In my view, the ASX-listed exchange-traded fund (ETF) Betashares Global Cybersecurity ETF (ASX: HACK) could be one of the best funds to own for the long term.
It aims to give investors exposure to an industry with compelling growth tailwinds. It is invested in both global giants and emerging players from the cybersecurity industry.
There are currently 32 positions in the portfolio, which is sufficient diversification in my view, but also provides targeted exposure to the sector.
The main reason why this ASX ETF is appealing is because of the unfortunate growth of cybercrime. I'll outline what experts are seeing with the sector.
Consultant business EY has pointed out some highlights from the World Economic Forum's global cybersecurity outlook 2025 report.
It noted that small organisations lag in cyber resilience, which is increasing supply chain vulnerabilities, while larger organisations make steady progress. There's significant room for growth there.
The report also noted that large language models (LLMs), meaning generative AI, can simulate human-like responses, making "honeypots far more convincing to attackers while allowing organisations to adapt to adversarial behaviour in real time."
The report also said that the continued scarcity of cybersecurity talent exacerbates the risk landscape, leaving organisations vulnerable to sophisticated cyber attacks and breaches. I believe this makes the services offered by cybersecurity businesses even more important.
In Australia, some of the most commonly reported cybercrimes are identity fraud, online shopping fraud, online banking fraud, and email compromise.
I believe cybersecurity is a very important service that businesses and governments wouldn't want to give up on, even in a recession.
I think there are strong growth prospects for the sector, considering the world is becoming increasingly digital, particularly in areas like India. Plus, more of our own transactions and interactions, such as taxation, shopping, banking, and so on, are being done online – I think this will increase the demand for cybersecurity services.
So, it seems to me that the industry has both defensive earnings and growth in bucketloads.
Some of the businesses in the portfolio include Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Palo Alto Networks, Infosys, Crowdstrike, Leidos, and Cloudflare. These are very strong businesses that play a major role in the cybersecurity ecosystem.
To me, it's not a surprise that the HACK ETF has returned an average of 18% per year over the five years to July 2025. Though, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.
I think this ASX ETF could be one of the strongest returners over the long term in the cybersecurity sector.
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