Mental Floss give a quick rundown of mutual funds designed to allow investors to put their money where their morality is.
Ave Maria and the Timothy Plan are two fund families whose aims are to invest in accordance with Catholic or Christian values respectively. Amana Mutual Funds' investment policies are guided by Sharia, the body of Islamic religious law. They won't invest in (among other things) any companies whose principle business is alcohol, pornography or pork processing companies.
The most interesting fund on the list, however, could be the Vice Fund (VICEX), whose aim is to attract investors whose moral compasses point squarely toward Las Vegas:
The fund focuses on four sectors: defense/weapons, gambling, tobacco, and booze. As the fund’s website proudly boasts in all caps, no other fund concentrates solely on these four sectors. As fund manager Charles Norton told the Financial Times in 2006, '[N]o matter what is happening in the world economy, people will continue to drink, smoke, gamble and nations will need to defend themselves. As a result, in general these companies tend to be steady performers in good times and bad—they are mostly insulated from economic slowdowns.' In short, the fund has targeted four areas of the economy where it thinks demand is fairly inelastic whether for reasons of addiction or necessity as a hedge against market downturns. It works, too; for 2006 the fund had returns of over 23%."
All that fun comes with a price though - the Vice Fund comes with a sky-high 1.93% expense ratio. As for the theory that people will continue to gamble regardless of economic conditions, it's worth noting that Market Vectors Gaming ETF (BJK), a new exchange traded fund launched just five months ago that specializes in casino and other gaming stocks, is already down about 25% - far more than the less sinful stocks of the S&P 500.
Mutual Funds for Saints or Sinners
Mental Floss give a quick rundown of mutual funds designed to allow investors to put their money where their morality is.
Ave Maria and the Timothy Plan are two fund families whose aims are to invest in accordance with Catholic or Christian values respectively. Amana Mutual Funds' investment policies are guided by Sharia, the body of Islamic religious law. They won't invest in (among other things) any companies whose principle business is alcohol, pornography or pork processing companies.
The most interesting fund on the list, however, could be the Vice Fund (VICEX), whose aim is to attract investors whose moral compasses point squarely toward Las Vegas:
The fund focuses on four sectors: defense/weapons, gambling, tobacco, and booze. As the fund’s website proudly boasts in all caps, no other fund concentrates solely on these four sectors. As fund manager Charles Norton told the Financial Times in 2006, '[N]o matter what is happening in the world economy, people will continue to drink, smoke, gamble and nations will need to defend themselves. As a result, in general these companies tend to be steady performers in good times and bad—they are mostly insulated from economic slowdowns.' In short, the fund has targeted four areas of the economy where it thinks demand is fairly inelastic whether for reasons of addiction or necessity as a hedge against market downturns. It works, too; for 2006 the fund had returns of over 23%."
All that fun comes with a price though - the Vice Fund comes with a sky-high 1.93% expense ratio. As for the theory that people will continue to gamble regardless of economic conditions, it's worth noting that Market Vectors Gaming ETF (BJK), a new exchange traded fund launched just five months ago that specializes in casino and other gaming stocks, is already down about 25% - far more than the less sinful stocks of the S&P 500.
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