A great way to build a significant retirement nest egg is to invest in companies focused on capitalizing on a major trend. They should be able to grow their revenue and earnings at above-average rates, which should help them produce superior returns over the long term.
Two megatrends that have the potential of producing some winning investments in the coming years are alternative investment management and cybersecurity. One standout stock in each of those sectors is Brookfield Asset Management (BAM 3.07%) and CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD +0.74%). This means those with $5,000 (or less) to invest could consider splitting that cash across those two high-potential growth stocks.
NYSE: BAM
Key Data Points
1. Brookfield Asset Management: Capitalizing on the increasing flow of capital into alternative investments
Investors have been steadily pouring more capital into alternative investments (i.e., those outside the public stock and bond markets like private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, infrastructure, and private real estate) for years. Alternative assets under management (AUM) have grown from around $4 trillion in 2010 to over $10 trillion by 2020, according to Prequin, a leading data, analytics, and insight provider to the alternative asset industry.
Prequin sees that number growing at a nearly 10% annual rate through 2025 as more investors allocate more of their portfolio to alternatives in search of better returns. This trend should benefit leading alternative asset manager Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield currently has $725 billion of AUM across renewable power and energy transition, infrastructure, real estate, and private equity, as well as credit and insurance solutions.
Brookfield expects its AUM to continue growing. That will enable the company to collect a rising stream of management fees and carried interest income (its share of the profits from the funds it manages). In addition to that, Brookfield will benefit from the capital it has invested in its funds.
These catalysts should enable Brookfield to generate significant free cash flow, which it can use to grow the value of the company through new investments and reward investors through share repurchases and dividends. In Brookfield's view, it can deliver 15% annualized total returns for its investors over the long-term.
NASDAQ: CRWD
Key Data Points
2. CrowdStrike Holdings: Capitalizing on the growing need for security
Cyberattacks are growing more frequent and costly. Last year saw an 82% increase in ransomware-related data leaks, according to CrowdStrike's Global Threat Report. Meanwhile, a forecast from Juniper Research estimates that the global cost of data breaches will rise from $3 trillion annually to over $5 trillion annually by 2024.
To make matters worse, legacy network security systems aren't suitable for today's increasingly cloud-based world, where companies are moving more business processes online and more employees are accessing company data remotely. That's providing cybercriminals with additional surfaces to attack.
CrowdStrike has a solution to these issues. It built a cloud-based security platform that uses artificial intelligence to identify and stop security breaches. The company sees a large and growing opportunity to provide cloud-based cybersecurity services. CrowdStrike currently has a $56 billion addressable market with its current portfolio of security offerings, which it forecasts will reach $126 billion by 2025 as the market grows and it expands its portfolio.
With its annual recurring revenue recently hitting $1.9 billion, CrowdStrike has lots of room to run. Given its massive market opportunity, the company should be able to continue growing its revenue and cash flow at a brisk pace for years to come. That should help the cybersecurity company to continue to deliver attractive total returns for investors.
These stocks could help set you up for a nice retirement
Investing in companies that can grow at an above-average clip could help you build a nice retirement nest egg. Brookfield and CrowdStrike both fit that bill, given the large and growing market opportunities they're working to capture. Because of that, they're ideal stocks to consider buying and holding until retirement.
