Jeff MacDonagh on Sin Stocks

Jeff MacDonagh of Domini offers the following response to my note on sin stocks:

"Our take is that they [alcohol, tobacco, and gambling] are all addictive and harmful.  We seek to invest in companies that do not produce addictive and harmful products, as they necessarily harm the customer.  The more that is produced and consumed, the worse off society is.

"You note correctly that alcohol is only potentially harmful, and in fact, may be beneficial in small amounts.  Our concern, in part, reflects how we see publicly traded companies operating – maximizing efficiency, innovation, and product distribution.  Public companies, in general (but not always), act more aggressively in these three ways than private companies, sole proprietorships, etc.  Our screen is not about a boutique vineyard or microbrewery, it is about Budweiser and other publicly traded (large) producers.

"Gambling and tobacco are much easier one to understand – you always lose when consuming this product on a regular, or even fairly occasional, basis. "I think this is an overdue conversation in our world.  I would be happy if the term 'sin stock' was relegated to a historical comment on Wesley’s sermon.  In fact, if you read into 'The Use of Money' – one can interpret 'sin stock' to mean investing in things that are counterproductive, a much more capitalist interpretation than the 'sin stock' term suggests."