I think investing in ASX shares for the long-term makes the most sense because it gives an investment thesis longer to play out positively.
In my opinion, the following two investments have very positive futures.
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)
The global share market is an appealing place to invest because of how many strong, market-leading businesses there are. Investors can buy ownership of the best companies in a country, or even the best in the world.
The VGS ETF gives investors exposure to businesses from ‘economically developed’ markets such as the US, Japan, the UK, Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Hong Kong and Singapore. Each of those markets have a weighting of at least 0.5% in the portfolio.
The biggest companies in the world have the largest allocation in the portfolio. For this fund, the biggest positions in the portfolio include NVIDIA, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Broadcom, Meta Platforms, JPMorgan Chase, Micron Technology and Eli Lilly.
All of the above names are US giants, but if there’s a time in the future when a non-US company is one of the biggest ten, that will reflect in the holdings list.
The biggest and strongest companies are likely to continue strengthening, in my view, which is why I’m expecting long-term gains in the share market. The VGS ETF has returned an average of 12.3% per year over the past decade, so we’ll see how the global stock market performs in the years ahead.
With a return on equity (ROE) of 19.7% as of July 2026, the VGS ETF companies are well-placed to continue investing for a pleasing return, in my opinion.
Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV)
I’d describe Lovisa as one of the ASX’s leading retailers. The ASX share has a global network of stores that sells cheap and stylish jewellery.
The company continues to win new customers around the world, which is coming through in the numbers the business recently reported in the FY26 result.
FY26 revenue grew 17.6% to $938.8 million, gross profit increased 18.4% to $775.3 million and EBITDA (EBITDA explained) rose 20.9% to $301.1 million.
EBIT only rose by 14.1% to $158.2 million and net profit after tax (NPAT) only improved 10.7% to $95.6 million because of the investment in the start-up phase of Jewells, its 7-store trial brand in the UK market.
If the company continues opening new stores, I think it’s very likely to continue growing earnings. During FY26, it added a net 105 stores to reach 1,136, while still delivering global comparable sales growth of 2% for existing stores.
It opened dozens of new stores in Europe and North America during the previous financial year. For example, it opened 34 in the UK and 20 in Germany, while opening a total of 44 between the US and Canada.
Total sales increased by another 16.4% in FY27, showing the company continues to perform strongly. I think it’s one of the ASX shares to watch over the long-term as it continues growing.
