The Wages of sin

An editorial from the St .Louis Post-Dispatch

The British newsmagazine The Economist reports this week on the success of a Dallas-based mutual fund that invests exclusively in what fund managers call “socially irresponsible” projects.

The Vice Fund holds stock exclusively in firms that manufacture gambling equipment, tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, armaments, etc. So far this year, 2004, the Vice Fund is outpacing both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

“No matter what the economy’s state or how interest rates move, people keep smoking, drinking, gambling and fighting.,” a portfolio manager told the magazine. As for the prospects for defense industries, just consult the front page of any newspaper from any city.

Among the fund’s largest holdings are the Altria Group (Philip Morris tobacco) at 4.69 %; Multimedia Games, Inc. (Gambling equipment) at 4.49 %; Anheuser-Busch Cos. at 4.05 %; and L-3 Communications (intelligence and surveillance systems) at 3.99 %.

We’re not stock analysts here, but we’d suggest Vice Fund investors might also ask their doctors about Sanofi-Sythelabo Inc. That’s the firm that makes Ambien, a pill that will help you sleep at night.

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