I believe long-term investing in ASX shares is the best way to go because it gives businesses the most time for growth plans to work. Plus, giving compounding more time to play out is also a good strategy.
However, I wouldn't hold something for a long time just for the sake of it. I want to own investments I'm confident can deliver positive returns in the years ahead.
If I were choosing two ASX shares that could be strong picks for the next 10 years (or even 20 years), the two below would be right at the top of my list.
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Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF)
Rural Funds is one of my favourite real estate investment trusts (REITs) for its large farmland holdings across the country.
Food is one of the most important goods produced in Australia, so the land that Rural Funds owns plays an essential role in the national and international food supply chain.
Farms have been an important asset for many centuries, and I think that will continue to be the case for the rest of my lifetime.
Rural Funds owns farmland across a number of sectors including cattle, almonds, macadamias, vineyards, and cropping.
The business has long-term agreements signed with blue-chip tenants such as Olam, JBS, Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE), and Select Harvests Ltd (ASX: SHV).
After including announced asset sales, Rural Funds reported in August, with its FY26 result, that its (pro forma) weighted average lease expiry (WALE) is 14.8 years. In other words, its portfolio has, on average, almost a decade and a half of rental income agreed.
I'm not expecting huge rental profit growth in the short term, but its rental income can keep climbing, with its lease agreements usually including either fixed annual increases or inflation-linked increases, plus market reviews.
This looks to me like a good time to invest because the business reported an adjusted net asset value (NAV) – adjusted to include the market value of its water entitlements – of $3.22 as at 30 June 2026.
At the time of writing, it's trading at a 40% discount to that value. I think that discount has opened up because of the higher interest rate in Australia, which is a headwind for interest costs and property valuations. But I think this is a good time to invest while interest rates may have peaked, and ride the wave of cuts later this decade.
The huge discount also helps the distribution yield. Based on its FY27 distribution guidance of 11.73 cents per security, given with its FY26 result, the yield could be 6% from the ASX share.
VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat AUD ETF (ASX: MOAT)
This exchange-traded fund (ETF) is all about investing for the long term.
There are two factors that go into choosing US stocks for this fund – the businesses must have strong competitive advantages and trade at good value.
For the MOAT ETF, analysts from Morningstar are looking for businesses where those experts believe the competitive advantages are expected to almost certainly endure over the next decade and, more likely than not, endure for two decades.
Competitive advantages can come in a variety of forms, including network effects, intangible assets (like intellectual property), cost advantages, scale, and so on.
With that strategy in mind, that instantly makes this ASX ETF a compelling investment to own for the long term. Keep in mind it doesn't necessarily keep the same stocks for two decades; the portfolio can evolve.
The second stage of the investment process is that, after deciding which businesses look like appealing long-term ideas, the MOAT ETF invests only in these great businesses when they're trading at an attractive price relative to what Morningstar analysts think the business is worth.
Over the past decade to September 2026, the ETF has returned an average of 14.7% per year, which I think is a great performance. While I'm not expecting that level of return going forward, it shows the strategy can perform for investors, and that's why I'm an investor, and I'd happily buy more. It may only provide US exposure, but I think that's a positive, as it gives me more exposure to the US stock market.
