Merk Investments, the Palo Alto, California-based fund shop that focuses mainly on currencies, has rolled out the Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund. The latest offering joins three other no-load products in the Merk fund family: Merk Hard Currency Fund, Asian Currency Fund and the Absolute Return Currency Fund.

Merk's president and CIO Axel Merk spoke to Bloomberg about what prompted the launch.

"The reason we put this together is because investors have been coming to us, both large and small, that there is a need for them to manage their currency risk more actively," Merk told the wire service.

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Company Press Release

Merk Launches Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund
The Authority on Currencies™ offers Currency Overlay to U.S. Equities that may improve risk adjusted returns

Palo Alto, CA September 12, 2011

Merk Investments, manager of the Merk Funds, today announced the launch of the Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund (MUSFX). The no-load mutual fund seeks to outperform the S&P 500 Index by managing the U.S. Dollar and other currency exposures inherent in U.S. equity investments.

The fund employs a Currency Overlay on top of the S&P Index, seeking to improve risk adjusted equity returns.

“Investors have huge exposure to the U.S. dollar and are therefore susceptible to the U.S. dollar risk,” explains Axel Merk, president and CIO of Merk Investments. “We are applying our currency expertise in an innovative way, providing investors with the opportunity to manage the currency risk of their U.S. equity investments, regardless of the direction of the U.S. dollar,” continues Merk.

Peter Moeller, Merk’s Director of Distribution adds: “Managed currency exposure may be useful in enhancing equity returns while guarding against erosion of purchasing power.”

Currency exposure allocations for the Fund will be determined based on quantitative and qualitative analysis. Through the use of currency forward contracts, the Fund applies the Currency Overlay while concurrently providing investment exposure to the S&P 500.

For more information about the Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund, and to sign up for an introductory webinar on September 22nd at 4:00pm ET/1:00pm PT, please visit http://www.merkfunds.com.

Merk Investments, with over $850 million in assets under management, is the largest mutual fund company that focuses predominantly on currencies. The Merk Funds are a suite of transparent no-load currency mutual funds that do not typically employ leverage, consisting of: the Merk Hard Currency Fund℠ (MERKX), the Merk Asian Currency Fund® (MEAFX), the Merk Absolute Return Currency Fund® (MABFX) and the Merk Currency Enhanced U.S. Equity Fund℠ (MUSFX). The Merk Funds provide investors with the opportunity to add managed currency exposure to their portfolios, which may provide valuable diversification benefits.

For more information about the Merk Funds and the currency asset class, including how to obtain a prospectus and to invest, please visit http://www.merkfunds.com.

 

Edited by: Armie Margaret Lee


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