I'm always on the lookout for shares that would be appropriate to own in my portfolio and most other portfolios.
But it's quite rare for me to find any that beat my current best ideas, which is why I come back to the same names again and again. It's usually better to own more of your best ideas than try to find other ideas.
That's why I think the below two shares could be good in every portfolio:
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU)
Altium is my best idea in the ASX tech space. It ticks lots of the boxes you'd want to see.
Plenty of software as a service (SaaS) revenue. Rising profit margins. An excellent balance sheet with no debt and a growing cash balance. A global earnings base with a strong growth tailwind due to the internet of things. A growing dividend with a commitment to rewarding shareholders.
Altium has big goals and management seem to be doing everything needed to achieve those targets.
It's trading at 50x FY20's estimated earnings. Expensive – but what good share isn't?
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL)
If Altium is one of the best 'growth' shares then Soul Patts is one of the best defensive shares.
It's an investment conglomerate that has been going for over a century. What's so good about being an investment business? Well, it means that it can invest in any business in any industry, whereas many ASX companies are stuck in their respective industries being a supermarket, telco, a bank and so on. This flexibility helps it remain relevant as the years go on.
Its current investments are spread across construction, property, resources, agriculture, pharmacies, financials and other investment businesses.
Soul Patts has managed to beat the ASX index over the long-term and I think the value & contrarian investment style of management should serve it well for the decades to come.
The fact that Soul Patts has a trailing grossed-up dividend yield of 3.7% is very useful for investors looking for income as well.
Foolish takeaway
At the current prices I'm much more drawn to Soul Patts trading at 15x FY21's estimated earnings. Altium may well be a strong market-beater from here, but it may require better-than-expected earnings and interest rates to stay low for quite a while.
