Press Release:
Former Fed President Poole Joins Merk Investments as Senior Economic Advisor

PALO ALTO, CA. - July 1, 2008 - Merk Investments LLC announced today that William Poole, the former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, has accepted a position as the mutual fund company's senior economic advisor.

"Beyond his role as a voice of reason on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in recent years, Mr. Poole is a distinguished scholar and promoter of macroeconomic understanding," says Axel Merk, president and chief investment officer at Merk. "We are honored to have our research be enriched by his insights and experience."

"I am pleased to join Merk Investments in its efforts to interpret and forecast monetary policy. My engagement at Merk Investments will allow me to stay in close touch with the markets at a time when monetary policy may be more relevant than ever," concludes Mr. Poole.

William Poole is Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and in the fall will join the faculty of the University of Delaware as Distinguished Scholar in Residence. Poole retired as President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in March 2008. In that position, which he held from March 1998, he served on the Federal Reserve's main monetary policy body, the Federal Open Market Committee. He directed the Bank's main office in St. Louis and its three branches in Memphis, Little Rock and Louisville. While at the St. Louis Fed, Poole presented over 150 speeches and was a prominent voice advocating monetary policy consistent with low inflation.

About Merk Investments

Merk Investments (www.merkfund.com) is a registered investment adviser and the manager of the Merk Asian Currency Fund (MEAFX) and the Merk Hard Currency Fund (MERKX). Through its mutual funds, Merk Investments seeks to provide retail investors and investment advisors with options to diversify their holdings outside of the U.S. dollar and dollar denominated securities.

For more information on the Merk Mutual Funds, please visit www.merkfund.com.

As with any mutual fund product, there is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve its goals. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. This and other information is in the prospectus, a copy of which may be obtained by visiting the Funds’ website at www.merkfund.com or calling 866-MERKFUND. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

The Fund’s investment value will fluctuate, and shares, when redeemed may be worth more or less than original cost. Principal investment risks include, but are not limited to, currency exchange rate risk, foreign instrument risk, gold related and derivative securities risk, interest rate risk, and non-diversification risk. For a more complete discussion of these risks please refer to the Fund’s prospectus. Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar RatingTM based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund’s monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics.

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