By Paul Homewood

The Telegraph used to be a serious paper!

Mike Fox is, I should point out, Head of Sustainable Investments at Royal London Asset Management, so he is hardly objective.

Cigarette makers are actively trying to wean people off traditional cigarettes. In the tobacco industry, it is not uncommon to hear some of the largest manufacturers of cigarettes espousing a “smoke-free future”. Through the classic hedging strategy of offering the alternative, they have acquired a leading role in providing e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and vaping technology, which are replacing “normal” smoking. This pattern can occur all the time in markets, where established players with deep pockets can become the greatest beneficiaries of disruption to their traditional industry.

Reckitt Benckiser, the consumer health provider and owner of condom brand Durex, recently snapped up baby food maker Mead Johnson. The significance of offering the alternative should be immediately obvious here. But…