Merk Asian Currency Fund (MEAFX)

The Merk Asian Currency Fund (MEAFX) seeks to profit from a rise in Asian currencies versus 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.

Fund Documents

Fact Sheet (PDF)

Prospectus / SAI (PDF)

Semi/Annual Reports (PDF)

Ticker	MEAFX	Fund Inception	April 1st, 2008
Expense Ratio	1.30%	Load	No-Load Fund
Assets¹	$74.9 million (as of 08/27/2010)	Portfolio Managers	Axel Merk
Dividends	Click here for dividend summary	Institutional Shares	Available

The Merk Asian Currency Fund (MEAFX) as of July 31, 2010

Month End

Currency Allocation Forward Contracts Security Holdings

Minimum Investment

The Fund publishes its currency exposure on a monthly basis. Below is the Fund's exposure to Asian currencies; along with the composition of the Asian Currency Index (ADXY):

Region	Currency	Currency Symbol	MEAFX	ADXY
Asia	Chinese Yuan Renminbi	CNY	45.0%	34.1%
	Hong Kong Dollar	HKD	3.2%	10.6%
	Indian Rupee	INR	12.9%	6.5%
	Indonesian Rupiah	IDR	0.0%	3.3%
	Japanese Yen	JPY	1.7%	-
	South Korean Won	KRW	5.1%	14.2%
	Malaysian Ringgit	MYR	7.5%	5.8%
	Philippines Peso	PHP	0.0%	2.3%
	Singapore Dollar	SGD	11.2%	10.0%
	Taiwan New Dollar	TWD	13.5%	8.3%
	Thailand Baht	THB	0.0%	4.8%
U.S.	U.S. Dollar, net	USD	0.0%

The Fund publishes net open forward and non-deliverable forward contracts on a monthly basis²:

Currency	Settlement	Percent
CNY	08/20/10	10.0%
CNY	09/27/10	14.3%
CNY	10/22/10	20.7%
HKD	09/24/10	1.1%
HKD	10/22/10	2.0%
INR	08/20/10	4.9%
INR	09/24/10	5.6%
INR	10/22/10	2.4%
JPY	10/22/10	1.7%
KRW	08/20/10	2.7%
KRW	09/24/10	2.5%
MYR	08/20/10	4.2%
MYR	09/24/10	2.5%
MYR	10/22/10	0.8%
SGD	08/20/10	3.0%
SGD	09/24/10	4.8%
SGD	10/22/10	3.4%
TWD	08/20/10	1.4%
TWD	09/24/10	3.5%
TWD	10/22/10	8.6%

As an example, CNY 08/20/10, 10.00% means that 10.0% of the net assets of the Fund are contracted to buy Chinese renminbi (selling U.S. dollar) with a settlement date of 08/20/10; as CNY is a non-deliverable currency, any profit or loss will settle in U.S. dollars. All forward contracts are marked to market daily.

The Fund publishes its security holdings on a monthly basis:

Holding³	Currency	Maturity	Percent
U.S. T-Bill	USD	08/26/10	17.2%
U.S. T-Bill	USD	09/23/10	10.6%
U.S. T-Bill	USD	10/28/10	15.2%
U.S. T-Bill	USD	11/18/10	14.5%
U.S. T-Bill	USD	12/16/10	15.2%
U.S. T-Bill	USD	01/13/11	10.6%
U.S. T-Bill	USD	01/27/11	15.5%

The Fund accepts investments in the following minimum amounts:

	Minimum Initial Investment	Minimum Additional Investment
Standard Accounts	$2,500	$100
Traditional and Roth IRA Accounts	$1,000	$100
Accounts with Systematic Investment Plans	$1,000	$100
Qualified Retirement, Pension or Profit Sharing Plans	$1,000	$100

Click here to download the Adobe^® Reader^® to view and print the PDF version of the Fund Fact Sheet.

¹Assets reflect investor and institutional shares combined

²The Fund may invest substantially in forward foreign currency contracts or other derivative instruments. Because delivery and settlement of forward contracts takes place in the future, the Fund will retain the assets it intends to use to settle the contracts and invest these assets in various U.S. fixed income instruments that the Adviser expects will generate income for the Fund. Under such circumstances, the Fund may not have a material portion of its assets invested in the securities of issuers located in Asian markets. The value of the Fund’s investments in U.S. fixed income instruments (to the extent used to cover the Fund’s net exposure under the forward foreign currency contracts and similar instruments) and forward contracts and other instruments that provide investment exposure to Asian currencies will be counted for purposes of the Fund’s 80% policy.

³Cash holding (including non-U.S. cash and Citigroup Dollars on Deposit Cash Account) are excluded from holdings report.

The Bloomberg-JP Morgan Asian Currency Index (ADXY) is a trade and liquidity weighted index of a basket of Asian currencies, excluding the yen, compared to the U.S. dollar. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

As with any mutual fund product, there is no guarantee that the fund will achieve its goals. Investment return and principal value will vary and shares may be worth more or less at redemption than at original purchase; the Fund is not a substitute for a money market fund. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks and charges and expenses of the Merk Asian Currency Fund carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Merk Asian Currency Fund. To obtain a prospectus, please download it now or call (866) MERK FUND. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Since the Fund primarily invests in foreign currencies, changes in currency exchange rates will affect the value of what the Fund owns and the price of the Fund’s 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 Fund is subject to interest rate risk which is the risk that debt securities in the Fund’s portfolio will decline in value because of increases in market interest rates. The Fund may also invest in derivative securities which can be volatile and involve various types and degrees of risk. For a more complete discussion of these and other Fund risks please refer to the Fund’s prospectus.