These are the most uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical times that we’ve seen for generations. It’s not just the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak that stock ISA investors need to consider. Rising protectionism across the globe, along with frantic money printing by central banks, are other serious things to ponder for the 2020s.
Uncertainty might be growing, sure. But there remain swathes of stocks whose long-term outlooks are quite assured. FTSE 250-quoted Tritax Big Box REIT (LSE: BBOX) is one such safe haven, I feel. The UK already has the biggest e-commerce market in Europe, and the combination of rising corporate investment and technological improvements means that the internet shopping phenomenon should keep on growing.
Box smart
As a provider of ‘big box’ logistics and warehousing facilities Tritax Big Box is clearly well placed to capitalise on this phenomenon. Supply of these sites has long lagged behind demand, and the long-term impact of the coronavirus outbreak in hastening e-commerce adoption means that this issue should continue for some time yet. Property plays like this should be able to keep charging chunky rents as a consequence.
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At current prices Tritax Big Box trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of around 23 times. A tad toppy on paper but, in my opinion, an attractive reading given the amount of headroom that e-commerce still has to grow in this country. Internet shopping accounts for just 20% of the total retail market right now.
Besides, a bulging 4.5% dividend yield compensates for this heady ratio.
Another ISA hero
Assura Group (LSE: AGR) is another share from Britain’s second-tier share index I’d happily buy for my own ISA. It doesn’t matter that the domestic economy faces huge problems in the 2020s f0llowing Covid-19 and Brexit. Demand for this FTSE 250 stock’s services will continue to grow and grow.
Britain’s rising population means that demand for GP surgeries and other healthcare facilities will keep on increasing. This plays into the hands of Assura, a major developer and manager of primary health facilities on these shores. What is particularly encouraging for this firm is the rate at which the number of elderly citizens is growing. The Office for National Statistics reckons that the number of over-85s, for example, will more than double over the next quarter of a century. This property play is rapidly expanding through both acquisitions and new developments to fully capitalise on the bright trading landscape too.
Assura’s shares don’t come cheap, the company currently carrying a forward P/E ratio of 28.5 times. Still, I reckon the company’s exceptional defensive characteristics and its strong structural opportunities make it worthy of such a premium. A chunky 3.5% dividend yield for the current fiscal year helps to take the edge off too. This share has all the tools to make ISA investors a fortune in the coming decades.
