The falling S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: XJO) has thrown up a number of ASX shares to buy for capital growth, high yields or arbitrage opportunities. An example of the latter is the current Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS) takeover offer.
In particular, there are a number of good performing blue-chip ASX shares that are unlikely to be directly impacted by COVID-19. At this time, I believe these are some of the best shares to invest in.
Idp Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)
The IDP Education share price opened the week at $24.72 and closed out on Friday at $21.25, dropping 14.04%. IDP Education is one of the true growth shares in the ASX 200. An investment of $10,000 shortly after listing on January 1, 2016 would be worth $65,386 today. A whopping compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60%.
The company has two core business areas. The first is student placement where it is likely to experience some disruption. However, Goldman Sachs estimates the company's exposure to China is approximately 10.9% of full-year revenue.
IDP Education's other major growth area is computer-delivered International English Language Testing System (IELTS) over 47 countries. IDP is a one-third owner of the IELTS and opened another 37 venues during 1H20.
Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST)
Northern Star has always been a great ASX share to buy. A $10,000 investment in this company on January 1, 2010 would be worth $4,486,662 today. It is a veritable millionaire-maker share with plenty of growth still ahead of it.
The Northern Star share price started the week at $14.72 and closed out the week at $13.46. A drop of 8.5% due to the pandemic scare. Yet the only likely impact COVID-19 is going to have on Northern Star is to increase the value of gold as a haven investment. This will increase Northern's revenues, sales growth and free cash flow even further.
Through bear markets and bull markets, Northern Star has remained a well-managed company with a talent for squeezing productivity from its mining assets and increasing the size of its mineral reserves through exploration. This makes it one of the premier ASX shares to buy in the current environment.
Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX: MFG)
Magellan is probably the best value share on the market today. Last week, the Magellan share price plunged 20.3% as a result of the COVID-19 scare. This came even though Magellan cracked $100 billion of funds under management (FUM) in January and the company's 1H20 results showed a 13% increase in net profits after tax (NPAT).
Magellan has a track record of very solid growth and management. An investment of $10,000 in Magellan on January 1, 2010 would be worth approximately $663,000 today. That represents a CAGR of 52%.
Magellan is a great example of the saying "buy the manager, not the fund" where an investment in the company's shares will likely yield higher than the funds themselves over time.
Foolish takeaway
If you are going to enjoy a successful investing career, you need to first understand that none of us are smart enough to purchase at the absolute bottom or sell at the absolute top. Our challenge is to find the best shares to invest in at any given day on the ASX.
I believe these blue-chip companies are among some of the premier ASX shares to buy, and suddenly they are on sale.
