Management 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 Officers of ASA:

Peter Maletis
President of ASA; Vice President - Gold & Precious Metals Research at Merk Investments
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.

Axel Merk
Chief Operating Officer of ASA; 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.

Thomas Perugini
Principal Financial Officer
Mr. Perugini is employed by ACA Group where he provides outsourced Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer solutions to registered funds. Prior to joining ACA in 2023, Thomas held leadership positions at State Street and J.P. Morgan within their Fund Administration Operations and Product Divisions. Thomas began his career as an auditor at Deloitte and Touche. He is currently a member of the Fund Administration Committee within NICSA. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BSBA in Accounting from the University of Hartford and received his MBA with concentrations in Finance and International Management from Boston College.

Patrick Keniston
Chief Compliance Officer
Mr. Keniston has over twenty years’ experience in the financial services industry. Before joining ACA (fka Foreside Fund Officer Services), he was Vice President with Citi Fund Services, a mutual fund service provider in Boston, Massachusetts, and Counsel with Citigroup Global Transaction Services in Portland, Maine. Prior to working in the financial services industry, Mr. Keniston spent five years as a tax consultant with Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver College of Law, and a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Center.

James Chekos
Corporate Secretary
James Chekos is a Senior Principal Consultant in the Fund Officer department of ACA's U.S. Regulatory division. In addition to his role as a Fund Secretary for registered fund clients (exchage traded funds) at ACA, Mr. Chekos also serves as an NFA/CFTC compliance consultant for registered commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors. Mr. Chekos has over 20 years of financial services industry experience across compliance and risk functions. Prior to joining ACA in 2018, he was a Senior Compliance Specialist at Amundi since July 2008, where he managed NFA/CFTC compliance and reporting requirements for Amundi's registered commodity pools. Prior to joining Amundi Pioneer, he was a Risk Analyst at Fidelity Investments from August 2002 to July 2008 where he investigated fraudulent trading and money movement incidents for the retail brokerage company. Mr. Chekos hods a B.A. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts.

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.