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Trending ETFs

Name

As of 11/30/2022

Price

Aum/Mkt Cap

YIELD

Annualized forward dividend yield. Multiplies the most recent dividend payout amount by its frequency and divides by the previous close price.

Exp Ratio

Expense ratio is the fund’s total annual operating expenses, including management fees, distribution fees, and other expenses, expressed as a percentage of average net assets.

Watchlist

$7.63

$48.7 M

0.00%

$0.00

1.33%

Vitals

YTD Return

-15.0%

1 yr return

-16.2%

3 Yr Avg Return

-5.5%

5 Yr Avg Return

-4.8%

Net Assets

$48.7 M

Holdings in Top 10

68.6%

52 WEEK LOW AND HIGH

$7.6
$7.52
$9.18

Expenses

OPERATING FEES

Expense Ratio 1.33%

SALES FEES

Front Load N/A

Deferred Load N/A

TRADING FEES

Turnover 68.00%

Redemption Fee N/A


Min Investment

Standard (Taxable)

$2,500

IRA

$1,000


Fund Classification

Fund Type

Open End Mutual Fund


Name

As of 11/30/2022

Price

Aum/Mkt Cap

YIELD

Annualized forward dividend yield. Multiplies the most recent dividend payout amount by its frequency and divides by the previous close price.

Exp Ratio

Expense ratio is the fund’s total annual operating expenses, including management fees, distribution fees, and other expenses, expressed as a percentage of average net assets.

Watchlist

$7.63

$48.7 M

0.00%

$0.00

1.33%

MERKX - Profile

Distributions

  • YTD Total Return -15.0%
  • 3 Yr Annualized Total Return -5.5%
  • 5 Yr Annualized Total Return -4.5%
  • Capital Gain Distribution Frequency Annually
  • Net Income Ratio -1.28%
DIVIDENDS
  • Dividend Yield 0.0%
  • Dividend Distribution Frequency Quarterly

Fund Details

  • Legal Name
    Merk Hard Currency Fund
  • Fund Family Name
    Merk Funds
  • Inception Date
    May 10, 2005
  • Shares Outstanding
    N/A
  • Share Class
    Inv
  • Currency
    USD
  • Domiciled Country
    United States
  • Manager
    Axel Merk

Fund Description

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.

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MERKX - Performance

Return Ranking - Trailing

Period MERKX Return Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
YTD -15.0% -59.5% 0.9% 20.87%
1 Yr -16.2% -15.5% 19.7% 23.56%
3 Yr -5.5%* -4.3% 4.2% 60.70%
5 Yr -4.8%* -2.5% 4.1% 84.57%
10 Yr -4.5%* -3.0% 2.7% 99.43%

* Annualized

Return Ranking - Calendar

Period MERKX Return Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
2023 -8.6% -15.2% 0.9% 65.50%
2022 3.1% -10.9% 12.2% 44.85%
2021 0.3% -10.8% 14.8% 86.46%
2020 -2.1% -15.3% 0.6% 86.71%
2019 1.8% -44.4% 14.4% 20.25%

Total Return Ranking - Trailing

Period MERKX Return Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
YTD -15.0% -59.5% 0.9% 16.02%
1 Yr -16.2% -16.6% 30.5% 21.33%
3 Yr -5.5%* -5.2% 10.9% 56.52%
5 Yr -4.5%* -2.8% 7.4% 82.47%
10 Yr -3.9%* -3.0% 3.6% 99.45%

* Annualized

Total Return Ranking - Calendar

Period MERKX Return Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
2023 -8.6% -15.2% 0.9% 65.50%
2022 3.1% -10.9% 12.2% 44.85%
2021 0.3% -10.8% 14.8% 87.50%
2020 -1.6% -15.3% 3.8% 86.71%
2019 1.8% -44.4% 14.4% 30.06%

NAV & Total Return History


MERKX - Holdings

Concentration Analysis

MERKX Category Low Category High MERKX % Rank
Net Assets 48.7 M 74.5 K 14.7 B 80.88%
Number of Holdings 34 4 4562 93.84%
Net Assets in Top 10 33.3 M -112 M 3.66 B 60.19%
Weighting of Top 10 68.57% 4.7% 100.0% 17.79%

Top 10 Holdings

  1. United States Treasury Bills 13.76%
  2. Kommuninvest I Sverige AB 1% 13.33%
  3. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%
  4. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%
  5. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%
  6. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%
  7. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%
  8. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%
  9. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%
  10. Norway (Kingdom Of) 12.15%

Asset Allocation

Weighting Return Low Return High MERKX % Rank
Bonds
53.38% 0.00% 220.33% 96.68%
Cash
45.84% -130.07% 95.62% 2.84%
Other
0.78% -9.71% 100.00% 10.43%
Stocks
0.00% 0.00% 7.47% 54.03%
Preferred Stocks
0.00% 0.00% 2.87% 36.49%
Convertible Bonds
0.00% 0.00% 11.19% 90.52%

MERKX - Expenses

Operational Fees

MERKX Fees (% of AUM) Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
Expense Ratio 1.33% 0.02% 3.65% 18.18%
Management Fee 1.00% 0.00% 2.08% 97.56%
12b-1 Fee 0.25% 0.00% 1.00% 26.26%
Administrative Fee N/A 0.01% 0.45% N/A

Sales Fees

MERKX Fees (% of AUM) Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
Front Load N/A 0.00% 5.00% N/A
Deferred Load N/A 1.00% 5.00% N/A

Trading Fees

MERKX Fees (% of AUM) Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
Max Redemption Fee N/A 2.00% 2.00% N/A

Related Fees

Turnover provides investors a proxy for the trading fees incurred by mutual fund managers who frequently adjust position allocations. Higher turnover means higher trading fees.

MERKX Fees (% of AUM) Category Return Low Category Return High Rank in Category (%)
Turnover 68.00% 6.00% 354.00% 67.46%

MERKX - Distributions

Dividend Yield Analysis

MERKX Category Low Category High MERKX % Rank
Dividend Yield 0.00% 0.00% 17.40% 45.50%

Dividend Distribution Analysis

MERKX Category Low Category High Category Mod
Dividend Distribution Frequency Quarterly Quarterly Monthly Monthly

Net Income Ratio Analysis

MERKX Category Low Category High MERKX % Rank
Net Income Ratio -1.28% -1.08% 5.77% 100.00%

Capital Gain Distribution Analysis

MERKX Category Low Category High Capital Mode
Capital Gain Distribution Frequency Annually Annually Annually Annually

Distributions History

View More +

MERKX - Fund Manager Analysis

Managers

Axel Merk


Start Date

Tenure

Tenure Rank

May 10, 2005

17.07

17.1%

Axel Merk is President and founded Merk Investments LLC in 2001. Mr. Merk heads the portfolio management team. Mr. Merk conducted investment advisory activities for Merk Investments AG, a company he founded in Switzerland in 1994, until he transferred these activities to Merk Investments LLC in 2001. He holds a B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude) and a M.Sc. in Computer Science from Brown University in Rhode Island. Mr. Merk has been a portfolio manager of the Merk Hard Currency Fund since it’s inception in 2005.

Tenure Analysis

Category Low Category High Category Average Category Mode
0.02 28.31 6.8 3.67