The FTSE 100 enjoyed a strong end to 2021 as fears over the Omicron variant receded. Britain’s blue-chip share index even closed above 7,400 points for the first time since February 2020 in the final trading days. Over the course of the year, the Footsie rose around 15% in value.
It’s too early to claim we are now set for plain sailing as the Covid-19 crisis rolls on. But I plan to continue buying FTSE 100 shares, despite this ongoing threat. Here are two I’d buy today to hold for the long haul.
Playing the construction boom
The global population is rapidly growing and more and more people are moving into cities. According to the United Nations, around 68% of the world’s people will live in urban areas by 2050, up from 55% today. It predicts too there will be 43 so-called megacities (those with 10m-plus citizens) by 2030. That’s up 10 from current levels.
I’ve decided to cash in on this demographic trend by buying shares in CRH (LSE: CRH). This FTSE 100 share is the biggest building materials supplier in North America and Europe and has exposure to the fast-growing nations of Southeast Asia too. It supplies a broad range of materials from aggregates and concrete to pipes, glass, blocks, and everything in between.
I particularly like CRH because it has a great track record on the acquisition front. And, pleasingly, it has the appetite and the financial firepower to continue building its global empire (it spent around $1.4bn on M&A between January and mid-November). I’d think CRH is a top buy even though profits could suffer in the near term if the economic recovery runs out of steam.
Another FTSE 100 hero of mine
Bank of England interest rates have risen recently and are likely to keep rising to curb runaway inflation. The good news for savers is that this should feed into more attractive savings rates. The bad news is that rampant price rises mean they are unlikely to make spectacular returns on their cash in real terms.
This is why I believe stocks like Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL) remain attractive shares to buy right now. Financial services firms like these provide the platform and the expertise for people to make a decent return on their cash. This is all-more important as concerns over the future of the State Pension increase (news that the pension age could rise quicker than expected has been all over the papers in recent days).
All this explains why Hargreaves Lansdown added 23,000 new clients in the three months to September, taking the total to 1.67m. The FTSE 100 firm added net new business of £1.3bn in the period which, in turn, drove total assets under administration 2% higher from the prior three months, to £138bn. I’d buy the business even though competition in the investment services sector is intense and future sales could consequently disappoint.