The top 10 ASX shares held by millionaires

Do you want to see which stocks the wealthy investors have in their portfolios?

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Have you ever wondered which ASX shares rich people have bought?

Maybe you'd like to emulate their portfolio? Surely if they're wealthy then they must know what they're doing?

Well, the cat need not be killed because this week investment platform Selfwealth Ltd (ASX: SWF) crunched the data to reveal the ASX-listed stocks that are most held by millionaires:

  1. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX: FMG)
  2. Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS)
  3. BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP)
  4. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)
  5. CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
  6. ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ)
  7. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)
  8. Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: NEU)
  9. Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG)
  10. A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

The average size of the millionaire portfolio was $2.6 million. The largest one was a whopping $97 million.

How the millionaire portfolio differs from the peasants

Selfwealth chief executive Cath Whitaker observed a common theme in the millionaire portfolios.

"Our millionaire portfolio investors hold strong companies in strong sectors," she said.

"When it comes to ETFs they go for the biggest, and when it comes to non-traditional single stocks they've picked those that have seen very high returns."

Indeed, most of the list is made of established industry leaders. The one outlier in the top 10 list seems to be Neuren Pharmaceuticals.

That stock has exploded 268% over the past 12 months.

In an endorsement for active stock picking, the major difference between the millionaire portfolios compared to the general population was that there was only one exchange-traded fund stock featuring in the wealthy top 10.

According to Selfwealth, the top 10 ASX shares among the wider investor community are "dominated" by ETFs.

Remarkably, the millionaires are patriotic. The only non-ASX stock in the top 20 is personal computing giant Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), which came in at 15th.

The wider investor population loves ASX lithium shares, with five featuring among the most popular 20.

But for the millionaires, only Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) features, and that's coming in at a lowly 17th.

Motley Fool contributor Tony Yoo has positions in CSL and Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Apple and CSL. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended A2 Milk, Apple, and Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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