Nonvanishing derivatives and the McLane class (Q2267707)

The McLane class \(A\) consists of all functions \(f\) analytic in the unit disk \(\Delta\) such that \(f\) has asymptotic values at a dense subset of \(\partial\Delta\). Let \(A_m\) be the corresponding class of meromorphic functions. It is shown that if \(f\) is meromorphic in \(\Delta\) and \(k\geq 2\) such that \(f(z)f^{(k)}(z)\neq 0\) for all \(z\in \Delta\), and if the poles of \(f\) have bounded multiplicities, then \(1/f\in A\) and \(f\in A_m\). This generalizes a result of K. F. Barth and P. J. Rippon dealing with the case that \(f\) is analytic.