Merk Funds provides an institutional share class for the Merk Hard Currency Fund (MHCIX), the Merk Asian Currency Fund (MASIX), the Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund (MAAIX), and the Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund (MUSIX). The institutional shares eliminate the 12b-1 fee and have a minimum investment of $250,000, which may be aggregated across multiple client accounts for advisers.
Minimum Investment
Minimum Initial Investment
Minimum Additional Investment
Standard Accounts
$250,000
None
Traditional & Roth IRA Accounts
$250,000
None
Registered investment advisers may be permitted to aggregate the value across multiple client accounts.
Availability
Fidelity
(800) FIDELITY
www.fidelity.com
Merk1
(866) MERK-FUND
www.merkfunds.com
Schwab
(866) 232-9890
www.schwab.com
TDAmeritrade
(800) 454-9272
www.tdameritrade.com
Vanguard2
(877) 662-7447
www.vanguard.com
Individual investors with more than $250,000 to invest are encouraged to check with their broker to see if institutional shares are available. Transaction fees and restrictions may apply when investing through a broker.
1Investors with more than $250,000 may invest directly with Merk Mutual Funds. Please contact us or call (866) MERK-FUND for more information on investing in institutional shares.
2Currently only available for the Merk Hard Currency Fund
Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund (MUSIX)
The Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund (MUSIX) seeks to generate total returns that exceed that of the S&P 500 Index.
By employing a currency overlay, the Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund actively manages U.S. dollar and other currency risk while concurrently providing investment exposure to the S&P 500.
The Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund Institutional Shares (MAAIX) seeks to generate positive absolute returns by investing in currencies.
The Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund is a pure play on currencies, aiming to profit regardless of the direction of the U.S. dollar or traditional asset classes.
The Merk Asian Currency Fund Institutional Shares (MASIX) seeks to profit from a rise in asian currencies relative to the U.S. dollar.
The Merk Asian Currency Fund typically invests in a basket of Asian currencies. Asian currencies the Fund may invest in include, but are not limited to, the currencies of China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
The Merk Hard Currency Fund Institutional Shares (MHCIX) seeks to profit from a rise in hard currencies relative to the U.S. dollar.
The Merk Hard Currency Fund typically invests in a basket of hard currencies. Hard currencies are currencies backed by sound monetary policy; sound monetary policy focuses on price stability.
*Includes "Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses" that are derived from the funds investment in exchange traded funds.
Since the Funds primarily invest in foreign currencies, changes in currency exchange rates will affect the value of what the Funds own and the price of the Funds' shares. Investing in foreign instruments bears a greater risk than investing in domestic instruments for reasons such as volatility of currency exchange rates and, in some cases, limited geographic focus, political and economic instability, and relatively illiquid markets. The Funds are subject to interest rate risk which is the risk that debt securities in the Funds' portfolio will decline in value because of increases in market interest rates. The Funds may also invest in derivative securities which can be volatile and involve various types and degrees of risk. As a non-diversified fund, the Merk Hard Currency Fund will be subject to more investment risk and potential for volatility than a diversified fund because their portfolios may, at times, focus on a limited number of issuers. For a more complete discussion of these and other Fund risks please refer to each Fund's prospectus.
