The Unfashionable Case for Investing in Vice
Let’s be honest, shall we? The investment world loves a good story. It’s all about disruptive tech, green energy revolutions, and the promise of a better, cleaner, AI-driven tomorrow. It’s exciting stuff, but it can also be frightfully volatile. While everyone else is chasing the next shiny object, I find myself drawn to the things people do when the lights are low and the economy is looking a bit grim. I’m talking about the so called sin stocks.
It’s a rather puritanical label, isn’t it? It covers companies involved in alcohol, tobacco, and gambling. These are industries that many investors, particularly the large, box ticking institutions, wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Their loss, I suppose. Because what they miss is the beautifully simple, if slightly uncomfortable, truth about human nature.