With the new year thankfully still very much in its infancy, now is a great time to take stock of how the year that was treated our ASX share portfolios and consider what the best moves for said portfolio might be going forward.
That's certainly what I've spent some of the past fortnight doing.
As I documented late last year, 2024 was a great year for my personal ASX investments, as it would have been for most investors.
As such, I can't wait to deploy even more of my hard-earned cash into ASX shares in 2025.
Although we are still right at the beginning of 2025, I have a fair idea of which ASX shares will be getting the most love in my portfolio over the next 12 months, money allowing.
There aren't too many shares that I want to own in my portfolio that aren't already there. So today, let's talk about the three positions I'm most excited to add to.
3 ASX shares that I'm excited to buy in 2025
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co Ltd (ASX: SOL)
First up is investing house Soul Patts. I won't spend too much time on this one since I wrote extensively this week about how this company is 'the one ASX stock I'm never selling'. In a nutshell, though, Soul Patts is a diversified company with a wide range of quality assets as its foundation.
It has a stellar track record of beating the broader market over many decades. It also had the best dividend streak on the entire ASX, with 24 straight years of annual dividend increases.
If this company dips in any meaningful way in 2025, I will be loading the boat and the truck. Even if it doesn't, I'll probably buy more anyway.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
Wesfarmers is another company I've owned for some years now. However, I haven't bought any shares for a long time now, and it is now a relatively small position in my overall portfolio, which is not a situation I would like to be in.
However, I haven't found the recent pricing of Wesfarmers acceptable for a long-term buy. This industrial and retailing conglomerate has risen by almost 50% in the past two years, and sits on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of more than 31 today, which is expensive in my view.
However, I would absolutely love to buy more Wesfarmers shares this year, and will certainly be doing so if this company pulls back in valuation.
I regard Wesfarmers as one of the best companies on the ASX. It has a sprawling earnings base, with top-tier retailers like Kmart, Officeworks, and Bunnings complemented by other businesses. These include (but are not limited to) CSBP Fertilisers, Australian Gold Reagents, Flybuys, Kleenheat Gas, Priceline, Covalent Lithium, and Workwear Group.
The diversified earnings base lends this company a lot of stability and financial health, in my view. Wesfarmers management's long track record of efficiently managing investor capital and delivering dividends is also a plus.
MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX: MFF)
Finally, let's talk about listed investment company (LIC) MFF Capital Investments. MFF is another favourite holding of mine. It holds a portfolio of underlying shares that are managed on behalf of its investors.
These shares are mostly US companies, including long-term holdings Amazon, Alphabet, Mastercard, American Express and Visa. As such, I view MFF as a great way to diversify into some of the best companies listed in the American markets.
MFF's long-term portfolio manager, Chris Mackay, attempts to emulate Warren Buffett's method of buying quality companies at reasonable prices and holding them as long as possible to allow compounding to work its magic.
This has really paid off for MFF, with the company's shares up almost 50% since this time last year. I'm looking forward to adding more capital to my position in this company, particularly if it goes on sale.
