How many stocks in your portfolio have you owned or do you think you will own for half a century?
Not many most likely!
There's nothing wrong with that, indeed many of the great companies haven't even been listed on the ASX for 50 years.
Perhaps a better question would be: given the opportunity, would you choose to buy and hold a company for 50 years? Hopefully your answer to this is 'yes' and here's why.
Long-term investing gives you the best chance to compound your money and really increase your wealth. Even over a shorter timeframe such as the past decade, the wealth created from owning strong companies is obvious. Consider these three widely-owned stocks: BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), their share prices have grown 199%, 217% and 139% over the past decade and that's before accounting for the dividends they have paid out.
Whilst these stocks have well-and-truly outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) and its meagre 55% return, what investors must consider is whether the best days of these giant blue-chips are now behind them….
With that in mind, here are three other companies which could have stronger growth potential ahead of them.
Brambles Limited (ASX: BXB) – despite market-leading status in a number of regions, the scope for further market penetration and expansion into other product lines which utilise Brambles' unique pooling and logistics skill set appears favourable.
Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU) – the economy of scale advantages appear to just keep on improving for this registry business and its global growth opportunities are far from exhausted.
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) – despite the competitive nature of the investment banking industry, Macquarie continues to innovate and grow. Given the long-term growth potential of the global financial services industry, Macquarie appears a great way for investors to gain exposure.
