DFX Intelligence

RIA Intelligence

Registered investment advisers, the advisors registered through them, the capital they report, the private vehicles they run and the people who own them, as a graph with a filing date behind every number. RAUM is what the adviser filed, a move is two registration dates, and a class is a rule you can read.

SEC-registered adviser

Merk Investments LLC

Asset manager (funds and pooled vehicles)Palo Alto, CaliforniaCRD 112305SEC 801-60616websiteIAPD
Latest filing Aug 11, 2026
First filing on the tape Mar 30, 2012 · 29 filings
SEC status approved since Oct 10, 2001
RAUM
$2.5B
reported, Item 5.F
Discretionary
0.0%
of RAUM
Private clients
0.0%
$0 individuals and HNW
Advisors
0
registered through the firm on IAPD
RAUM per advisor
n/a
derived; firm RAUM over IAPD count
Employees
4
3 advisory (5.B.1)
Offices
0
beyond the principal office
Private funds
0
reported on Schedule D
History
29 filings and snapshots on the tape
RAUM$2.5B as of Aug 11, 2026
Mar 30, 2012$689M then
HNW client RAUM: $3.5M
State-registered IARs (5.B.3)0 as of Aug 11, 2026
Mar 30, 20120 then
Employees (5.A)4 as of Aug 11, 2026
Mar 11, 201315 then
Private funds1 as of Mar 30, 2022
Mar 29, 20171 then
RAUM +57% over the last fiscal year+40% a year over threeIARs 0 to 0
Practice profile
derived from the filing of Aug 11, 2026; every figure names its basis
RAUM per advisor
unknownderivedRAUM over IAPD advisors; not a book size
Clients per advisor
unknownderivedindividual and HNW clients (5.D) over advisors
Average HNW client
unknownderivedHNW RAUM over HNW clients
Average account
$2.5BderivedRAUM over accounts (5.F.2.f)
Discretionary
0.0%derivedof RAUM
Institutional
0.0%derivedpensions, charities, corporations, government, insurance, banks, other advisers
Employees per advisor
unknownderivedItem 5.A over advisors
Advisors per office
unknownderived1 offices incl. principal (1.F.5)
RAUM growth, one year
+129%derivedbetween the last two annual amendments
Advisor growth, one year
unknownderivedItem 5.B.3 between annual amendments
Client growth, one year
unknownderived
Compensation
percentage of assetsreportedItem 5.E
Advisory activities
portfolio management for pooled vehiclesreportedItem 5.G
Ownership
no PE, bank or public-company owner found on Schedule Aderived
Advisor book size
not public; not estimatedreported
Also answered yes on Form ADV
  • buys or sells securities as principal to or from clients (8.A.2)
  • has discretionary authority over which securities are bought or sold (8.C.1)
Where the RAUM sits
Form ADV Item 5.D, latest filing
  • Pooled investment vehicles$2.5B100%
Individual clients
n/areported
HNW clients
n/areported
Pension plan clients
n/areported
Charitable clients
n/areported
Accounts
1reported
Financial planning clients
reported
Wrap fee programs
noreported
Custody of client assets
noreported
Compensation
% of AUMreported
Class basis
private_client_share=0.0 fund_share=1.0 institutional_share=0.0 related_bd=false related_bank=false bd_reps=0.0derived
Advisors registered through the firm
0 on IAPD today, longest tenure first
No representative is registered through this CRD on IAPD.
Advisor movement
Private funds
1 reported on Schedule D 7.B.(1)
FundTypeGross assetsOwnersFirst reported
Merk Global Opportunity Fund LPno longer reportedHedge Fund$8.1M1Aug 1, 2016
Owners and control persons
Schedule A and B, latest filing
  • Kathleen Laura Garner · Chief Compliance Officercontrol
    since 02/2022 · owns less than 5%
  • Gabriel Alexander Merk · President, Cio, And Managing Membercontrol
    since 12/2000 · owns 75% or more
  • Philipp Daniel Lucas · Managing Director
    since 01/2022 · owns less than 5%
  • Maria Hanna Tikkanen Merk · Managing Director
    since 02/2006 · owns less than 5%
Related persons
Schedule D 7.A
No related person reported.
Offices
Schedule D 1.F, the 25 largest
No branch office listed.
ADV anomalies
2 against comparable advisers; where to look, not conclusions
  • low discretionary shareStatic outlier · filing Aug 11, 2026
    discretionary share of RAUM of 0% against a peer median of 100% (1506 comparable advisers, 0.0th percentile, 33.7 robust deviations)
    peers: asset managers, $1B to $5B (1,506) · 0.0% percentile
  • RAUM up 50 %Change between filings · filing Mar 31, 2026
    RAUM (Item 5.F) moved from $1,618,005,362 to $3,712,185,193 (+129.0%) between the annual amendments of 2025-03-26 and 2026-03-31; the peer median change was +11.0% (1368 comparable advisers, 96.0th percentile of changes)
    peers: asset managers, $1B to $5B (1,368) · 96% percentile
What changed
consecutive filings, newest first
  • Accounts · 2 to 1
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • Advisory employees · 5 to 3
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • Advisory activities · 2 to 1
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • Employees · 7 to 4
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • Discretionary RAUM · $1.3B to $0
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • Non-discretionary RAUM · $2.5B to $2.5B
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • Pooled vehicle RAUM · $2.5B to $2.5B
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • RAUM · $3.7B to $2.5B
    Mar 31, 2026 to Aug 11, 2026
  • Discretionary RAUM · $948M to $1.3B
    Oct 7, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
  • Non-discretionary RAUM · $2.2B to $2.5B
    Oct 7, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
  • Pooled vehicle RAUM · $2.2B to $2.5B
    Oct 7, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
  • RAUM · $3.1B to $3.7B
    Oct 7, 2025 to Mar 31, 2026
  • HQ city · MENLO PARK to PALO ALTO
    Mar 26, 2025 to Oct 7, 2025
  • Discretionary RAUM · $426M to $948M
    Mar 26, 2025 to Oct 7, 2025
  • Non-discretionary RAUM · $1.2B to $2.2B
    Mar 26, 2025 to Oct 7, 2025
  • Pooled vehicle RAUM · $1.2B to $2.2B
    Mar 26, 2025 to Oct 7, 2025
  • RAUM · $1.6B to $3.1B
    Mar 26, 2025 to Oct 7, 2025
  • Financial planning clients · unset to
    Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 26, 2025
  • Discretionary RAUM · $340M to $426M
    Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 26, 2025
  • Non-discretionary RAUM · $774M to $1.2B
    Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 26, 2025
  • Pooled vehicle RAUM · $774M to $1.2B
    Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 26, 2025
  • RAUM · $1.1B to $1.6B
    Mar 28, 2024 to Mar 26, 2025
  • Accounts · 3 to 2
    Mar 29, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
  • Discretionary RAUM · $335M to $340M
    Mar 29, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
  • Non-discretionary RAUM · $597M to $774M
    Mar 29, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
  • Pooled vehicle RAUM · $597M to $774M
    Mar 29, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
  • RAUM · $933M to $1.1B
    Mar 29, 2023 to Mar 28, 2024
  • Accounts · 6 to 3
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Advisory activities · 5 to 2
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Other offices · 1 to 0
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Private funds · 1 to unset
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Discretionary RAUM · $547M to $335M
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Individual RAUM · 651685.0 to unset
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Non-discretionary RAUM · $589M to $597M
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Pooled vehicle RAUM · $8.1M to $597M
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • RAUM · $1.1B to $933M
    Mar 30, 2022 to Mar 29, 2023
  • Discretionary RAUM · $587M to $547M
    Sep 27, 2021 to Mar 30, 2022
  • Individual RAUM · $891,429 to $651,685
    Sep 27, 2021 to Mar 30, 2022
  • Non-discretionary RAUM · $442M to $589M
    Sep 27, 2021 to Mar 30, 2022
  • Pooled vehicle RAUM · $9.4M to $8.1M
    Sep 27, 2021 to Mar 30, 2022
Signals
7 dated events
  • Merk Investments Llc reported RAUM $2.5B, down 32% from $3.7B (2026-03-31 to 2026-08-11)
    Aug 11, 2026 · RAUM change · derived
  • Merk Investments Llc reported RAUM $3.1B, up 93% from $1.6B (2025-03-26 to 2025-10-07)
    Oct 7, 2025 · RAUM change · derived
  • Merk Investments Llc reported RAUM $1.6B, up 45% from $1.1B (2024-03-28 to 2025-03-26)
    Mar 26, 2025 · RAUM change · derived
  • Lusine Moshkounian (Chief Compliance Officer) no longer on Schedule A of Merk Investments Llc (listed 2021-09-27, absent 2022-03-30)
    Mar 30, 2022 · Control person left · inference
  • Kathleen Laura Garner (Chief Compliance Officer) appeared on Schedule A of Merk Investments Llc
    Mar 30, 2022 · Control person joined · fact
  • Merk Investments Llc reported RAUM $1.0B, up 66% from $621.1M (2020-06-30 to 2021-03-30)
    Mar 30, 2021 · RAUM change · derived
  • Merk Investments Llc reported RAUM $621.1M, up 130% from $270.4M (2019-03-19 to 2020-03-30)
    Mar 30, 2020 · RAUM change · derived
Across DFX
shared identifiers only, never a name match
No identifier-backed link to the venture, private equity, family office or sponsor graphs.
How to reach
public business contact points only, each with its source
Website
merkinsights.comreportedpublic record, Form ADV, Sep 17, 2026
Principal office phone
650-323-4341reportedpublic record, Form ADV, Aug 11, 2026
Provenance
Form ADV
SEC filing data 2011 to 2024 and the monthly roster 2025 onreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
Advisors
IAPD individual compilation feed, dailyreportedadviserinfo.sec.gov
Class
Asset manager (funds and pooled vehicles)deriveda rule over Items 5.D and 7.A
RAUM per advisor
n/aderivedfirm RAUM over the IAPD count; not a book size
Loaded
Sep 14, 2026