Investment Team

On April 12, 2019, ASA shareholders voted to approve an investment advisory agreement between the Company and Merk Investments LLC. We invite you to meet the ASA investment team:

Peter Maletis
President
Peter Maletis serves as President of ASA. He is also Vice President - Gold & Precious Metals Research at Merk Investments. Peter gained experience as Research Analyst at Franklin Templeton Investments from 2010 until early 2019. Prior to that, he worked at Marathon Resource Investments; the Cypress Funds; Banc of America Securities LLC.
Peter holds an MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, as well as a B.A. in Economics from Connecticut College.
Peter lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three kids. His personal interests include sports, family, travel, golf and movies.

Axel Merk
President and Chief Investment Officer Of Merk Investments
Axel Merk is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Merk Investments, manager of the Merk Funds.
He holds a B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude) and a M.Sc. in Computer Science from Brown University.
Axel founded Merk Investments in Switzerland in 1994; in 2001, he relocated the business to California. He has grown Merk Investments into an investment advisory firm offering investment funds and advisory services on liquid global markets, including domestic and international equities, fixed income, commodities and currencies. Married with four children, he is a long-distance runner, weekend vintner and private pilot.

James Holman
Portfolio Manager at Merk Investments
James Holman joined Merk Investments as a Portfolio Manager in April 2022. Mr. Holman focuses on gold and precious metals companies and the broader mining sector. Prior to joining Merk Investments, James was a Director at Invesco US, where he worked on an industry-leading mining fund for nine years. Prior to that, he worked at Oppenheimer Funds and as a Research Fellow at Colorado School of Mines. He also worked for Royal Gold and competed as a professional skier. Mr. Holman holds an M.Sc. in Mineral and Energy Economics from the Colorado School of Mines, as well as a B.A. in Geography from UC Santa Barbara and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter-holder.

For more information on Merk’s Portfolio Management Group, please visit https://www.merkinvestments.com/about-us/team.php.

Certain Tax Information: ASA is a “passive foreign investment company” for United States federal income tax purposes. As a result, United States shareholders holding shares in taxable accounts are encouraged to consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of their investment in the Company’s common shares.