Peter Maletis

About Peter Maletis

Peter Maletis is President of ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited, serving since March 2019. He is Vice President — Gold & Precious Metals Research at Merk Investments LLC, focusing on gold and precious metals companies; prior roles include research at Franklin Templeton and earlier investment roles at Marathon Resource Investments, the Cypress Funds, and Banc of America Securities LLC. He holds an MBA from USC Marshall and a BA in economics from Connecticut College; age 54 as disclosed in the proxy. ASA is externally advised by Merk Investments under an Investment Advisory Agreement, which influences the executive structure and disclosures .

Past Roles

External Roles

Fixed Compensation

• Executive officer cash compensation (base salary, bonus, perquisites) is not disclosed in ASA’s DEF 14A; the filing provides director compensation only and outlines ASA’s external advisory structure (Merk Investments serves as investment adviser), which often results in executives being employed by service providers rather than ASA directly .
• Director fee schedule for context: FY2024 independent director annual retainer $25,000; Chair additional $15,000; meeting fees $5,000 in-person/$1,500 telephonic; effective Sep 19, 2025, independent director retainer increased to $65,000; committee chair fees $7,500 (Nominating and Governance) and $8,500 (Audit and Ethics) .

Performance Compensation

• No disclosure of RSUs/PSUs, option awards, performance metrics, vesting schedules, clawbacks, or ownership guidelines for executive officers in the DEF 14A .
• Accordingly, no payout/metric tables are available for executive incentives in the proxy .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

• ASA had 18,872,332 common shares outstanding as of the Sept 24, 2025 record date, providing context for ownership percentages .

Employment Terms

• Role and tenure: President since March 2019 .
• Executive officers serve until terminated or resign; no contract term length or expiration disclosed .
• Employer/structure: ASA is externally advised by Merk Investments LLC under an Investment Advisory Agreement dated April 12, 2019, and Maletis is a member of Merk’s Portfolio Management Group .
• Severance, change-of-control, non-compete, non-solicit, garden leave: Not disclosed in DEF 14A .
• Change-of-control environment: ASA adopted a shareholder rights plan on Mar 31, 2025; each right allows purchase of one ASA share at $1.00, triggers at ≥15% beneficial ownership, includes redemption/exchange features, and expires July 29, 2025 or upon certification of a new Board, whichever first; plan discourages coercive takeovers and can affect control dynamics but does not disclose executive-specific economics .

Investment Implications

• Pay-for-performance visibility: Executive compensation is not disclosed; with ASA externally advised by Merk and Maletis employed at Merk, incentive alignment details (metrics/vesting/clawbacks) are opaque to ASA shareholders, limiting direct pay-performance evaluation .
• Ownership alignment: Maletis’ direct ASA stake is modest (1,000 shares, 0.01%), providing limited “skin in the game”; no pledging or derivatives disclosed, and no ownership guideline disclosure to assess compliance .
• Retention risk: Tenure since 2019 and ongoing senior role at Merk suggest continuity; absence of disclosed severance/change-of-control protections implies retention relies on advisory agreement stability rather than company-level contracts .
• Trading signals: No Form 4 activity for Maletis in the proxy; insider selling pressure appears minimal given small holdings; broader control dynamics include an active shareholder base (e.g., significant holders Saba Capital at 24.64%) and a time-limited rights plan, implying potential governance activity that could influence ASA’s strategy but not necessarily executive compensation outcomes .