Republicans are furious over the "October surprises" involving former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, the Florida Republican author of indiscrete instant messages, and U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican accused of using his influence to drum up business for his daughter. One other publicity stunt involving Democrats has probably escaped the GOP's attention, but it's bound to have caught the eyes of some investors trying to do the right thing politically and financially.

Blue Investment Management, whose principals include former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joseph J. Andrew, launched The Blue Large Cap and Blue Small Cap funds last week. (The funds don't have ticker symbols yet.) The large cap fund invests in Standard & Poor's 500 companies that contribute more to Democratic campaigns than to Republican efforts and respect human rights, the environment, their communities and their employees. The small cap fund applies the same criteria to stocks in the Russell 2000.

Based on the fund managers' interpretation of what "blue" means, large cap Blue would have outperformed the S&P 500 by 13.1 percent annually over the past five years and topped a "Red" S&P 500 fund by 15.6 percent annually.

What better time to appeal to partisan investors than just weeks before an election in which Democrats are likely to pick up some seats in Congress?

"It is really more of a case of a marketing ploy than a genuinely designed investment strategy," said Adam Bold, chief investment officer of the Mutual Fund Store, an Overland Park, Kan., investment firm.

As if we needed more evidence that fund companies are only too happy to supply the flavor of the month, whether it's politically or socially responsible funds or sector funds targeted at investors gunning for the next big thing.

Concurrent with the Blues debuts, Van Eck Global served up two new exchange-traded funds that invest in the steel and environmental services industries. (ETFs differ from mutual funds because they are traded like stocks on exchanges. Unlike mutual funds, which are bought or sold based on only their daily closing price, the price of ETFs fluctuates during the day).

Van Eck touts the 31 percent annualized return of its Market Vectors - Steel ETF [ticker: SLX] and 15 percent annual return of its Market Vectors - Environmental Services ETF [EVX] over the last five years. Unmentioned is the fact that from 1996 through 2000, the S&P Steel Index generated annual losses of 5.7 percent, including dividends.

The recipe for flavor of the month funds usually includes higher fees and subpar returns, according to investment advisers.

"Investors should never confuse marketing with sound methods of portfolio management," said Paul Brahim, managing director of BPU Investment Group, Downtown.

Mr. Brahim is not a big fan of sector funds for the simple reason that it's hard to time the market. Investors who have placed bets on the 38 real estate funds and ETFs launched since September 2005 have found that out, he says.

"Most investors discover a sector long after the beginning of its up cycle and they load up on it just in time to watch it decline," Mr. Brahim said.

Van Eck's first sector ETF, Market Vectors - Gold Miners [GDX] is a case in point. It has generated an annualized loss of 9 percent since it began trading May 22, 10 days after gold spot prices hit a 52-week high.

Donald Belt, chief investment officer of Hefren-Tillotson, Downtown, believes that sector funds should play no more than a supporting role in a portfolio, providing increased exposure to industries expected to outperform the market. But be prepared to pay higher fees than you would for an actively managed, broad market fund, he cautions.

The Blue Fund is a twist on socially responsible funds, which shun alcohol, tobacco, defense or other stocks based on the fund manager's values. The potential return on these funds is lower because the number of stocks managers can choose from is limited, Mr. Bold says.

"Whenever you invest in a fund that has social restrictions on it, you have to be willing to accept lesser returns in exchange for things that are important to you," he said. "That does not mean you will get lesser returns because some of those funds have done a good job; but you have to be prepared for it."

Mr. Bold doesn't like the Blue Fund for several reasons, the biggest being costs. The large cap sports a 1.5 percent expense ratio while the small cap weighs in at 1.75 percent. Moreover, he believes that the fund's premise is weak because most companies contribute to both parties.

Blue's theme is further compromised by the fact that you'll find its 25 largest holdings in the Free Enterprise Action Fund [FEAOX], which was launched this year to combat what its managers view as a left-wing conspiracy.

"Left-wing social and political activists are harnessing the power, resources and influence of publicly owned corporations to advance their social and political agenda," the Free Enterprisers warn in their fund literature.

Despite the rhetoric, the screens that fund managers from opposite ends of the political spectrum use appear to create portfolios that are more bipartisan than advertised. That can mean one of two things: bipartisanship works better on Wall Street than it does along Pennsylvania Avenue or Capitol Hill needs a slicker marketing department.