4 investment themes for the long term 

Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX:VGS) offers investors international exposure.

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Four investment themes for the long-term include tourism, retirement income, low emission and renewable energy, and globalisation. Here are four shares that could help you profit from thees themes.

Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) is a play on infrastructure and tourism. Running the largest airport in Australia means that a growing number of overseas tourists, especially from China, enter Australia through Sydney Airport. The risk is the company is trading on a steep forward price-earnings-ratio (PER) of 44x, and may be seen as a bond proxy so that when bond rates start to move up the share price may come off. But, overall the business is stable and is likely to continue to grow steadily. The current dividend yield is 5% per annum fully franked. 

Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF), the leading provider of annuities in Australia, has seen significant buying support in the last few days after the company presented at the Macquarie Conference. With the weight of money in retirement phase growing at a fast rate, Challenger is focusing on facilitating products that can support retirement income. Challenger is trading on a forward PER of 18x and is paying an annual dividend yield of 2.8%. 

Origin Ltd (ASX: ORG), an elecitricy and gas provider, is focusing on clean energy with gas to play a key role in reducing emissions, as well as renewables. The rebranding of the company with the tagline "Good Energy" is to be more customer-centric. Origin is trading on a forward PER of 16x. 

Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) is a global equities Exhange Traded Fund (ETF) that provides investors with indexed exposure to the MSCI Index. The top five holdings, out of a total of 1,595 companies as at 31 March 2018, are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, JP Morgan and Facebook. An international ETF is a way to gain diversification from the Australian market. The fees are low with an expense ratio of 0.18%, and the ETF is easily traded. 

Motley Fool contributor Rosemary Steinfort has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Challenger Limited and Sydney Airport Holdings Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF. 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.

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