The best time to invest is when people are fearful, so today seems like it would be a good day to put $20,000 to work into ASX shares.
With the ASX 200 down more than 0.5% at the moment, share prices are a little more attractive right now.
These are the ASX shares I'd buy with $20,000 today:
WAM Global Limited (ASX: WGB) – $7,000
With the Australian economy looking a little shaky I think a good idea is to diversify with an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or listed investment company (LIC) that invests overseas.
WAM Global invests in overseas growth businesses that the Wilson Asset Management (WAM) team think are undervalued. I love buying things at a discount, and the share price is currently 12% cheaper than the pre-tax net tangible assets (NTA) per share at the end of March.
It's a good sign that a WAM LIC is cheap when Geoff Wilson is buying shares, as he has been over the past three days.
Vanguard FTSE Asia Ex Japan Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAE) – $3,000
People are becoming fearful about the Asian share market, so I think it could be a good time to consider buying more of the Vanguard Asian ETF.
Over the ultra-long-term Asian businesses are likely to do very well with the strength of the underlying economies and the spending power of the Asian populations.
As long as the trade war remains a factor for Asian valuations I think it's an opportune time to buy a small slice of Tencent, Alibaba, Samsung, Baidu and so on.
Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) – $6,000
The Soul Patts share price has fallen by 27% over the past two months, I think Soul Patts looks much better value these days.
The fact that it has no debt, has a diversified investment portfolio, is run for the long-term with highly aligned management and has a market-beating track record is a very attractive combination.
The only reason I haven't allocated more of my theoretical $20,000 here is that I'm not a big fan of two of its largest holdings, TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) and New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC).
WAM Microcap Limited (ASX: WMI) – $4,000
Since the market volatility of December 2018, the small cap end of the market has not really recovered, unlike the large end the ASX.
I think this makes it an attractive time to top up on some WAM Microcap shares, particularly as the NTA premium has disappeared. WAM Microcap is probably trading at a small discount to the NTA at the moment and has an annualised grossed-up dividend yield of 5.5%. ASX small caps could be the best way to beat the ASX index over the longer-term
Foolish takeaway
I think each of these ASX shares can beat the ASX index over the next five years, particularly the WAM LICs and Soul Patts because of their diversified portfolios and the focus on growth.
