There are some great ASX-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that can give investors exposure to very appealing technology businesses in the world that we can't necessarily find on the ASX.
Companies like Apple, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms have done very well for shareholders over the long-term. But, there are plenty of other businesses that could do well outside of those big companies.
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Betashares Cloud Computing ETF (ASX: CLDD)
The idea of this ASX ETF is that it provides exposure to leading companies in the global cloud computing industry.
What's appealing about cloud computing? BetaShares said:
Cloud computing has been one of the strongest-growing segments of the technology sector, and given much of the world's digital data and software applications are still maintained outside the cloud, continued strong growth has been forecast.
Readers may recognise some of the largest positions in the portfolio including Wix.com, DigitalOcean, Procore Technologies, Workday, Zscaler, Salesforce, Netflix and Shopify.
There are a total of 36 holdings within the ASX ETF, which I think is a good amount of names. As one might expect, around 90% of the portfolio is invested in US businesses, though that doesn't mean the underlying earnings are too concentrated because many of these stocks generate profit from across the world.
Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance, but the index that the CLDD ETF tracks has retuned an average return per annum of 14.1% over the last five years.
Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK)
I think this is one of the most compelling sector-focused options available to Aussies.
Cybersecurity demand is strong, with the amount of cybercrime and attempted attacks on the rise. Businesses and governments need to be continually in front of what cybercriminals are trying to do, and they're paying a lot of dollars for it. Cybersecurity would still be important in a recession, so I think the sector offers both growth and defensive attributes.
The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) Cyber Threat Report for 2022 to 2023 showed the average cost of cybercrime per report increased 14% and the number of cybercrime reports rose around 23% to nearly 94,000. This shows the scale of the problem in just one country.
Some of the holdings include Broadcom, Crowdstrike, Infosys, Cisco Systems, Palo Alto Networks, SentinelOne, Juniper Networks, Cloudflare and Fortinet.
Including the annual management fee of 0.67%, the HACK ETF has delivered an average return per annum of 19.5% over the past five years. Again, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.
