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The FTSE 100 is a great place for new investors to consider getting started on their investing journey. It’s crammed to the rafters with rock-solid companies that enjoy market-leading positions and robust balance sheets.
Yet with scores of blue-chip businesses to choose from, knowing which stocks to buy and which ones to avoid can be a tough task at first. So let’s take a look at some Footsie shares that might work well in a starter portfolio.
As well as providing diversification through different industries and geographies, this particular portfolio also provides a mix of growth, passive income, and value. It’s a blend that provides exposure to multiple investment opportunities, reduces the risk investors take on, and can deliver a stable return across the economic cycle.
The growth share
Tabletop gaming specialist Games Workshop (LSE:GAW) has experienced stunning growth in recent decades. It has subsequently gone from having a market cap of £140m at the start of the century to being a £4.6bn bruiser today (and enjoying elevation to the FTSE 100 in December).
There are doubts as to whether the Warhammer maker can continue its stunning ascent, and especially as rival games manufacturers ramp up the competition.
But I’m confident Games Workshop has significant scope to keep growing profits. Its strong record of product innovation continues, as demonstrated by the fact new releases (like those of its new Warhammer: The Old World system launched last year) consistently sell out within hours.
The company’s also increasing the licencing of its intellectual property to boost consumer interest and to generate mammoth revenues in its own right. The blockbuster TV and film content deal recently signed with Amazon is an especially exciting development here.
The value stock
For investors seeking all-round value, there’s few better to consider than Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN) in my book.
The bank’s forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 8.1 times falls below the FTSE 100 average of 12.2 times. Meanwhile, its price-to-book (P/B) ratio is below 1, at 0.8. This means it trades at a discount to the value of its assets.
Okay, Standard Chartered’s large Chinese footprint leaves it exposed to current economic turbulence there. But I believe its broad exposure to Asia and Africa also provides excellent longer-term investment potential, driven by a blend of surging population levels in these places and rapidly rising disposable incomes.
Halma (LSE:HLMA) doesn’t have the largest dividend share out there. For 2025 it stands at 1%, far below the FTSE 100 average of 3.5%.
But this isn’t a share to be taken lightly on the passive income front. The business — which manufactures safety and hazard detection equipment — has raised the annual payout by at least 5% for a stunning 45 years on the trot. This has enabled investors to outpace inflation over the decades.
This record is underpinned by Halma’s exceptional cash generation and its ability to post record profit after record profit. For the outgoing financial year (ending March 2025), the company’s tipped to record a 22nd consecutive year of rising profits.
Growing trade wars pose a threat to future profitability. But on balance, I still think it’s a top income share to consider.
