He founded Thorney Group after overseeing the investments of cardboard magnate Richard Pratt and Australia's first billionaire Robert Holmes a Court.

These days he's in the rich list himself, ranked the 73rd wealthiest person in the nation on the current The Australian rankings.

As well as a private fund, Waislitz runs 2 ASX-listed investment funds — Thorney Technologies Ltd (ASX: TEK) and Thorney Opportunities Ltd (ASX: TOP).

He recently named 3 ASX shares those funds hold that he currently has the most hope for:

Signing up massive clients and cash in the bank

Perth business Yojee Ltd (ASX: YOJ) makes software that manages logistics and supply-chain management.

The share price hasn't done a great deal this year, dropping from 20 to 18 cents as of Thursday's market close.

But Waislitz likes how it looks ready for explosive growth.

"This is a company that's progressively signed up 4 of the largest 10 logistics companies in the world," he told a Reach Markets webinar.

"It's got cash in the bank to roll out that growth with those companies and it's time is coming."

For the 2021 financial year, Yojee reported 63% revenue growth — but that failed to sustainably push the stock price up.

The Thorney team is willing to be patient though.

"We're quite excited about them," said Waitslitz.

"It's a company to watch… At the moment the revenues are relatively small, but we're hopeful that over the next 1 to 3 years you might see them really power ahead."

2 engineering ASX shares that'll cash in on infrastructure boom

The other 2 ASX shares, which are both engineering-related, are held by the Thorney Opportunities fund.

Southern Cross Electrical Engineer Ltd (ASX: SXE) provides services to clients like data centres, mining sites, and utilities.

For a business that provides a 6% dividend yield, the share price is very low.

"We think it's really cheap because it's trading at just over 3 times EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation] to the enterprise value," said Waislitz.

"Sitting on cash, it's really well-positioned to win a lot of work into that [resources and infrastructure] thematic."

He also thought management was "too conservative" in its performance forecasts.

Southern Cross shares closed Thursday at 66 cents, after starting the year at 57 cents.

Construction engineering company Decmil Group Limited (ASX: DCG) has just been a nightmare for investors recently.

Its stock price has dropped about 90% over the past 2 years.

But after dealing with those "bad contracts", Waislitz is convinced the ASX share has hit the bottom now.

"They had to recapitalise their balance sheet to deal with their debt and allow them some growth capability, which they've done," he said.

"They've had a change of leadership at the CEO level, which has happened, and some other executives."

The Thorney team thinks Decmil is set to rake in more than $500 million of revenue for the current financial year, compared to $298.1 million for the 2021 financial year.

"In a sense, a new beginning for this company that's been around for a while."

The post 3 ASX shares Australia's 73rd richest person loves appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

This attitude may be misguided, but it is nonetheless very popular, and usually results in gross underperformance during bear markets.

But if we examine recent comments by a billionaire fund manager and investor, we might find ourselves an alternate route, and one that might deliver exceptional returns at that.

Billionaire investor and fund manager Alex Waislitz has just released the 'Chairman's Update' to the investors of the Listed Investment Company (LIC) he chairs – Thorney Opportunities Ltd (ASX: TOP).

In this letter, Mr Waislitz outlines the 'opportunity' he sees in this stock market crash – noting how his value-investing firm is primed to take advantage of market volatility:

"Thorney cut its teeth and established its reputation as a value investor in the years that followed the 1987 share market crash. We cemented that reputation after the collapses in 2000 and 2008," Waislitz stated in the letter.

He also added, "I would remind shareholders of the often-used adage that the Chinese Hanzi character for the word 'crisis' is made up of the characters for the words 'danger' and 'opportunity'."

Do other investors agree this market crash is an opportunity?

It's a very similar investment strategy to the one that legendary investor Warren Buffett often espouses. Buffett is not known as the master of value investing for nothing. Most of his major holdings were picked up in times of economic turmoil and have helped him achieve a rate of return in excess of 20% per annum on average for his company Berkshire Hathaway since he assumed control in 1964.

One of Buffett's more famous lines is "when it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble". Stated in his 2010 annual letter to his shareholders, Buffett backed this up with this nugget of wisdom:

"We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years (2008 and 2009). It's been an ideal period for investors: A climate of fear is their best friend. Those who invest only when commentators are upbeat end up paying a heavy price for meaningless reassurance."

See the similarities? Maybe great minds do think alike…

Foolish takeaway

I think the advice of both Mr Waislitz and (of course) Mr Buffett are well worth keeping front-of-mind as we navigate this crisis together as ASX investors.

It is a bleak time, but one that also might be rife with opportunities if you know where to look. Invest with both intelligence and rationality, and I think you will be more than okay when the dust settles!

The post This billionaire investor says it's a good time to buy ASX shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

He is also a key figure in Thorney Opportunities Ltd (ASX: TOP) and Thorney Technologies Ltd (ASX: TEK).

In the interview he said that whilst fintech shares are running hot, there is plenty of opportunity for fintech shares to be successful due to major banks not investing where they should, therefore leaving them open to disruption.

He also said that a number of shares were trading with hefty multiples, but earnings are growing and balance sheets are more effective than in previous years. Earnings multiples shouldn't be relied on in isolation for valuation.

Some of the shares he said that he likes are Hub24 Ltd (ASX: HUB), Onevue Holdings Ltd (ASX: OVH), Finbar Group Limited (ASX: FRI), Decmil Group Limited (ASX: DCG) and Southern Cross Electrical Engineer Ltd (ASX: SXE).

The main company that he mentioned was Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB). He said that in the past few years it has reduced in value by two thirds, yet now has a commercialised product, is generating real revenue and has three potential billion-dollar treatments in early stage trials. Indeed, he said "I believe Meso is destined to take its place as one of the world's truly great biotechs."

He thinks Mesoblast still represents "exceptional" value and may be about to deliver on its long-held potential.

Foolish takeaway

It's a big vote of confidence for Mesoblast, but it could be some time before it reaches sustainable profitability. It wouldn't be at the top of my personal watchlist, as biotechs aren't my thing, but that doesn't mean it can't grow strongly from here.

The post One of Australia's richest people reveals his latest share ideas appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.