Vice Fund Sees Growth in Defense/Aerospace Stocks
24 April 2008 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
In today�s super-challenging investing environment, Vice Fund
(Nasdaq:VICEX) manager Charles Norton is a big believer in defense
and aerospace equities. Co-managed by Charles L. Norton and Allen
R. Gillespie, Vice Fund is a non-diversified mutual fund focusing
its investments in global opportunities in four sectors:
defense/aerospace, gaming, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco. �As
the presidential process moves forward, we took a look at the
commonly held belief that Republicans are better for defense stocks
than Democrats,� Norton states. �The data suggests, however, there
is no correlation between the political party of the President and
Congress as a primary driver for defense spending. �Historically,
defense budget growth tends to go hand-in-hand with high global
threat levels, regardless of the political party in the White House
or dominating Congress,� Norton states. �And there are plenty of
volatile fronts: Iran, North Korea, India/Pakistan, and China, to
name a few. �Second, the next generation of warfare will most
likely leverage technology more than ever before � and as a result,
we believe more money should flow into Procurement and Research,
Development and Test and Evaluation. Historically, defense stocks
have outperformed the broader market when budget authority on these
two areas of the defense budget are on the rise.1 �For these and
other reasons, budget authority for defense modernization will
likely increase through at least 2010, the first year a new
administration will sign off on new defense spending. Also, pure
play defense stocks have been defensive, with near zero correlation
to the broader market, over the past two decades. As investors
focus on issues of the day like a deteriorating credit market and
subprime lending, we take a long-term approach, honing in on
defensive sectors that we believe are well positioned to benefit
when the economy is moderating and the broad market is struggling,�
said Norton. On the aerospace side, he notes that robust global GDP
growth has triggered a pickup in air traffic. Driven by
fast-growing emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East,
worldwide traffic growth �appears to be surging well above its
long-term trend, fertilizing a new upcycle in global demand for
aircraft.� In recent years, aircraft orders out of Asia and the
Middle East have combined for nearly one-third of total orders,
while the concentration of orders from North America and Europe has
declined to less than one-half. Also, next-generation airplanes
like Boeing�s 787 are as much as 20% more fuel efficient � so high
fuel prices will likely increase the need to replace older planes
with more economical ones. �Our exposure to what we believe will be
a prolonged aerospace upcycle comes from a leading aircraft maker,
and through some of the top aerospace suppliers, all of whom could
be beneficiaries of this trend,� Norton adds. According to Lipper,
Vice Fund�s five-year return of 20.95% through March 31, 2008 ranks
it in the top 1 percent among 504 funds in the multi-cap core
category, based on total fund returns. The fund also ranks in the
top 3 percent among 663 funds, with a 12.34% annual return for the
three-year period ended March 31, 2008. The fund also ranks in the
top 3 percent among 869 funds, with a 4.44% annual return for the
one-year period ended March 31, 2008. Average Annual Returns As of
March 31, 2008 � 1 Year � 3 Years Annualized � 5 Years Annualized �
Since Inception (8/30/02) Annualized Vice Fund 4.44% 12.34% 20.96%
15.15% � S&P 500 Index1 -5.08% 5.84% 11.30% 8.77% Gross Expense
Ratio: 1.90% Net Expense Ratio:* 1.75% *The Advisor has a
contractual agreement to waive fees through 07/31/17. 1 These
figures were compiled by GNI Capital using data from Bloomberg. It
compares the return data for the S&P 500 Aerospace &
Defense Index during the full calendar year in which there is a
Presidential election to the return of the S&P 500 Index over
the same time period. Performance data quoted represents past
performance and does not guarantee future results. The investment
return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that
an investor�s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than
their original cost. Current performance of the fund may be lower
or higher than the performance quoted. The fund imposes a 1.00%
redemption fee on shares held less than 60 days. Performance does
not reflect redemption fee. Had the fee been included, returns
would be lower. Performance data current to the most recent month
end may be obtained by calling 1-866-264-8783 or visiting
www.vicefund.com. For more information on the Vice Fund, including
charges and expenses, Call 1-866-264-8783 or log on to
www.vicefund.com The fund�s investment objectives, risks, charges
and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The
prospectus contains this and other important information about the
investment company, and it may be obtained by calling Shareholder
Services toll free at 866-264-8783 or visiting www.vicefund.com.
Read it carefully before investing. Mutual Fund investing involves
risk. Principal loss is possible. The Fund is nondiversified,
meaning it may concentrate its assets in fewer individual holdings
than a diversified fund. Therefore, the Fund is more exposed to
individual stock volatility than a diversified fund. The Fund
invests in foreign securities which involve greater volatility and
political, economic and currency risks and differences in
accounting methods. The Fund invests in smaller companies, which
involve additional risks such as limited liquidity and greater
volatility. Lipper Analytical Services, Inc. is an independent
mutual fund research and rating service. Each Lipper average
represents a universe of Funds with similar invest objectives.
Rankings for the period shown are based on Fund total returns with
dividends and distributions reinvested and do not reflect sales
charges.� The S&P 500 Index is a broad based unmanaged index of
500 stocks, which is widely recognized as representative of the
equity market in general. The S&P 500 Aerospace & Defense
Index is a capitalization-weighted index of large-cap aerospace and
defense companies. You cannot invest directly in an index. Quasar
Distributors, LLC, Distributor (4/08)
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