Here are three of my current top picks, taken from both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.

ITV

Broadcaster ITV (LSE:ITV) is one of Britain’s leading TV companies. It delivers content through a range of platforms including free-to-air and pay-TV and online. And it has been growing earnings at a steady clip.

Turnover of this £8bn firm has risen from £2.3bn in 2013 to £2.9bn in 2015 and earnings per share have gone from 8.1p to 12.3p.

The company’s strategy has been to broaden its range of programming, taking its output around the world. It has increased online, pay and interactive revenue from £23m to £107m from 2009 to 2016. There has been strong growth in ITV Studios, with an increase in revenue from £496m in 2015 to £651m in 2016. The share of revenue from international has increased from 39% in 2009 to 50% in 2016. This has been instrumental in ITV’s long-term growth.

What’s more, if the company can maintain this strategy, then I suspect growth will continue into the future. After a recent pullback, the P/E ratio is just 13 and a dividend yield of 2.5%, which means the firm is remarkable value.

British Land Co

British Land Co (LSE:BLAND) is a real estate investment trust. It invests in offices and the retail sector. Retail developments include Meadowhall, Ealing Broadway and Glasgow Fort. Its portfolio comprises assets with lease lengths and different ages including those that are newly developed and those scheduled for development.

Retail growth has been increasing steadily since the turn of the century, pushing up the company’s business.

Developments in the pipeline include Canada Water, which is one of London’s largest regeneration opportunities.

After a recent pullback the shares look cheap, at a P/E ratio of 9.7 and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The dividend is appealing to high-yield investors, and is well covered by profits.

The property market continues to do well, and turnover has been increasing from £384m in 2014 and £590m in 2016.

Carillion

Carillion (LSE:CLLN) is an infrastructure company that builds roads, railway stations and sports stadia. It built the Grand Mosque in Oman and the Yas Hotel. It has seen impressive growth, with turnover going from £3.3bn in 2013 to £3.95bn, and earnings jumping from 23p in 2013 to 28p in 2015.

The P/E ratio is 10.4, and the dividend yield is 6.5%, after a recent pullback. This makes the firm impressive value, both as a value and a high-yield play. Yet what seems like a high yield is well covered by profits.

A total order book of £17.4bn means also that earnings are guaranteed for several years to come. And the company is expanding in both the UK and the Middle East.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended ITV. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Yet many have been sceptical about the future prospects of these emerging nations. There’s been much talk of a slowdown in China, and political in-fighting in India. But if we dig a little deeper, we find that the fundamentals are remarkably resilient: Chinese GDP has still been growing at 6.7% per annum, while India has been growing at 7.9%.

China and India: industrial powerhouses

The broad picture is that these countries are now industrial powerhouses, and they’re set to boom relative to more developed markets for decades to come.

Profitability at a range of companies in these countries has been surging. Take China Pacific Insurance. Net profits were CNY9.2bn in 2013, and this jumped to CNY17.7bn in 2015. Revenue increased from CNY193bn in 2013 to CNY246bn in 2015. These are startlingly strong numbers.

Or take India’s Infosys. Net profits were INR104bn in 2013, and this rose to INR136bn in 2015, while turnover climbed from INR493bn in 2013 to INR630bn in 2015.

Rank after rank of businesses has seen rapid growth in both revenues and earnings.

I’ve chosen to invest in these countries with two investment trusts: Fidelity China Special Situations (LSE:FCSS) and JP Morgan Indian Investment Trust (LSE:JII). How well have these done?

On 1 January 2016 FCSS was priced at 121p per share. It has now risen to 170p. That’s an increase of 40%. On 1 January JII stood at 477p. It has now risen to 641p. That’s an increase of 34%.

Why have the shares risen so much? Well, part of this is currency fluctuations. Since January the pound has fallen by about 10% against the yuan, largely because of the Brexit vote on 23 June.

And this is a great time to invest

Also, stock indices such as the Hang Seng and the Sensex have been on the up. Plus, these are well-managed funds that have produced better returns than the overall markets in these countries. What’s more, a substantial amount of gearing for Fidelity China has added to the growth.

Yet the amazing thing is, in terms of equities, we’re still really only at the end of a 17-year bear market, and the next bull market hasn’t even got underway. That means there are likely to be many more stock price rises to come. Thus, if you haven’t bought in yet, this may be a great time to get on board.

And what makes investment trusts like these even more attractive than standard funds is that they currently trade at sizeable discounts. The current discount on Fidelity China is 14.8%. While JP Morgan India is 10.2% cheaper than its net asset value.

That’s why I’ve invested a large part of my portfolio in these funds, and I think you should too. People are often afraid of the growing power of these emerging nations. But if you’re an investor considering buying into China and India, I would encourage you to make the leap.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

After the EU referendum on 23 June, there were many fears about how the UK economy, and the stock market, would fare. But worries about a recession and a strong negative reaction to the vote have proven unfounded so far. That’s why I think there has never been a better time to buy EasyJet (LSE:EZJ) and International Consolidated Airlines Group (LSE:IAG).

EasyJet

No-frills airline EasyJet operates very much along the lines of a typical low-cost airline, using airports outside of the main hubs such as Heathrow and Gatwick and no free meals on board. In part, this business model was custom-made to survive the years when gasoline prices were high, but I think this firm will continue to progress as a no-frills business, even as oil prices stay low.

Unlike the premium airlines, EasyJet did well even during the commodities boom, but it’s doing even better now that oil prices have tumbled. Turnover has been rising from £4.2bn in 2013 to £4.6bn in 2015. Likewise, earnings per share have climbed from 100p in 2013 to 138p in 2015.

What’s more, I don’t think the recent pullback in the shares is a reason for investor alarm but it has created a buying opportunity. From a high of 1,915p in 2015, the shares are now keenly priced at 1,099p. A trailing P/E ratio of just under 8, and a high and rising dividend yield of 4.1%, show how cheap the shares now are.

International Consolidated Airlines Group

Premium airline IAG, which owns major brands British Airways and Iberia, has taken a completely different path to profitability from EasyJet. During the years of high hydrocarbon prices, and despite a radical restructuring, the firm struggled to turn a profit. IAG uses hubs such as Heathrow and Gatwick, provides free meals, and has reserved seats. This means the overheads are that much higher, and when fuel costs are high, margins become wafer thin.

But reduce fuel costs, and earnings rocket. That’s why, while turnover has gone from £15.5bn in 2013 to £16.8bn in 2015, earnings per share have leapt from 5.4p in 2013 to 51.9p in 2015. That’s a far more rapid rise than EasyJet. So, not surprisingly, the share price has also taken off, going from 150p in 2012 to a high of 617p in 2015.

And as Britain’s economy continues to strengthen, I suspect travellers may start to prefer the premium airlines to the low cost carriers, further boosting IAG’s profitability.

But the crash following the EU vote has taken the shares down to just 390p. That leaves the transport company on a trailing P/E ratio of 8 and a dividend yield of 1.8%. With oil prices set to remain low for the long-term, that looks enticingly cheap.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

But it has been hit hard by falling commodity prices, as both the value of oil and gas have tumbled over the past year.

Shell was hugely profitable

Currently Shell pays out a 6.1% dividend yield. That’s a high income, and it gives the company strong appeal to dividend investors. The question is, how sustainable is that yield?

Well, let’s dig a little deeper. The reason Shell has such a high dividend is that it has been an immensely profitable company. In 2013 it made £10.6bn in net profit. And it pays out much of these earnings as dividends.

What’s more, because the share price has been falling, the level of the income payment relative to the share price has been amplified, meaning that the firm has one of the higher yields in the FTSE 100. But before you rush to buy into Royal Dutch Shell, let’s take a step back.

While the current dividend is dependent on past profits, future payments are dependent on how much money the company will make in years to come. And the game has been changed completely by the collapse in the oil price.

In 2013 turnover was an astonishing £289bn. In 2015 that had nearly halved to £172bn. And the impact on profitability is even more stark. 2013’s net profit of £10.6bn has turned to a profit of just £1.4bn in 2015.

Tumbling oil prices mean falling profits, and dividends

What really determines the share price is the earnings per share, and they’ve gone from 167p in 2013 to just 19p in 2015. So profitability has been sliding rapidly, and that’s why the share price has been trending downwards.

That in turn means the 6.1% yield is a red herring. It’s high at the moment, but isn’t at all sustainable, and it’s pretty much inevitable that it will be cut. That’s why we need to warn investors that a surprisingly high yield is often not a good thing.

Other instances of this happening include Aviva at the time of the Eurozone crisis, when profits turned to losses, and there was the appeal of a high income, but this was soon cut; and AstraZeneca at the time of a series of key patent expiries.

What’s more, I think the low oil price isn’t something temporary, but a long-term trend that could last over a decade. So I believe profitability will remain low and won’t rebound, the dividend is likely to be reduced, and then stay low.

That means I would advise readers not to buy into Shell as an income investment, despite the current yield. You’re likely to see not only the dividend fall, but also the share price.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Royal Dutch Shell B. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

I was worried about the impact that the Brexit poll would have. Yet, if we analyse the economic data from the past few months, including the employment rate and GDP growth, Britain seems to have been sailing along completely unhindered by the vote so far. The consensus that this was a crisis that could cause a recession may just have been turned on its head.

Consider house prices. Instead of there being falls, the annual rate of house price inflation actually rose to 8.7% in June 2016, from 8.5% in May. Fears of a house price slump have proved to be entirely unfounded. So here are the three house builders I think are set to fly.

Barratt Developments

Immediately after the Brexit decision, shares in Barratt Developments (LSE:BDEV) took a tumble. Many argued at the time that the housing boom was over. But I think a more likely explanation is profit taking. After all, property stocks had been rising steadily since the Credit Crunch, and were due a correction. This is that correction. And that’s all, in my opinion.

Check the fundamentals, and you will see that this company stands on a trailing P/E ratio of just 10, with a dividend yield of 2.6%. That’s remarkably cheap. Earnings have soared from 7.5p in 2013 to 44.6p in 2015. Although this rate of growth is set to slow, I think there’s room for further share price appreciation. What’s more, Barratt is set to pay out more of its rising profits as dividends, which will appeal to income investors.

Persimmon

Persimmon (LSE:PSN) owns brands such as Charles Church and Westbury. It has strengths in premium properties, particularly in the South of England. And it has also seen rapid growth in profitability, with EPS progressing from 84p in 2013 to 166p in 2015. A surging share price means it has now overtaken Barratt Developments as Britain’s leading housebuilder.

Like Barratt, the share price has fallen recently after a bout of profit taking, but I think this has created a buying opportunity. Although no dividend was paid out last year, a trailing P/E ratio of 10 looks good value.

I would expect this company to start paying out a dividend soon, and as its programme of housebuilding continues unabated after the EU referendum, profitability and share price are likely to push further ahead.

Taylor Wimpey

The Taylor Wimpey (LSE:TW) share price currently stands at 154p, way below the 508p it reached during the property boom of 2007. Yet this is still a very strong residential developer that provides housing in the UK and Spain.

And profits have doubled in the past two years, with turnover increasing by more than 40%. Operating cash flow is an impressive £426m. Taylor Wimpey is on a trailing P/E ratio of 10, with a dividend yield of 1.1%.

These are healthy numbers, and are the reason why I think the recent share price pull-back has created a great opportunity to buy-in.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

That’s a formidable achievement. Compare it with its peers in the UK, such as Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group – these firms make nowhere near as much money, have far lower valuations, and have struggled after they’ve been hit by wave after wave of fines and litigation.

HSBC is one of our leading companies

HSBC also came under a welter of criticism, fines and over-regulation last year. It could easily have moved its headquarters to Hong Kong, and this would have been a boon for China, and a disaster for Britain. Thankfully, it has decided to stay in the UK.

Whatever we think about the Credit Crunch, the banks in Britain are still some of our leading companies and biggest employers, and they should be supported, not denigrated.

Yet, with so much bad publicity, the company’s share price has been on the slide. Earnings, while not increasing, have been holding up well, despite substantial PPI fines. EPS in 2013 were 50.94p in 2013, 44.33p in 2014, and 43.2p in 2015.

This means a contrarian buying opportunity for HSBC has opened up. A trailing P/E ratio of 12 is very reasonable, and there’s a tempting 6% dividend yield for income investors.

A contrarian buying opportunity

I was fearful of the consequences of Brexit when we voted to leave, but, thankfully, this seems to be a case of a political earthquake that has had little effect on ordinary people and the economic environment.

Britain continues to storm ahead, and the weak pound has meant a surging FTSE 100. And as bear market turns to bull market next year, both in Britain and around the world, I expect HSBC to go higher, perhaps substantially so.

Perhaps the strongest trends in the world are the rapid growth of markets such as China and India, and the emergence of a global middle class that numbers in the hundreds of millions. They’ll be spending billions of renminbi and rupees on consumer products ranging from detergent and fizzy drinks to savings accounts and pensions. With its strength in these markets, HSBC is set fair to grow many years into the future.

What’s more, the business’s cautious investing stance means that it was relatively untroubled by the Great Recession, and doesn’t have the mountain of bad debt that has had a debilitating effect on financials such as Royal Bank of Scotland.

That’s why I think that, as optimism returns to the banks and to the FTSE 100, HSBC could climb 50% in the next year. So if you’re an investor interested in both high dividends and steady share price growth, but prefer the stability of a blue chip to the uncertainty of a small-cap, then HSBC could be just what you’re looking for.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended HSBC Holdings. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

So here are two of my top picks in this sector, one a market leader and the other that’s taking price comparison insurance around the world.

Admiral

Admiral Insurance Group (LSE:ADM) was created in 1993 as a start-up business with 57 employees, headquartered in South Wales. Since then it has grown rapidly. It now has businesses in Spain, Italy, France and the US, and is one of the leading online and price comparison insurance companies in the world.

The appeal of this firm is that it’s an incredibly lean and efficient organisation. And in many ways it represents the future of the insurance industry. Almost everything is internet-based, and Admiral is building a whole host of online insurance brands, including confused.com, l’olivier and Bell.

Take-up of online insurance and price comparison sites is lower in countries such as Spain and France compared to the UK, and so there’s substantial potential for growth. And Admiral’s low cost base means that it can pay out a big proportion of its profits as shareholder dividends.

The share price has been trending steadily upwards ever since the lows of the Eurozone crisis, and the stock now stands at a trailing P/E ratio of 21, with a dividend yield of 2.12%.

Direct Line Insurance

Spun out from Royal Bank of Scotland in 2012, Direct Line Insurance Group (LSE:DLG) doesn’t have the international reach of Admiral, but it represents the leading insurance name in the UK. And this is a company that has been going from strength to strength in recent years. As well as the Direct Line brand, it owns Churchill and Green Flag. It has 14% of the UK motor insurance market, and 17% of the UK home insurance market.

Direct Line has always been one of Britain’s premium insurance companies, and this has given the business pricing power that it has used to increase profitability. Today it remains Britain’s most preferred brand. The company has also been steadily reducing costs, and thus improving the bottom line, and it has also taken advantage of rising car insurance premiums.

The firm is also working on being at the forefront of evolving trends such as telematics.

Earnings per share have progressed from 22.58p in 2013 to 27.6p in 2015. And the share price has been on the up since the IPO.

What’s more, this is a share that’s still cheap, with a trailing P/E ratio of just 11, and a dividend yield of 3.55%. And as well as earnings growth, the dividend has been rising steadily year-on-year. Since the IPO, Direct Line has paid out more than £1.5bn in income.

That’s why I think this company is an even better bet than Admiral.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

What’s happening in Britain after the Brexit vote? Is Britain doing well, or doing badly? And what’s the impact on companies and the stock market?

After a political earthquake, it takes time to get a picture of exactly just how things have changed. And sometimes all that we can go on are bits of evidence from data and surveys.

The story so far

So what evidence do we actually have? Well, between the three months to February 2016 and the March to May 2016 period, the number of people in work increased by 176,000. Admittedly, this data was collected prior to the 23 June vote, but it was after the announcement of a referendum in February 2016. It seems that the uncertainty over the referendum had little effect on hiring. If, as I suspect, the numbers released this month show employment increasing again, then this is strong evidence that the economy is still motoring ahead.

Then there are the GDP growth figures. GDP was estimated to have increased by 0.6% in Q2 (April to June) 2016 compared with growth of 0.4% in Q1 (January to March) 2016. So, despite the uncertainty of the referendum, the economy has been growing at a steady pace, even speeding up slightly. Again, it seems to be full steam ahead with scarcely a hint of trouble.

OK, how about industrial output? Total production output is estimated to have increased by 2.1% between Q1 2016 and Q2. That’s a substantial increase and the ONS said “very few” respondents had been affected by the uncertainty from the EU referendum vote. Again, these seem to be strong figures and suggest that Britain’s economy is so far unaffected by our decision to leave the EU. Likewise, retail data shows consumers continuing to spend.

And, surely, if the economy is slowing, this will affect company profits, and thus the stock market? Yet the FTSE 100 has bounced by more than 10%, and now stands at over 6,800, buoyed by a weak pound. Plus there have yet been no signs of recession.

Low confidence

This seems fairly convincing so far, but in contrast to the data, several surveys suggest business confidence is weak. Business optimism fell to 97.9 in July from 98.9 in June, though still some way above the 95 mark denoting contraction, according to a recent BDO survey. Other surveys, including manufacturing, have also been negative.

Why this dichotomy? Has the economy been ticking over nicely, only to suddenly grind to a halt? I think this is unlikely. Instead, people have kept calm and carried on, going about their normal day-to-day business. Hiring has continued, and companies and the stock market have been doing well. I think that we should learn from the data over the surveys, because human opinion is fallible, whereas data is generally more consistent and reliable.

My view is that Britain has withstood the shock of our future Brexit surprisingly well, and the economy will still thrive. A cut in interest rates and further QE will only buoy the economy even more, and the FTSE 100 could well reach 7,000 by year-end.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Well, it’s now only August, and the FTSE 100 has already reached 6,650. It has rocketed up from the 6,200 it stood at in the beginning of the year. And the catalyst seems to have been the EU referendum, confounding most commentators, including myself.

Confounding the commentators

Faced with a choice of the overwhelming change of Brexit and the status quo, the mainstream in the media and government plumped for the status quo. After all, the economy was doing so well anyway, why spoil it?

We all predicted doom: a crashing stock market, rising unemployment, and slowing growth. Yet, more than a month after the vote, the only thing that seems to have crashed is the pound. And that, actually, can be quite a good thing.

The weak pound means that overseas investors want to buy UK shares, because they’re that much cheaper now. So the stock market has been bid up. It also boosts exporters, of which Britain still has many, who find that their goods sell that much more cheaply, and competitively, abroad.

It might give inflation a bump upwards as imported goods have become more expensive, but in these deflationary times where the inflation rate has remained stubbornly below the Bank of England’s target, that’s also quite a good thing.

There’s been talk of cutting interest rates, or restarting QE, to boost the UK economy. At the moment there’s little sign that this is required.

Sell in May? Not this year

The latest employment figures, instead of disappointing, have been startlingly good, and show that Britain continues to be a jobs creation engine that’s the envy of the world. The level of employment is the highest it has ever been, and posts continue to be advertised, offered and taken up.

And the last quarterly growth rate of 0.6% means that the economy is growing at a very respectable pace. Companies around the country are still taking orders and making profits.

And if you hold, as I do, a substantial portfolio of overseas shares, then you get another boost. Thanks to the weak pound, my holding of Chinese and Indian funds has jumped by over 10% since Brexit. I’ve long advocated the merits of emerging market shares, and we’re just beginning to see these investments come good.

“Sell in May and go away, don’t come back till St Leger’s Day,” is the oft-quoted stock market saying. This is one year where this prediction has been utterly confounded. You would have missed out on a nearly 10% rise in your shares.

Plus I think when traders return from their holidays in September, the FTSE 100 could push on further. That’s why I think the stock market could well reach an all-time high, touching 7,000 points by year-end. That long-awaited bull market could just be beginning.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

That’s why I’ve repeatedly advocated the merits of buying into companies in the biotechnology and technology sectors. But if you could invest in just one firm, which would it be: a pharmaceuticals giant with expertise in a range of biological drugs, or a tech business that’s perhaps the leading consumer stock in the world?

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) is one of Britain’s leading pharmaceuticals companies. And it’s now basically a biotech business.

A few years ago there was much talk about the patent cliff, as a series of patents on blockbuster drugs expired, leading to a sharp fall in AZ’s earnings. But this wasn’t the end of the pharmaceuticals industry – far from it. As many chemical drugs have faced generic competition, so a whole new generation of antibody-based treatments used to treat ailments such as cancer and arthritis has emerged. And several of these are real money-spinners.

Cancer used to be an incurable disease, but that’s no longer the case. And that’s down to a succession of advances in the medical and bio-sciences. And our understanding of the complexities of proteins has been at the core of this.

What’s more, the global demand for medicines is growing, as emerging market healthcare spend climbs. That’s why I’m a strong advocate of the investing merits of AstraZeneca. However, the share price has already risen a lot, and a P/E ratio of 28, with a dividend yield of 3.62% is on the pricey side.

Apple

There’s no doubt about it, the rise of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a tech no-hoper to the world’s biggest company has been the investing story of the past 15 years. But is that story now over?

There are differing views on this. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn recently sold his holding. Yet equities guru Warren Buffett bought in. Who’s right?

Well, I have to admit, Apple’s recent results have disappointed. Sales have fallen around the world and, most worryingly, they’ve slumped in China, the market that chief executive Tim Cook placed so much emphasis on.

But, let’s get a little perspective on this. I’m a firm believer in the power of the trend. The ranks of the middle classes in emerging markets are growing at an astonishing pace. This will lead to a massive global consumer boom. And the iPhone remains the leading object of desire in the world.

Even if sales in China have fallen, we’ll see growth in countries such as India and Malaysia. In much the same way as there was no demise of the pharmaceuticals industry after the patent cliff, this isn’t the end of Apple’s boom. But, perhaps, we’ll see this company turn from being a high-growth punt to being a high-yielding blue chip to add your portfolio. And a P/E ratio of just 11, with a dividend yield of 2%, still looks good value.

Both companies are worthy investments but, in my view, and because of its cheaper rating, Apple just edges it.

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Prabhat Sakya has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK owns shares of and has recommended Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool UK has recommended AstraZeneca. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.