Checkout this interesting press release. Hard currency level? Yep, you read that right. Swiss Franc eat your heart out!
Press release follows below:
PALO ALTO, CA. December 7, 2011 – Merk Investments, manager of the Merk Funds, today announced that it now considers the Singapore Dollar a hard currency. While Merk has invested in the Singapore Dollar for years though the Merk Asian Currency Fund® (MEAFX), Merk may now invest in the Singapore Dollar more broadly, specifically also in the Merk Hard Currency Fund® (MERKX).
“Singapore is the new Switzerland. In an era when other central banks resort to the printing press in an ill-guided effort to remain competitive, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has shown prudence and restraint,” says Axel Merk, President and Chief Investment Officer at Merk. Singapore has a unique approach to conducting monetary policy: rather than targeting interest rates or money supply, the MAS conducts it monetary policy through a managed float regime for the Singapore dollar against a basket of currencies. “We now believe that the MAS policy is not only appropriate for Singapore’s trade based economy, but also consistent with our view of the pursuit of sound monetary policy in an increasingly unstable world,” concludes Merk.
Merk Investments, with over $750 million in assets under management, is a Palo Alto, California based SEC registered investment advisory firm and the manager of the Merk Funds. Merk is the largest mutual fund company that focuses predominantly on currencies. The Merk Funds are a suite of transparent no-load currency mutual funds, 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.