In the News: Investment Advisor magazine

Investment Advisor magazine discusses: "Are Currencies the Holy Grail in Diversification?"

"Merk has two funds that could be used to accomplish an allocation to currencies: Merk Hard Currency Fund (MERKX), and Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund (MABFX) [..] 'The Hard Currency Fund, launched in May, 2005, is a “special case international bond fund,” that can give clients, 'international exposure without equity risk, and less credit risk,' says Merk, who sat down with Wealth Manager for an exclusive interview on November 10. This fund seeks to profit from the decline in the dollar [..]

Ultimately, this is a way of playing where the big dogs are: 'Central banks are holding baskets of currencies,' Merk says [..]

The Absolute Return Currency Fund, launched in September, has a totally different perspective and strategy. First, the fund is a pure currency play, going long or short using forward currency contracts, collateralized with U.S. T-bills. That way the fund can go, relatively inexpensively, long or short by pairing the U.S. dollar versus another currency. The fund seeks to profit whether the dollar is strong or weak— independent of market prevailing conditions [..] "