Seasoned investors will agree – the earlier in life you start acquiring a share portfolio, the better.
Most will wish they started earlier, many will try to convince their children to start earlier, a clever few will put the wheels in motion on their behalf.
This article is for grandparents, grandparents-to-be and savvy mums and dads who want to give their kids a head start in life that a tidy term deposit cannot provide.
National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB)
If banking giants like financial services group National Australia Bank fail, let's face it, we are all history.
When you're looking to put together a long-term share portfolio for the little ones in your life one of the big 4 banks is a given, and right now few appear to be as fundamentally strong as National Australia Bank.
Shares in National Australia Bank are $30.22 at the time of writing, down from $32.20 at this time last year – possibly signalling buy-territory for the stock, which is one of Australia's largest businesses, with a reputation for its future-focused strategies.
National Australia Bank shares have likely slipped lately due to a fall in national house prices, with February being a bad month for Sydney and Melbourne house prices in particular.
NAB has a strong focus on the domestic mortgage market, which keeps its ups and downs closely tied to dwelling prices and rental yields, but it delivers in terms of solid dividends with a 6.55% fully-franked dividend yield, grossed up to $9.36%, which beats the interest rate you'd get for your dollars in one of its savings accounts.
Future Generation Global Invstmnt Co Ltd (ASX: FGG)
This stock is a sure-fire way to give your portfolio exposure to global equities and emerging economies, without the exhaustive due diligence and guesswork you'd need to do to broaden your horizons yourself.
But take heed, this exposure to global equities means you will also get a taste of the flow-on effects of any global meltdown type situation.
But if you're investing for the long-term, as you would for a grandchild, time is on your side, and hanging in there during inevitable periods of global downturns will mean you're around when things are rosy too.
Future Generation Global is a well-managed fund and it has a dual mandate going for it too – balancing its priorities of making shareholders' profits and giving a percentage of assets to youth mental health charities. Its management team come with some respectable credentials, its board work for free, and its fund managers do not charge management or performance fees.
The Future Generation share price has tracked up in the last 12 months, sitting slightly down from its 52-week high of $1.29 in December 2017 to $1.20 at the time of writing.
Definitely a long-term one to consider for your future generations.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)
Woodside Petroleum produces 7% of the global LNG supply and while electric vehicles and similar technology threaten to knock oil and gas producers off their pedestal, it won't likely happen for several decades yet.
Woodside logged strong full-year results last month, with healthy cash flow and margins, steady output and net profit up 18% to US$1 billion.
Shares in Woodside have been tracking down since the beginning of February, at $29.12 at the time of writing, down from $30.59 at this time last year and at a substantial slide from its 2018 calendar year high of $34.26 on January 9.
With Woodside well-placed geographically to supply Asia and already controlling a large slice of the global LNG supply, things look bright for the Australian oil and gas company, with the trick for investors being finding the right price to buy in at.
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)
Share prices in Macquarie Group Ltd have stalled a bit recently, but according to analysts, the trend is upwards for this global provider of banking, financial advisory, investment and fund management services.
Macquarie is up 1.6% to $103.74 at the time of writing, with a projected price target of $105.97 as the stock tracks 8.9% above its 200-period moving average.
If a downward trend emerges the stock could move into buy territory and in terms of banking giants to bet on in the long-term it usually manages to stay ahead of the game. Also, it isn't reliant on the local mortgage market like many of its peers.
Macquarie also recently predicted a 10% rise in profit for FY18, with a healthy surplus and plenty of proven ability to leverage its overseas interests to boost earnings.
Macquarie was in buy territory in September last year when the share price slipped to around $80 – investors should keep this benchmark in mind when they look at buying in.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
It may appear as if Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX; WOW) is winning the supermarket war at present, but while Woolworths basks in the glory of outperforming Wesfarmers Ltd's owned Coles supermarkets for the fifth straight quarter, Wesfarmers is sitting on some solid fundamentals.
Wesfarmers has some work to do to remodel its online retail model, which will hamper its short-term growth, but when the issues with the company's Bunnings UK and Target businesses blow over, its Officeworks, Bunnings ANZ and Kmart brands can truly shine.
In terms of buying opportunities, Wesfarmers has been on a price plateau for about the last 5 years, with today's price of $$41.35 at the time of writing down from $42.85 at the same time last year.
Certainly one to watch for its healthy dividend yield.
