Not what the Teacher Wanted
I'm a tax and estate planning attorney. Because my dad was way into investing, I've had a Roth IRA since I was old enough to hold a job. Well, fast forward to law school where I had jobs clerking on the side. My trusts and estates class was talking about fiduciary responsibilities and duties. He was mentioning how people could put language in their documents regarding the direction of investments. Touching on the idea of "socially responsible" investments, he popped up a slide containing the Vice Fund logo and its investment outlay. I thought, "this is awesome!" I read up on the fund, even though the professor was more or less showing it as the extreme opposite of what someone who was a "socially sensitive" investor would want. That year's contribution was my first investment into the Vice Fund.

I have attended Weight Watcher's Meetings for years.

About 9 years ago I began attending a new group that met weekly at my office building. There were some very large attendees at the group. I got to the session early one week, and a group of veteran members were huddled and whispering. I could overhear their conversation: "The truck gets in Thursday nights around 10 PM at the Jewel." Mmmm…were they talking about a controlled substance? Were they strategizing something illegal? Nope. They were discussing the delivery of the Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches at the grocery store in our Midwestern town.

Weight Watchers diet plans are built around a points range that is based on the calories, fat, and fiber of foods one eats. My points range to lose weight was 18-24 points per day. A peanut butter & jelly sandwich is 6 points, for example. That means you aren't getting a lot of food overall. Candy and desserts can take up your whole point allotment for a day! A Skinny Cow sandwich was just 1 point. In theory I could eat 18 of them…and continue my weight loss. Evidently, that was what my meeting cohorts were doing! A package of six Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches cost a whopping $6.99! They never went on sale, and they were always in short supply. Women who won't go to the gym would get up out of their houses at 10 PM on a snowy winter night to drive out and BUY THEM ALL.

I bought a package, and looked them up. Right there on the pink sheets at .88 per share I found SIHB. I bought $1,000 worth and watched as the price climbed higher and higher as more Weight Watcher members spread the word. Oprah touted them, and after that the stock went over $12. I hung in there — figuring Skinny Cow would get bought out by a bigger player. I was bought out at $17.66 a year after purchase. So, what are you eating?

Neither the Vice or Generation Wave Growth Fund had holdings in Skinny Cow or Weight Watchers. Fund holdings and sector allocations are subject to change and are not recommendations to buy or sell any security.