There’s no definitive timeframe for how long FTSE 250 investors should hold onto their shares before they consider selling.
The exact period depends on an investor’s personal goals. It’s also subject to a stock’s evolving fortunes over time. A rock-solid company today can transform into a basket case over a few years for a variety of inside and outside factors.
That said, I always buy shares with a view to holding them for at least a decade. This way I can lessen the impact of market volatility on my eventual returns.
Here are two top FTSE 250 shares I’d buy today to hold until the middle of the 2030s, if I had the cash to spare.
Chemring Group
Investing in defence shares could be a secure pick for long-term investors. Lumpy contract timings, supply chain problems, and cost issues can threaten earnings forecasts at times. But improving industry conditions suggest they could enjoy a bright decade ahead.
Take Chemring Group (LSE:CHG), for instance. This business manufactures countermeasures, sensors, and energetics products for military applications. And it has an ambitious plan to double annual revenues to £1bn by 2030.
Defence spending’s risen strongly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And since then, worries over Chinese expansionism have grown and geopolitical conditions in the Middle East have deteriorated, pushing budgets higher.
Against this tragic backdrop, Chemring says it’s seen “continued strong order intake“, rising to £638m in the year to September, up from £604m a year before. This pushed its closing order book to £1.1bn from £869m previously, with record order books reported across the business.
The number of NATO members hitting defence spending targets has risen fourfold between 2021 and 2024. The number sits at an all-time high of 23 and is poised to keep growing in response to rapid Chinese and Russian rearmament.
And so City analysts expect Chemring’s earnings growth to accelerate over the next two years, at least. Expansion of 6% and 12% is forecast for financial 2025 and 2026 respectively.
NCC Group
NCC Group‘s (LSE:NCC) also tipped to grow earnings rapidly over the next few years. As a supplier of cybersecurity products, it stands to gain from increased global digitalisation and a subsequent rise in hacking and similar attacks.
City analysts think earnings will swell 120% this fiscal year (to May 2025). Rises of 25% and 21% are predicted for financial 2026 and 2027 respectively as well.
Profits here are highly cyclical, with businesses reducing spending on items like software when economic conditions worsen. NCC has suffered in recent years from weakness in North America’s technology sector.
But business is picking up again and could continue as interest rates fall. Revenues of £104m during the four months to September were up 4% year on year.
Fortune Business Insights believes the online security market will expand at a compound annualised rate of 14.3% through to 2032. If accurate, profits at NCC Group could — despite the threat of intense competition — blast through the roof.
