It’s just not worth investing in tobacco stocks

A sensible investor looks to put their money where it will grow over five or ten years. That rules out tobacco stocks, says Merryn Somerset Webb.

We've been talking a lot about sustainable investing here in the last few weeks see my columns here and here.We've been asking exactly what sustainable means in the context of investment.

Our conclusion is that it is an investment that comes with a business model and a corporate governance policy that will allow it to continue to grow and create dividends for as long as you want to be invested in it so say five to ten years.

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.