INVESTING
IN VICE

Topics: Depravity; Drinking; Foolishness; Gambling; Greed; Human Nature; Immorality; Money; Morality; Pleasure; Sin; Smoking; Spiritual Poverty; Temptation; Vices; Wickedness; Worldliness

References: Jeremiah 17:11; Matthew 18:6–7; Mark 8:36; Luke 17:1–2; John 3:19–20; Romans 6:19–23; 1 Timothy 6:10; 1 Peter 2:16; 4:3; 2 Peter 2:19

Though the stock market boasted in 2006 that it had 150 “socially responsible” mutual funds that invested in companies meeting the ethical standards of fund managers, a new investment fund quietly surfaced in 2002. It’s the Vice Fund.

According to its prospectus, the Vice Fund favors “products or services often considered socially irresponsible.” These include companies linked to alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and military contracts. The Vice Fund and another fund, the Gaming and Casino Fund, exploit the dark side of human nature, which is a great investment during times of economic downturns. Dan Ahrens, former manager of the Vice Fund and founder of the Gaming and Casino Fund, believes that bad habits don’t change, even in bad economic times. People still indulge in vices, regardless of what happens in the stock market; they continue to smoke, drink, and gamble.

Investors in vice have profited; the Vice Fund has returned positive monetary gains, some reaching beyond 20 percent over five years.

—“Would You Invest in Human Vices?” Omaha Sunday World-Herald (July 16, 2006)