Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in “hard currency” denominated investments. Hard currencies are currencies of countries pursuing what Merk Investments LLC (the “Adviser”) believes to be “sound” monetary policy and gold. Sound monetary policy is defined by the Adviser as providing an environment fostering long-term price stability. The Adviser considers gold to be the only currency with intrinsic value and, as such, to qualify as a hard currency. To the extent that the Fund invests in gold, it will normally do so indirectly through U.S. listed exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) that invest in gold bullion and/or futures contracts. The Fund may invest in ETPs sponsored by the Adviser or its affiliates. The Fund normally obtains exposure to hard currencies by directly investing in high quality, short-term debt instruments, including sovereign debt, denominated in hard currencies, or indirectly by investing in domestic fixed income securities and forward foreign currency contracts on hard currencies.

The Adviser will determine currency allocations based on an analysis of monetary policies pursued by central banks and economic environments. Once this determination has been made, money market or other debt instruments will be selected to create a liquid portfolio of short duration and high credit quality securities. The Adviser may adapt the currency allocations as its analysis of monetary policies and economic environments evolves.

The Fund will specifically seek the currency risk of select countries pursuing what the Adviser believes are sound monetary policies. As long-term price stability is unlikely to be achieved by most currencies, if any, the Adviser focuses on countries with monetary policy that in the Adviser's view better fosters such stability. The Fund may from time to time focus its investment in just a few currencies that meet the Adviser’s investment criteria for stringent monetary policies and practices.

To mitigate interest rate and credit risk to its portfolio, the Fund typically maintains a weighted average portfolio maturity of less than eighteen months. In addition, the Fund only buys money market or other short-term debt instruments that are rated in the top three rating categories by one or more U.S. nationally recognized services or that the Adviser considers comparable in quality to such instruments. When selecting debt securities for the portfolio, the Adviser may sacrifice yield in return for high credit quality. Over time, the Fund seeks to generate more gains from securities than derivatives.

The Fund may invest a significant portion of the Fund’s total assets in cash or cash equivalents if the Adviser’s process does not identify other appropriate investments for the Fund.

The Fund is non-diversified.