Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could be a good way to invest into shares.
There are lots of different investments to consider. Businesses in the technology space may have a particularly good outlook because of the higher margins and the typically stronger growth profile.
These two could be particularly good ones to think about:
Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)
This is a sector-based ETF. As the name may suggest, it gives investor exposure to the global cybersecurity space.
Betashares says that with cybercrime on the rise, the demand for cybersecurity services is expected to grow strongly for the foreseeable future. The size of the global cybersecurity market is expected to be US$248.26 billion, up from US$137.63 billion in 2017.
The portfolio includes global cybersecurity giants, as well as emerging players, from across the world. A vast majority of the portfolio, around 90.3%, is from the US. But the underlying earnings are effectively from around the world.
In terms of the actual holdings, there are a total of 39 positions. But the biggest 10 positions: Crowdstrike, Okta, Accenture, Cisco Systems, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Varonis Systems, Cyberark Software and Splunk.
Whilst systems software makes up just over half of the portfolio, the ETF is allocated to other segments like communications equipment, internet services and infrastructure, research and consulting, IT consulting and other services, and application software.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance, but the Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF has performed strongly since inception in August 2016 with an average return per annum of 22.3%.
Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)
This ETF is an index based on the largest 100 non-financial businesses listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
As BetaShares says, it includes some of the most innovative companies that are revolutionising our lives and at the forefront of the new economy.
It has an annual management fee of 0.48% which gives fairly concentrated exposure into names like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Alphabet, Facebook, Tesla, Nvidia, PayPal and Adobe.
But there's also more to the portfolio than just the largest global tech names. Other names in the portfolio include Cisco Systems, PepsiCo, Broadcom, Costco, Texas Instruments, Honeywell and Moderna.
Whilst it's not necessarily meant to be very tech heavy, it is. Around half of the portfolio is IT, with another 19.7% in communication services and 16.7% in consumer discretionary. Alphabet, Facebook and Netflix count as communication services. Amazon, Tesla and MercadoLibre count as consumer discretionary.
Since inception, Betashares Nasdaq 100 ETF has seen an average return per annum of 23.1% including the fees.
