Australia is one of the richest countries in the world. However, diversification is not utilised by a lot of Australian investors. Most people have a lot of their wealth tied up in one or a handful of properties plus bank shares. Arguably, the bank shares are also heavily linked to the property market.
Therefore, I think it's very important for every investor to diversify away from these two areas.
Here are three ideas to do that:
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)
If you still want a slice of the property market but you can't afford to buy or don't want to buy then REA Group could be a great way to get exposure.
It is the owner of many Australian leading property sites such as realestate.com.au, realcommercial.com.au, flatmates.com.au. It's able to implement strong price increases due to its market-leading position.
The business also has investments in property sites overseas in the US, India and South East Asia.
It's currently trading at 36x FY18's estimated earnings.
Magellan Global Trust (ASX: MGG)
Magellan Global Trust is an investment trust that invests on behalf of investors. It focuses on overseas investments, which is a great thing because most Australians are too focused on the domestic share market.
In its latest update some of its top holdings were Facebook, Alphabet (Google), Apple, Lowe's, Kraft Heinz and Starbucks.
You can't get the size and quality of the above businesses directly on the ASX, which is why I think Magellan Global Trust is worth considering.
InvoCare is Australia and New Zealand's largest funeral operator. The sad reality is that a certain number of people will die each year. In-fact, the number of people requiring a funeral is expected to steadily rise for at least the next two decades.
Now could be a good time to invest in InvoCare shares because it's investing for future growth and for changing demands from loved ones, which will hopefully boost revenues and profit in the long run.
InvoCare is currently trading at 24x FY18's estimated earnings.
Foolish takeaway
I believe that all three shares would make excellent choices for diversification. At the current prices I'd definitely want to buy all three compared to a property or bank shares. However, REA Group is trading a little expensively for my liking, so InvoCare and Magellan Global Trust would probably be better buys.
