Socially Irresponsible Investing

Chris Dillow points to the Vice Fund, which has achieved an 18% annual average return since inception, with its portfolio of alcohol, tobacco, gaming and defence stocks.  Dillow attributes this outperformance to the defensive nature of these stocks.  A ‘vice’-oriented fund could conceivably also help investors to achieve diversification, and thereby enhance returns to a wider portfolio, by offsetting the trend in the broader wealth management industry to ‘socially responsible investing’ and the politicisation of both private and public sector investment mandates.