASX blue chip shares is a big call. But that’s how confident I am that the 2 blue chip ASX shares below will continue to be good investments well into the future.

There are no certainties in investing (apart from taxes, of course), but here’s why I think Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) and CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) would be the best shares for any ASX investor to buy and hold for the long-term.

Blue Chip 1) Soul Patts

Soul Patts is one of the oldest (and bluest) companies on the ASX – it was founded back in 1872 and listed on the stock exchange in 1903. Since then, the company has built an impeccable reputation for quality returns. It invests in a concentrated basket of quality ASX shares, which it aims to hold over the long-term. Right now, these include TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM), Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC). It has used this portfolio to pay a dividend every year since its inception, which includes the duration of the Great Depression and both World Wars. Soul Patts is also the only company that has delivered 20 years of uninterrupted dividend increases to its shareholders.

This ASX blue chip share won’t make you rich overnight, but I think it’s an essential share to own for any investor that desires a strong and robust long-term portfolio.

2) CSL

CSL shouldn’t be a stranger to any ASX investor these days. This asx blue chip share has managed to blow past all 4 of the ASX banks over the past 5 years to claim the crown of the ASX’s largest company. Today, CSL is a global blue chip healthcare giant, with two cutting edge divisions (Behring and Seqirus) that dominate the blood plasma and vaccine spaces respectively. Part of CSL’s success story is the focus the company has on Research and Development (R&D), which it invests heavily in every year. This long-term focus has been (and I think will continue to be) the secret to CSL’s remarkable success.

CSL resides in an evergreen industry, is still growing at a healthy rate, and has started paying a rapidly rising dividend. As such, I think CSL will continue to be a fantastic investment to hold for the long-term, and (I think) has a place in every ASX investors’ portfolio.

More reading

• These 5 ASX shares were last week’s best performers
• 3 ASX dividend shares to buy and replace a term deposit
• My ASX share for the week
• ASX 200 Weekly Wrap: ASX bears take control as market volatility returns
• Why I think that Soul Patts is the best long-term ASX share

Sebastian Bowen owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post 2 ASX blue chip shares I think every portfolio should hold appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/37voBVH

Between mid-February and late March, shares in SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) fell by around 50% to $11.95. However, since then, SEEK has managed to regain most of this share price decline. The SEEK share price is currently trading at $19.29.

During the initial period of the coronavirus pandemic, investors became spooked due to the sharp fall-off in listing volumes. Billings were down by up to 60% during the week ending 29 March, across all regions.

However, lockdown restrictions are gradually easing across Australia and New Zealand. This is leading to increased investor confidence and rising ad volumes. Investors are becoming increasingly optimistic that the worst of the pandemic is now behind us.

Is the SEEK share price a buy right now?

Job ad volumes starting to rise

New job ads on SEEK are still down significantly on what they were during February and early March, before the full impact of the pandemic hit. However, there are early signs of job ad volume recovery. In SEEK’s latest employment monthly snapshot it revealed that new job ads posted on the Aussie employment platform during the fortnight ended 7 June, were up by a very sharp 60.6%. This represented a further increase on the previous three fortnights of 26.8%, 39.7% and 49.2% respectively.

The Australian market is bouncing back from the pandemic much faster than anticipated in late March. Australia and New Zealand have been two of the most successful countries globally in containing the coronavirus outbreak.

Sectors which are seeing strong growth over the past month in Australia include trades and services, healthcare and medical and hospitality and tourism. In addition, manufacturing, transport and logistics and education and training are all starting to see stronger demand.

July also looks promising. Job ad volumes have historically tended to ease off towards the end of the financial year (i.e. the end of June). July and August tend to then see an initial boost as hirers reaffirm their budgets.

Is the SEEK share price a buy?

Lockdown restrictions appear set to be further eased across Australia over the coming months. There also continues to be strong encouragement by the Australian Government for people to return to work. I think that it’s looking increasingly likely that employment ad volumes will continue to improve significantly over the next few months for SEEK. That is assuming there isn’t a second wave of the pandemic.

SEEK’s second biggest market, New Zealand, also looks set to follow a similar path towards recovery.

From a long-term perspective, I believe SEEK appears to be well positioned for continued growth in revenue and profitability. It has an entrenched and dominant position in its local Australian market and is also continuing to grow its international presence.

While SEEK’s share price has bounced back since late March, it is still well below the 12-month peak it saw in late January.

I therefore believe that the SEEK share price offers investors a reasonable buying opportunity right now.

In light of this, two other online classifieds ASX shares you might want to look are: Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) and REA Group Limited (ASX: REA).

More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• 3 five-star ASX shares I would buy today
• 3 of the best ASX 200 blue chip shares to buy today
• 3 ASX 200 shares I’d buy for 2020 and beyond
• What is the ASX impact of a fall in house prices?

Motley Fool contributor Phil Harpur owns shares of carsales.com Limited, REA Group Limited, and SEEK Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended carsales.com Limited, REA Group Limited, and SEEK Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The post Is the SEEK share price a buy right now? appeared first on Motley Fool Australia.

from Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/2UI00b4