thoughts on vicex

mo42nyy · #1 10-26-2007, 09:41 AM

like i said a few times on here Im starting to learn about investing
I was looking at the mutual fund VICEX which holds ciggaret, alcholol and gambling stocks. These are things people will always do. I see that the expense ratio is high, but is it worth looking into?

stephenNUTS · #2 10-26-2007, 11:10 AM

I just love that symbol
[img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Gigi · #3 10-28-2007, 02:04 AM

The graph of the past performance looks pretty, but this isn't going to help you in the future. Keep in mind that this fund was intercepted close to the end of the bear market. Had it started in 2000, you'd probably be up no more than 50%.

Why chase hot sectors when you can you can invest in the whole market (every sector) with much less risk?

Does the high expense ratio (1.75%) justify the fund? I don't believe so, it only has ~35 holdings. Off a $10,000 investment, the expense ratio fee is $175. Assuming $5 a trade it would cost you $175 to replicated the equity portion of this fund yourself. So for 10K+ investment amounts you might as well do it yourself.

Here's a less riskier investment that seems to follow the "special" vicex fund. Expense ratio only 0.35% :-)

Hope this helps.