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Merk Asian Currency Fund ® (MEAFX)
Merk Asian Currency Fund

The Merk Asian Currency Fund (MEAFX) 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.

Fund Documents

 Fact Sheet (PDF)

 Prospectus / SAI (PDF)

 Semi/Annual Reports (PDF)

 XBRL* (ZIP)

  Ticker MEAFX   Fund Inception April 1st, 2008
  Expense Ratio 1.30%   Load No-Load Fund
  Assets1 $52.6 million (as of 05/24/2013)   Portfolio Manager Axel Merk, supported by the investment management team
  Dividends Click here for dividend summary   Institutional Shares Available
  Duration 0.15 years   The Fund is firmly committed to the short end of the yield curve

The Merk Asian Currency Fund (MEAFX) as of April 30, 2013

Month End

Currency Allocation Forward Contracts Security Holdings

Minimum Investment

Note: Aside from taking Chinese Renminbi time deposits as of earlier in 2012, the Fund may increasingly be buying high quality, short-term debt instruments denominated in Asian currencies to seek to profit from a rise in Asian currencies relative to the U.S. dollar. As debt markets become more developed in Asia, the Fund may rely less on buying U.S. fixed-income instruments in conjunction with forward contracts, as well as non-deliverable forward contracts. To facilitate the purchase of Asian currency denominated fixed income securities, the prospectus has been updated to reflect that the Fund may now maintain a weighted average portfolio maturity of less than eighteen months; previously, the Fund only bought money market or high quality debt instruments with effective maturities of less than eighteen months at the time of purchase.

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):

As of February 22, 2012 Chinese yuan exposure includes CNH (employing interest bearing time deposits).

Region Currency Currency
Symbol
MEAFX ADXY
Asia Chinese Renminbi   33.4% 38.2%
Onshore
CNY
15.0%  
Offshore
18.4%  
Hong Kong Dollar
HKD
0.9% 9.2%
Indian Rupee
INR
0.0% 8.8%
Indonesian Rupiah
IDR
0.0% 2.9%
Japanese Yen
JPY
0.0%
-
South Korean Won
KRW
4.4% 13.0%
Malaysian Ringgit
MYR
17.0% 4.3%
Philippine Peso
PHP
3.9% 1.7%
Singapore Dollar
SGD
17.9% 11.1%
Taiwan New Dollar
TWD
17.6% 6.1%
Thai Baht
THB
5.4% 4.9%
U.S. U.S. Dollar, net
USD
-0.4%
-
 

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

Currency Settlement Percent
CNH 05/02/13
-0.3%
CNY 06/19/13
2.8%
CNY 07/17/13
12.1%
HKD 06/19/13
0.9%
KRW 05/22/13
3.1%
KRW 07/17/13
1.3%
PHP 05/22/13
3.9%
SGD 05/10/13
-4.4%
SGD 05/16/13
-0.9%
THB 05/22/13
3.9%
THB 07/17/13
1.4%
TWD 06/19/13
14.2%
TWD 07/17/13
3.4%

As an example, CNY 06/19/13, 2.8% means that 2.8% of the net assets of the Fund are contracted to buy Chinese renminbi (selling U.S. dollar) with a settlement date of 06/19/13; 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:

Note: Aside from taking Chinese Renminbi time deposits as of earlier in 2012, the Fund may increasingly be buying high quality, short-term debt instruments denominated in Asian currencies to seek to profit from a rise in Asian currencies relative to the U.S. dollar. As debt markets become more developed in Asia, the Fund may rely less on buying U.S. fixed-income instruments in conjunction with forward contracts, as well as non-deliverable forward contracts. To facilitate the purchase of Asian currency denominated fixed income securities, the prospectus has been updated to reflect that the Fund may now maintain a weighted average portfolio maturity of less than eighteen months; previously, the Fund only bought money market or high quality debt instruments with effective maturities of less than eighteen months at the time of purchase.

Holding3 Currency Maturity Percent
Barclays Bank PLC CNH Time Deposit 0.50% CNH 05/02/13
4.8%
Deutsche Bank CNH Time Deposit 1.78% CNH 05/24/13
4.5%
JP Morgan Bank CNH Time Deposit 1.40% CNH 05/24/13
4.5%
Standard Chartered Bank CNH Time Deposit 1.20% CNH 05/20/13
4.9%
Bank Negara Monetary Note MYR 05/02/13
5.1%
Bank Negara Monetary Note MYR 07/18/13
4.0%
Malaysian Government 3.21% MYR 05/31/13
11.9%
Housing and Development Board 1.15% SGD 07/08/13
5.2%
Monetary Authority of Singapore Bill SGD 05/10/13
4.4%
Singapore Treasury Bills SGD 06/27/13
8.8%
Singapore Treasury Bills SGD 05/16/13
3.5%
Asian Development Bank 3.625% USD 09/05/13
4.0%
Korea Development Bank 5.75% USD 09/10/13
4.0%
U.S. T-Bill USD 05/16/13
5.4%
U.S. T-Bill USD 06/13/13
11.8%
U.S. T-Bill USD 07/11/13
5.4%
U.S. T-Bill USD 08/22/13
1.8%
U.S. T-Bill USD 09/19/13
7.2%


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

Fund holdings are subject to change without notice.

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.

*These zipped files are in the Extensible Business Reporting Language format and can only be viewed using an XBRL viewer. If you do not have access to an XBRL reader, please visit the SEC website.

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.