cik0001137360-20220930
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PROSPECTUS |
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February
1, 2023 |
Durable
High Dividend ETF DURA
Long/Flat
Trend ETF LFEQ
Morningstar
ESG Moat ETF MOTE
Morningstar
Global Wide Moat ETF MOTG
Morningstar
International Moat ETF MOTI
Morningstar
SMID Moat ETF SMOT
Morningstar
Wide Moat ETF MOAT®
Social
Sentiment ETF BUZZ
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Principal
U.S. Listing Exchange for DURA, MOTE, MOTG, MOTI, SMOT and MOAT: Cboe BZX
Exchange, Inc. |
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Principal
U.S. Listing Exchange for LFEQ and BUZZ: NYSE Arca, Inc. |
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The
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved
these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this
Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal
offense. |
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800.826.2333 vaneck.com
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TABLE
OF CONTENTS |
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Summary
Information |
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VanEck
Durable High Dividend ETF (DURA) |
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VanEck
Long/Flat Trend ETF (LFEQ) |
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VanEck
Morningstar ESG Moat ETF (MOTE) |
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VanEck
Morningstar Global Wide Moat ETF (MOTG) |
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VanEck
Morningstar International Moat ETF (MOTI) |
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VanEck
Morningstar SMID Moat ETF (SMOT) |
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VanEck
Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (MOAT) |
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VanEck
Social Sentiment ETF (BUZZ) |
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Summary
Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund Shares, Taxes and Payments
to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries |
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Additional
Information About the Funds’ Investment Strategies and Risks |
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Tax
Advantaged Product Structure |
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Portfolio
Holdings |
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Management
of the Funds |
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Portfolio
Manager |
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Shareholder
Information |
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Index
Providers |
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Morningstar®
US Dividend Valuation IndexSM |
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Ned
Davis Research CMG US Large Cap Long/Flat Index |
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Morningstar®
US Sustainability Moat Focus IndexSM |
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Morningstar®
Global Wide Moat Focus IndexSM |
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Morningstar®
Global ex-US Moat Focus IndexSM |
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Morningstar®
US
Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus IndexSM
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Morningstar®
Wide Moat Focus IndexSM |
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BUZZ
NextGen AI US Sentiment Leaders Index |
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License
Agreements and Disclaimers |
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Financial
Highlights |
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Premium/Discount
Information |
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General
Information |
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VANECK®
DURABLE
HIGH DIVIDEND ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck®
Durable High Dividend ETF1
(the
“Fund”) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the
price and yield performance of the Morningstar®
US Dividend Valuation IndexSM
(the “US Dividend Valuation Index” or the “Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
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Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Management
Fee |
0.29 |
% |
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Other
Expenses(a) |
0.00 |
% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a) |
0.29 |
% |
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(a)Van Eck Associates
Corporation (the “Adviser”) will pay all expenses of the Fund, except for the
fee payment under the investment management agreement, acquired fund fees and
expenses, interest expense, offering costs, trading expenses, taxes and
extraordinary expenses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Adviser has agreed to
pay the offering costs until at least February 1,
2024.
EXPENSE
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing
in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not
take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling
Shares of the Fund.
The example
assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and
then sell or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or
lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would
be:
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YEAR |
EXPENSES |
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1 |
$30 |
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3 |
$93 |
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5 |
$163 |
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10 |
$368 |
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PORTFOLIO
TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher
portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and
may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year,
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 50% of the average value of its
portfolio.
______________________
1
Prior
to September 28, 2022, the Fund's name was VanEck
Morningstar
Durable Dividend ETF.
PRINCIPAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The
Fund normally invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that
comprise the Fund’s benchmark index. The US Dividend Valuation Index is
comprised of securities of companies with a high dividend yield, strong
financial health and an attractive uncertainty-adjusted valuation. Companies are
selected by Morningstar, Inc. (“Morningstar” or the “Index provider”) from the
universe of companies represented in the Morningstar®
US Market IndexSM
(the “Parent Index”), a broad market index representing 97% of U.S. market
capitalization that meet certain trading frequency, exchange listing and
liquidity requirements. The US Dividend Valuation Index targets a select group
of eligible securities from the Parent Index that rank in: (i) the top 50% as
measured by trailing twelve month dividend yield; (ii) the top 50% of their peer
group (there are two peer groups: companies that belong to the financials sector
of Morningstar and the rest of the eligible universe) as measured by its
distance to default score; and (iii) the top 70% of Morningstar’s star score
metric. An eligible security must meet each of these three independent criteria
to qualify for inclusion in the US Dividend Valuation Index. Distance to default
score is a measure of the financial stability of a company as determined by
recent market data and financial accounting reports. Morningstar’s star score
metric represents uncertainty-adjusted security valuation, which reflects the
relationship between a company’s market price and its fair value (as determined
by Morningstar’s standardized, proprietary valuation model).
As
of December 31, 2022, the US Dividend Valuation Index included 63 securities of
companies with a full market capitalization range of between approximately $2.7
billion and $461.8 billion and a weighted average full market capitalization of
$148.3 billion. These amounts are subject to change. The Fund’s 80% investment
policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon
60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders. The US Dividend Valuation Index
is reconstituted and rebalanced semi-annually.
The
Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate
the investment performance of the US Dividend Valuation Index by investing in a
portfolio of securities that generally replicates the US Dividend Valuation
Index. Unlike many investment companies that try to “beat” the performance of a
benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the US Dividend Valuation Index
and does not seek temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with its
investment objective of seeking to replicate the US Dividend Valuation
Index.
The
Fund may become “non-diversified” as defined under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act of 1940”), solely as a result of a
change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of the US Dividend Valuation Index. This means that the Fund may
invest a greater percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers than
would be the case if the Fund were always managed as a diversified management
investment company. The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same
proportion as the US Dividend Valuation Index. Shareholder approval will not be
sought when the Fund crosses from diversified to non-diversified status due
solely to a change in the relative market capitalization or index weighting of
one or more constituents of the US Dividend Valuation Index.
The Fund may
concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to
the extent that the US Dividend Valuation Index concentrates in an industry or
group of industries. As of September 30, 2022, each of the health care,
information technology and consumer staples sectors represented a significant
portion of the Fund.
PRINCIPAL
RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors
in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price
of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in
the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk.
An investment
in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Therefore,
you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund,
each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an
investment in the Fund.
Equity Securities Risk.
The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general
market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the
issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to
specific issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated
to preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect
to priority to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to
greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In
addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically
generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities
have generally also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns.
Dividend Paying Securities Risk.
There can be no assurance that securities that pay dividends will continue to
have a high dividend yield, strong financial health or attractive valuation for
any period of time. Securities that pay dividends, as a group, may be out of
favor with the market and may underperform the overall equity market or stocks
of companies that do not pay dividends. In addition, changes in the dividend
policies of the companies held by the Fund or the capital resources available
for such company’s dividend payments may adversely affect the Fund.
Health
Care Sector Risk. Companies
in the health care sector may be affected by extensive government regulation,
restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising costs of
medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on
outpatient services, limited number of products, industry innovation, changes in
technologies and other market developments. Many health care companies are
heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of patents may
adversely
affect the profitability of these companies. Many health care companies are
subject to extensive litigation based on product liability and similar claims.
Information
Technology Sector Risk.
Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and
internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Information
technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial
resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may
face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent
new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition
for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology
sector are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of patents
may adversely affect the profitability of these companies.
Consumer Staples Sector
Risk. The consumer staples sector comprises
companies whose businesses are less sensitive to economic cycles, such as
manufacturers and distributors of food and beverages and producers of
non-durable household goods and personal products. Companies in
the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by
changes in the worldwide economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics
and consumer preferences, exploration and production spending. Companies in this
sector are also affected by changes in government regulation, world events and
economic conditions.
Medium-Capitalization
Companies Risk.
Medium-capitalization companies may be more volatile and more likely than
large-capitalization companies to have narrower product lines, fewer financial
resources, less management depth and experience and less competitive strength.
In addition, these companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading
volume and less liquidity than larger more established companies. Returns on
investments in securities of medium-capitalization companies could trail the
returns on investments in securities of large-capitalization
companies.
Market
Risk.
The prices of securities are subject to the risks associated with investing in
the securities market, including general economic conditions, sudden and
unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and
public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political,
economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics
and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the
global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments
might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline
generally or underperform other investments. An investment
may lose money.
Operational
Risk.
The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors,
including human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s
service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate
processes and technology or system failures.
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk.
The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities,
which will result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including
brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale
of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. High portfolio
turnover may also result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable
account. The effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund
performance.
Index Tracking Risk. The
Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For
example, the Fund incurs operating expenses, including taxes, not applicable to
the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities and
entering into derivatives transactions (if applicable), especially when
rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition
of the Index or (to the extent the Fund effects creations and redemptions in
cash) raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with
newly created Creation Units. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will
decrease the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction
fee payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Index. Errors in the Index data, the Index computations and/or the
construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time
to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index provider, which may
have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Shareholders should
understand that any gains from the Index provider’s or others’ errors will be
kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from the
Index provider’s or others’ errors will be borne by the Fund and its
shareholders. Additionally, when the Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn
rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the
Fund’s portfolio and the Index, any transaction costs and market exposure
arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and
its shareholders. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index provider or its
agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Index. Therefore,
errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index provider or its
agents to the Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the
Fund.
The
Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into
the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses or to meet
redemptions. In addition, the Fund may not invest in certain securities included
in the Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are
represented in the Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
return of the Index for various reasons, including legal restrictions or
limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries, certain exchange
listing standards, a lack of liquidity in markets in which such securities
trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as
diversification requirements). To the extent the Fund utilizes depositary
receipts, the purchase of depositary receipts may negatively affect the Fund’s
ability to track the performance of the Index and increase tracking error,
which
may be exacerbated if the issuer of the depositary receipt discontinues issuing
new depositary receipts or withdraws existing depositary receipts.
The
Fund may value certain of its investments, underlying currencies and/or other
assets based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net
asset value based on fair value prices and the value of the Index is based on
securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e.,
the value of the Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to
track the Index may be adversely affected. In addition, any issues the Fund
encounters with regard to currency convertibility (including the cost of
borrowing funds, if any), repatriation or economic sanctions may also increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
performance of the Index due to the impact of withholding taxes, late
announcements relating to changes to the Index and high turnover of the Index.
When markets are volatile, the ability to sell securities at fair value prices
may be adversely impacted and may result in additional trading costs and/or
increase the index tracking risk. The Fund may also need to rely on borrowings
to meet redemptions, which may lead to increased expenses. For tax efficiency
purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund
to realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Index. In light of the
factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the
return of the Index. Changes to the composition of the Index in connection with
a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index may cause the Fund to experience
increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be
heightened.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk. The
Fund may have a limited number of Authorized Participants, none of which are
obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent
that those Authorized Participants exit the business, or do not process creation
and/or redemption orders, there may be a significantly diminished trading market
for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium)
to net asset value and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. This can
be reflected as a spread between the bid-ask prices for the Fund. The Authorized
Participant concentration risk may be heightened in cases where Authorized
Participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post
collateral.
No
Guarantee of Active Trading Market Risk.
There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will
develop or be maintained, as applicable. Further, secondary markets may be
subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade
settlement periods in times of market stress because market makers and
Authorized Participants may step away from making a market in the Shares and in
executing creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation
in the Fund’s market price from its net asset value.
Trading
Issues Risk.
Trading in shares on the exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for
reasons that, in the view of the exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable.
In addition, trading in shares on the exchange is subject to trading halts
caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the relevant exchange’s
“circuit breaker” rules. If a trading halt or unanticipated early close of the
exchange occurs, a shareholder may be unable to purchase or sell Shares of the
Fund. There can be no assurance that requirements of the exchange necessary to
maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain
unchanged.
Passive
Management Risk.
Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore,
unless a specific security is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would
not sell a security because the security’s issuer is in financial trouble. If a
specific security is removed from the Fund’s Index, the Fund may be forced to
sell such security at an inopportune time or for prices other than at current
market values. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of
investing in any fund that invests in bonds or equity securities, such as market
fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. The Fund’s
Index may not contain the appropriate or a diversified mix of securities for any
particular economic cycle. The timing of changes in the securities of the Fund’s
portfolio in seeking to replicate its Index could have a negative effect on the
Fund. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques
or defensive strategies designed to lessen the effects of market volatility or
to reduce the impact of periods of market decline. Additionally, unusual market
conditions may cause the Fund’s Index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance
or reconstitution, which could cause the Fund’s Index to vary from its normal or
expected composition. This means that, based on market and economic conditions,
the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their
portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the
impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of
Fund Shares. The
market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s net asset
value, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for
Shares. Shares may trade above, below, or at their most recent net asset value.
Factors including disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares
(including through a trading halt), may result in Shares trading at a
significant premium or discount to net asset value or to the intraday value of
the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market
price is at a premium to the net asset value or sells Shares at a time when the
market price is at a discount to the net asset value, the shareholder may pay
significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of
the Shares. The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close
at a different time than the exchange on which the Shares are traded. Liquidity
in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times.
Accordingly, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable
market closing, fixing or settlement times, bid/ask spreads on the exchange and
the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ net asset value may widen.
Additionally, in
stressed
market conditions, the market for the Fund’s Shares may become less liquid in
response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s underlying
portfolio holdings and a shareholder may be unable to sell his or her Shares.
Non-Diversification
Risk.
The Fund may
become classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940
solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index
weighting of one or more constituents of the its Index. If the Fund becomes
non-diversified, it may invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of
a smaller number of individual issuers than a diversified fund. As a result,
changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater
fluctuations in share price than would occur in a more diversified
fund.
Index-Related
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a
particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to reflect the
Index’s allocation to those types of securities. The securities of many or all
of the companies in the same sector or industry may decline in value due to
developments adversely affecting such sector or industry. By concentrating its
assets in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries, the
Fund is subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that
have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industries may negatively impact
the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider
variety of securities.
PERFORMANCE
The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the
calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average
annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart
and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by
comparing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s
average annual returns for the one year, five year, ten year and/or since
inception periods, as applicable, compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a
broad measure of market performance. All returns assume
reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s
past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how
the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance
information is available online at www.vaneck.com.
Annual Total
Returns (%)—Calendar Years
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Best
Quarter: |
17.00% |
4Q 2022 |
Worst
Quarter: |
-19.90% |
1Q
2020 |
Average Annual
Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31,
2022
The after-tax
returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical
individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of
state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below.
After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through
tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts.
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Past One
Year |
Since
Inception (10/30/18) |
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VanEck
Durable High Dividend ETF (return before taxes) |
2.47% |
9.19% |
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VanEck
Durable High Dividend ETF (return after taxes on
distributions) |
1.72% |
8.30% |
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VanEck
Durable High Dividend ETF (return after taxes on distributions and sale of
Fund Shares) |
1.95% |
7.07% |
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Morningstar®
US
Dividend Valuation IndexSM
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
2.78% |
9.50% |
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S&P
500®
Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-18.11% |
10.90% |
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See “License Agreements and Disclaimers” for important
information.
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser.
Van Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio
Manager.
The following individual is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Fund’s portfolio:
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Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing the Fund |
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Peter
H. Liao |
Portfolio
Manager |
October
2018 |
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PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
For
important information about the purchase and sale of Fund Shares, tax
information and payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries,
please turn to the “Summary Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund
Shares, Taxes and Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”
section of this Prospectus.
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VANECK@
LONG/FLAT
TREND ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck® Long/Flat Trend ETF (the
“Fund”) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the
price and yield performance of the Ned Davis Research CMG US Large Cap Long/Flat
Index (the “NDR CMG Index” or the “Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
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Shareholder
Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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|
|
|
Management
Fee |
0.50 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other
Expenses |
0.22 |
% |
|
|
Acquired
Fund Fees and Expenses(a) |
0.02 |
% |
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(b) |
0.74 |
% |
|
|
Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursement(b) |
-0.13 |
% |
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense
Reimbursement(b) |
0.61 |
% |
|
|
|
|
|
(a)
“Acquired Fund Fees and
Expenses” include fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Fund as a result
of investments in other investment companies. Because acquired fund fees and
expenses are not borne directly by the Fund, they will not be reflected in the
expense information in the Fund’s financial statements and the information
presented in the table will differ from that presented in the Fund’s financial
highlights included in the Fund’s report to
shareholders.
(b) Van Eck Associates
Corporation (the “Adviser”) has agreed to waive fees and/or pay Fund expenses to
the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding
acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, trading expenses, taxes and
extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.55% of the Fund’s average daily net
assets per year until at least February 1,
2024. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to
continue until the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion
of such expense limitation.
EXPENSE
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing
in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not
take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling
Shares of the Fund.
The example
assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and
then sell or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same (except that the example incorporates the fee
waivers and/or expense reimbursement arrangement for only the first year).
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions,
your costs would be:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
YEAR |
EXPENSES |
|
|
1 |
$62 |
|
|
|
3 |
$223 |
|
|
|
5 |
$399 |
|
|
|
10 |
$906 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PORTFOLIO
TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher
portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and
may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year,
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 243% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The
Fund normally invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that track
and/or comprise the Fund’s benchmark index. The NDR CMG Index is a rules-based
index that follows a proprietary model developed by Ned Davis Research, Inc. in
conjunction with CMG Capital Management Group, Inc. (“CMG”). To help limit
potential loss associated with adverse market conditions, the model produces
trade signals that dictate the NDR CMG Index’s equity allocation ranging from
100% fully invested (i.e.,
“long”) to 100% in cash (i.e.,
“flat”). When the NDR CMG Index is long, or 100% fully invested, it will be
allocated to the S&P 500 Index. When the NDR CMG Index is flat, or 100%
cash, it will be allocated to the Solactive 13-week U.S. T-bill Index. When the
NDR CMG Index is not completely long or flat, 50% of it will be allocated to the
S&P 500 Index, with the remaining 50% allocated to the Solactive 13-week
U.S. T-bill Index. The Fund currently seeks to replicate the NDR CMG Index when
the NDR CMG Index has any equity allocation (as discussed further below) by
holding shares of one or more exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) whose investment
objective is to track the performance of the S&P 500 Index, rather than
investing directly in the shares of the 500 companies comprising the S&P 500
Index, until the Fund reaches, in the opinion of the Adviser, an adequate asset
size. When the Fund reaches an adequate size and the NDR CMG Index has an equity
allocation, the Fund may then seek to replicate the NDR CMG Index by investing
directly in the shares of the 500 companies comprising the S&P 500 Index.
The Solactive 13-week U.S. T-bill Index invests in one 13-week U.S. Treasury
bill at a time, and a maximum of five U.S. Treasury bills in a calendar year.
The Fund will track the most recent 13-week U.S. Treasury bill exposure in the
Solactive 13-week U.S. T-bill Index to follow the NDR CMG Index’s flat, or cash,
allocations.
The
model produces daily trade signals to determine the NDR CMG Index’s equity
allocation percentage through a two-phase process. The first phase produces an
industry-level market breadth composite based on the S&P 500 industry
groupings. As such, “market breadth” here refers to the aggregated weighted
score of advancing and declining industries, as measured by three types of
price-based, industry-level indicators: trend-following, volatility and
mean-reversion. Trend-following primary indicators include momentum and various
moving average measures to assess the current direction of the markets.
Mean-reversion indicators are applied, which are based on the theory that prices
and returns eventually move back towards their historical mean (or average). The
volatility indicators determine whether near-term volatility has significantly
risen relative to longer-term volatility to measure whether broad market risks
have risen. The model applies these indicators across the S&P 500 industry
groupings to ultimately produce trade signals that are either bullish (meaning
prices are expected to increase over time) or bearish (meaning prices are
expected to decrease over time). The final market breadth composite is the
scaled aggregation of these indicators across the S&P 500 industries to
determine the breadth composite score (between 0 and 100). The second phase
utilizes the breadth composite score to produce the equity allocations for the
NDR CMG Index. The model is automated and updates daily to take into account the
various indicators that dictate the trade signals referenced above. As such, the
NDR CMG Index may rebalance to new allocation percentages intra-month based on
the model’s composite score and direction, and the Fund may seek to rebalance
its allocation percentage level accordingly. In addition, the NDR CMG Index’s
underlying indices (the S&P 500 Index and the Solactive 13-Week U.S. T-Bill
Index) are each rebalanced on a quarterly basis. The overall composition of the
NDR CMG Index is subject to change. The Fund’s 80% investment policy is
non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’
prior written notice to shareholders.
The
Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate
the investment performance of the NDR CMG Index by investing in a portfolio of
securities that generally replicates the NDR CMG Index. Unlike many investment
companies that try to “beat” the performance of a benchmark index, the Fund does
not try to “beat” the NDR CMG Index and does not seek temporary defensive
positions that are inconsistent with its investment objective of seeking to
replicate the NDR CMG Index.
The
Fund may become "non-diversified" as defined under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act of 1940”), solely as a result of a
change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of the NDR CMG Index. This means that the Fund may invest a greater
percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers than would be the case
if the Fund were always managed as a diversified management investment company.
The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same proportion as the
NDR CMG Index. Shareholder approval will not be sought when the Fund crosses
from diversified to non-diversified status due solely to a change in the
relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more constituents of
the NDR CMG Index.
The Fund may
concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to
the extent that the NDR CMG Index concentrates in an industry or group of
industries. The degree to which certain sectors or industries are represented in
the NDR CMG Index will change over
time.
PRINCIPAL
RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors
in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price
of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in
the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk.
An investment
in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Therefore,
you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund,
each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an
investment in the Fund.
Equity Securities Risk.
The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general
market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the
issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to
specific issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated
to preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect
to priority to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to
greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In
addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically
generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities
have generally also experienced significantly more volatility in those
returns.
Index Tracking Risk. The
Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For
example, the Fund incurs operating expenses, including taxes, not applicable to
the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities and
entering into derivatives transactions (if applicable), especially when
rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition
of the Index or (to the extent the Fund effects creations and redemptions in
cash) raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with
newly created Creation Units. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will
decrease the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction
fee payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Index. Errors in the Index data, the Index computations and/or the
construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time
to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index provider, which may
have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Shareholders should
understand that any gains from the Index provider’s or others’ errors will be
kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from the
Index provider’s or others’ errors will be borne by the Fund and its
shareholders. Additionally, when the Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn
rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the
Fund’s portfolio and the Index, any transaction costs and market exposure
arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and
its shareholders. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index provider or its
agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Index. Therefore,
errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index provider or its
agents to the Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the
Fund.
The
Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into
the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses or to meet
redemptions. In addition, the Fund may not invest in certain securities included
in the Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are
represented in the Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
return of the Index for various reasons, including legal restrictions or
limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries, certain exchange
listing standards, a lack of liquidity in markets in which such securities
trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as
diversification requirements). To the extent the Fund utilizes depositary
receipts, the purchase of depositary receipts may negatively affect the Fund’s
ability to track the performance of the Index and increase tracking error, which
may be exacerbated if the issuer of the depositary receipt discontinues issuing
new depositary receipts or withdraws existing depositary receipts.
The
Fund may value certain of its investments, underlying currencies and/or other
assets based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net
asset value based on fair value prices and the value of the Index is based on
securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e.,
the value of the Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to
track the Index may be adversely affected. In addition, any issues the Fund
encounters with regard to currency convertibility (including the cost of
borrowing funds, if any), repatriation or economic sanctions may also increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
performance of the Index due to the impact of withholding taxes, late
announcements relating to changes to the Index and high turnover of the Index.
When markets are volatile, the ability to sell securities at fair value prices
may be adversely impacted and may result in additional trading costs and/or
increase the index tracking risk. The Fund may also need to rely on borrowings
to meet redemptions, which may lead to increased expenses. For tax efficiency
purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund
to realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Index. In light of the
factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the
return of the Index. Changes to the composition of the Index in connection with
a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index may cause the Fund to experience
increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be
heightened.
Risk
of Investing in Other Funds. The
Fund may invest in shares of other funds, including ETFs. As a result, the Fund
will indirectly be exposed to the risks of an investment in the underlying
funds. As a shareholder in a fund, the Fund would bear its ratable share of that
entity’s expenses. At the same time, the Fund would continue to pay its own
investment management fees and other expenses. As a result, the Fund and its
shareholders will be absorbing additional levels of fees with respect to
investments in other funds, including ETFs.
Market
Risk.
The prices of securities are subject to the risks associated with investing in
the securities market, including general economic conditions, sudden and
unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and
public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political,
economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics
and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the
global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments
might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline
generally or underperform other investments. An investment
may lose money.
U.S.
Treasury Bills Risk.
Direct obligations of the U.S. Treasury have historically involved little risk
of loss of principal if held to maturity. However, due to fluctuations in
interest rates, the market value of such securities may vary.
Operational
Risk.
The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors,
including human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s
service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate
processes and technology or system failures.
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk. The
Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities,
which will result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including
brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale
of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. High portfolio
turnover may also result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable
account. The effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund
performance.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of
Fund Shares. The
market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s net asset
value, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for
Shares. Shares may trade above, below, or at their most recent net asset value.
Factors including disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares
(including through a trading halt), may result in Shares trading at a
significant premium or discount to net asset value or to the intraday value of
the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market
price is at a premium to the net asset value or sells Shares at a time when the
market price is at a discount to the net asset value, the shareholder may pay
significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of
the Shares. The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close
at a different time than the exchange on which the Shares are traded. Liquidity
in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times.
Accordingly, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable
market closing, fixing or settlement times, bid/ask spreads on the exchange and
the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ net asset value may widen.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s Shares
may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for
the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings and a shareholder may be unable to sell
his or her Shares.
Passive
Management Risk.
Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore,
unless a specific security is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would
not sell a security because the security’s issuer is in financial trouble. If a
specific security is removed from the Fund’s Index, the Fund may be forced to
sell such security at an inopportune time or for prices other than at current
market values. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of
investing in any fund that invests in bonds or equity securities, such as market
fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. The Fund’s
Index may not contain the appropriate or a diversified mix of securities for any
particular economic cycle. The timing of changes in the securities of the Fund’s
portfolio in seeking to replicate its Index could have a negative effect on the
Fund. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques
or defensive strategies designed to lessen the effects of market volatility or
to reduce the impact of periods of market decline. Additionally, unusual market
conditions may cause the Fund’s Index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance
or reconstitution, which could cause the Fund’s Index to vary from its normal or
expected composition. This means that, based on market and economic conditions,
the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their
portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the
impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
No
Guarantee of Active Trading Market Risk.
There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will
develop or be maintained, as applicable. Further, secondary markets may be
subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade
settlement periods in times of market stress because market makers and
Authorized Participants may step away from making a market in the Shares and in
executing creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation
in the Fund’s market price from its net asset value.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk. The
Fund may have a limited number of Authorized Participants, none of which are
obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent
that those Authorized Participants exit the business, or do not process creation
and/or redemption orders, there may be a significantly diminished trading market
for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium)
to net asset value and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. This can
be reflected as a spread between the bid-ask prices for the Fund. The Authorized
Participant concentration risk may be heightened in cases where Authorized
Participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post
collateral.
Trading
Issues Risk.
Trading in shares on the exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for
reasons that, in the view of the exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable.
In addition, trading in shares on the exchange is subject to trading halts
caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the relevant exchange’s
“circuit breaker” rules. If a trading halt or unanticipated early close of the
exchange occurs, a shareholder may be unable to purchase or sell Shares of the
Fund. There can be no assurance that requirements of the exchange necessary to
maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain
unchanged.
Non-Diversification
Risk. The Fund may become classified
as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 solely as a result
of a change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of the its Index. If the Fund becomes non-diversified, it may
invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of a smaller number of
individual issuers
than a diversified fund. As a result,
changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater
fluctuations in share price than would occur in a more diversified
fund.
Index-Related
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a
particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to reflect the
Index’s allocation to those types of securities. The securities of many or all
of the companies in the same sector or industry may decline in value due to
developments adversely affecting such sector or industry. By concentrating its
assets in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries, the
Fund is subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that
have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industries may negatively impact
the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider
variety of securities.
PERFORMANCE
The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the
calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average
annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart
and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by
comparing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s
average annual returns for the one year, five year, ten year and/or since
inception periods, as applicable, compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a
broad measure of market performance. All returns assume
reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s
past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how
the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance
information is available online at www.vaneck.com.
Annual Total
Returns (%)—Calendar Years
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Quarter: |
19.97 |
% |
2Q 2020 |
Worst
Quarter: |
-19.67 |
% |
1Q
2020 |
Average Annual
Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31,
2022
The after-tax
returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical
individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of
state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below.
After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through
tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts.
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|
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|
|
|
Past One
Year |
Past Five
Years |
Since
Inception (10/4/17) |
|
|
VanEck
Long/Flat Trend ETF (return before taxes) |
-21.98% |
6.73% |
7.37% |
|
|
VanEck
Long/Flat Trend ETF (return after taxes on
distributions) |
-22.25% |
6.39% |
7.04% |
|
|
VanEck
Long/Flat Trend ETF (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund
Shares) |
-12.90% |
5.24% |
5.77% |
|
|
Ned
Davis Research CMG US Large Cap Long/Flat Index (reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-21.35% |
7.36% |
8.05% |
|
|
S&P
500®
Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-18.11% |
9.42% |
10.16% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See “License Agreements and Disclaimers” for important
information.
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser. Van
Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio
Manager.
The following individual is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Fund’s portfolio:
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|
|
Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing the Fund |
|
|
Peter
H. Liao |
Portfolio
Manager |
October
2017 |
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|
PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
For
important information about the purchase and sale of Fund Shares, tax
information and payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries,
please turn to the “Summary Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund
Shares, Taxes and Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”
section of this Prospectus.
|
|
|
VANECK
MORNINGSTAR ESG MOAT ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck
Morningstar ESG Moat ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to track as closely
as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the
Morningstar®
US
Sustainability Moat Focus IndexSM
(the “US Sustainability Moat Focus Index” or the
“Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
|
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|
Shareholder
Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
|
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|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Management
Fee |
0.45 |
% |
|
|
Other
Expenses |
3.79 |
% |
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
4.24 |
% |
|
|
Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursement(a) |
-3.75 |
% |
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a) |
0.49 |
% |
|
|
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|
|
|
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|
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|
|
(a) Van Eck Associates
Corporation (the “Adviser”) has agreed to waive fees and/or pay Fund expenses to
the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding
acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, trading expenses, taxes and
extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.49% of the Fund’s average daily net
assets per year until at least February 1,
2024. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to
continue until the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion
of such expense limitation.
EXPENSE
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing
in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not
take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling
Shares of the Fund.
The example
assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and
then sell or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same (except that the example incorporates the fee
waivers and/or expense reimbursement arrangement for only the first year).
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions,
your costs would be:
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|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
YEAR
|
EXPENSES |
|
|
1 |
$50 |
|
|
|
3 |
$943 |
|
|
|
5 |
$1,850 |
|
|
|
10 |
$4,177 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PORTFOLIO
TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher
portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and
may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the period from October 5,
2021 (the Fund's commencement of operations) through September 30, 2022, the
Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 44% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund normally invests at
least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark
index. The US Sustainability Moat Focus Index provides exposure to attractively
valued companies with long-term competitive advantages while excluding those
companies with high environmental, social and governance (”ESG”) risks. The US
Sustainability Moat Focus Index is comprised of securities issued by U.S.
companies that Morningstar, Inc. (“Morningstar” or the “Index provider”)
determines to have long-term competitive advantages based on a proprietary
methodology that considers quantitative and qualitative factors
(“wide
moat companies”). The quantitative factors used by Morningstar to identify
competitive advantages currently include historical and projected returns on
invested capital relative to cost of capital. The qualitative factors used by
Morningstar to identify competitive advantages currently include customer
switching cost (i.e.,
the costs of customers switching to competitors), internal cost advantages,
intangible assets (e.g.,
intellectual property and brands), network effects (i.e.,
whether products or services become more valuable as the number of customers
grows) and efficient scale (i.e.,
whether the company effectively serves a limited market that potential rivals
have little incentive to enter into). Wide moat companies are selected from the
universe of companies represented in the Morningstar®
US Market IndexSM,
a broad market index representing 97% of U.S. market capitalization. The US
Sustainability Moat Focus Index excludes from consideration those wide moat
companies that receive a severe or high ESG risk rating based on Morningstar’s
Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating. The US Sustainability Moat Focus Index also
excludes companies (i) involved in the production or distribution of
controversial weapons or civilian firearms (ii) involved in the extraction of or
generation of power from thermal coal, (iii) have a Sustainalytics controversy
score of five (out of a scale of 1 to 5) in the last three (3) years, (iv) those
that have a severe or high Carbon Risk Rating from Sustainalytics or (v) that
have greater than 50% of revenues from tobacco products. The Sustainalytics
company-level ESG Risk Score measures the degree to which a company's economic
value may be at risk driven by materially relevant ESG factors. The ESG Risk
Score is based on a two-dimensional materiality framework that measures a
company's exposure to subindustry-specific material risks and how well a company
is managing those risks. ESG Risk Scores are categorized across five risk
levels: negligible, low, medium, high and severe. The scale is from 0-100, with
100 being the most severe. Sustainalytics controversy scores are determined
based on ESG-related incidents, which are assessed through a framework that
considers the severity of incidents, the corporation’s accountability and
whether the incidents form part of a pattern of corporate misconduct; a
Sustainalytics controversy score of five indicates a severe controversy rating.
Sustainalytics Carbon Risk Ratings assess a company’s carbon risk by evaluating
the company’s material exposure to and management of carbon issues.
The
US Sustainability Moat Focus Index targets wide moat companies that according to
Morningstar’s equity research team are attractively priced as of each US
Sustainability Moat Focus Index review. Morningstar selects eligible companies
to be included in the US Sustainability Moat Focus Index as determined by
Morningstar’s standardized, proprietary valuation model that predominantly
relies on a detailed projection of a company’s future cash flows. Wide moat
companies may include medium-capitalization companies. The Fund’s 80% investment
policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon
60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.
As
of December 31, 2022, US Sustainability Moat Focus Index included 62 securities
of companies with a full market capitalization range of between approximately
$1.9 billion and $1,787.7 billion and a weighted average full market
capitalization of $110.2 billion. The US Sustainability Moat Focus Index employs
a staggered rebalance methodology. The US Sustainability Moat Focus Index is
divided into two equally-weighted sub-portfolios, and each is reconstituted and
rebalanced annually, one in June and the other in December.
The
Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate
the investment performance of the US Sustainability Moat Focus Index by
investing in a portfolio of securities that generally tracks the US
Sustainability Moat Focus Index. Unlike many investment companies that try to
“beat” the performance of a benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the
US Sustainability Moat Focus Index and does not seek temporary defensive
positions that are inconsistent with its investment objective of seeking to
track the US Sustainability Moat Focus Index.
The
Fund is classified as a non-diversified fund under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act of 1940”) and, therefore, may
invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer. The Fund may
concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to
the extent that the US Sustainability Moat Focus Index concentrates in an
industry or group of industries. As of September 30, 2022, each of the
information technology, consumer staples, financials and consumer discretionary
sectors represented a significant portion of the
Fund.
PRINCIPAL
RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors
in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price
of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in
the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk.
An investment
in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Therefore,
you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund,
each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an
investment in the Fund.
ESG
Investing Strategy Risk. The
Fund’s ESG strategy could cause it to perform differently compared to funds that
do not have an ESG focus. The Fund’s ESG strategy may result in the Fund
investing in securities or industry sectors that underperform other securities
or underperform the market as a whole. The companies included in the US
Sustainability Moat Focus Index may differ from companies included in other
indices that use similar ESG screens. The Fund is also subject to the risk that
the companies identified by the Index provider do not operate as expected when
addressing ESG issues. Additionally, the Index provider’s proprietary valuation
model may not perform as intended, which may adversely affect an investment in
the Fund. Regulatory changes or interpretations regarding the definitions and/or
use of ESG criteria could have a material adverse effect on the Fund’s ability
to implement its ESG strategy.
Equity Securities Risk. The
value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market
and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the issuers
of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific
issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated to
preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect to
priority to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to
greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In
addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically
generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities
have generally also experienced significantly more volatility in those
returns.
Medium-Capitalization
Companies Risk.
Medium-capitalization companies may be more volatile and more likely than
large-capitalization companies to have narrower product lines, fewer financial
resources, less management depth and experience and less competitive strength.
In addition, these companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading
volume and less liquidity than larger more established companies. Returns on
investments in securities of medium-capitalization companies could trail the
returns on investments in securities of large-capitalization
companies.
Consumer Discretionary Sector
Risk. The consumer discretionary sector comprises
companies whose businesses are sensitive to economic cycles, such as
manufacturers of high-end apparel and automobile and leisure companies.
Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject
to fluctuations in supply and demand. These companies may also be adversely
affected by changes in consumer spending as a result of world events, political
and economic conditions, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates,
imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and
labor relations.
Financials
Sector Risk.
Companies in the financials sector may be subject to extensive government
regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can
charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The profitability of
companies in the financials sector may be adversely affected by increases in
interest rates, by loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns,
and by credit rating downgrades. In addition, the financials sector is
undergoing numerous changes, including continuing consolidations, development of
new products and structures and changes to its regulatory framework.
Furthermore, some companies in the financials sector perceived as benefiting
from government intervention in the past may be subject to future
government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or face increased government
involvement in their operations. Increased government involvement in the
financials sector, including measures such as taking ownership positions in
financial institutions, could result in a dilution of the Fund’s investments in
financial institutions.
Consumer Staples Sector
Risk.
The consumer staples sector comprises companies whose
businesses are less sensitive to economic cycles, such as manufacturers and
distributors of food and beverages and producers of non-durable household goods
and personal products. Companies in
the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by
changes in the worldwide economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics
and consumer preferences, exploration and production spending. Companies in this
sector are also affected by changes in government regulation, world events and
economic conditions.
Information
Technology Sector Risk.
Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and
internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Information
technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial
resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may
face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent
new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition
for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology
sector are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of patents
may adversely affect the profitability of these companies.
Market
Risk.
The prices of securities are subject to the risks associated with investing in
the securities market, including general economic conditions, sudden and
unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and
public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political,
economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics
and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the
global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments
might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline
generally or underperform other investments. An investment
may lose money.
Operational
Risk.
The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors,
including human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s
service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate
processes and technology or system failures.
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk. The
Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities,
which will result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including
brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale
of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. High portfolio
turnover may also result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable
account. The effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund
performance.
Index Tracking Risk. The
Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For
example, the Fund incurs operating expenses, including taxes, not applicable to
the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities and
entering into derivatives transactions (if applicable), especially when
rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition
of the Index or (to the extent the Fund effects creations and redemptions in
cash) raising cash
to
meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with newly created Creation
Units. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will decrease the Fund’s
net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction fee payable by an
Authorized Participant.
Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Index. Errors in the Index data, the Index computations and/or the
construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time
to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index provider, which may
have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Shareholders should
understand that any gains from the Index provider’s or others’ errors will be
kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from the
Index provider’s or others’ errors will be borne by the Fund and its
shareholders. Additionally, when the Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn
rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the
Fund’s portfolio and the Index, any transaction costs and market exposure
arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and
its shareholders. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index provider or its
agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Index. Therefore,
errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index provider or its
agents to the Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the
Fund.
The
Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into
the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses or to meet
redemptions. In addition, the Fund may not invest in certain securities included
in the Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are
represented in the Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
return of the Index for various reasons, including legal restrictions or
limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries, certain exchange
listing standards, a lack of liquidity in markets in which such securities
trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as
diversification requirements). To the extent the Fund utilizes depositary
receipts, the purchase of depositary receipts may negatively affect the Fund’s
ability to track the performance of the Index and increase tracking error, which
may be exacerbated if the issuer of the depositary receipt discontinues issuing
new depositary receipts or withdraws existing depositary receipts.
The
Fund may value certain of its investments, underlying currencies and/or other
assets based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net
asset value based on fair value prices and the value of the Index is based on
securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e.,
the value of the Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to
track the Index may be adversely affected. In addition, any issues the Fund
encounters with regard to currency convertibility (including the cost of
borrowing funds, if any), repatriation or economic sanctions may also increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
performance of the Index due to the impact of withholding taxes, late
announcements relating to changes to the Index and high turnover of the Index.
When markets are volatile, the ability to sell securities at fair value prices
may be adversely impacted and may result in additional trading costs and/or
increase the index tracking risk. The Fund may also need to rely on borrowings
to meet redemptions, which may lead to increased expenses. For tax efficiency
purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund
to realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Index. In light of the
factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the
return of the Index. Changes to the composition of the Index in connection with
a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index may cause the Fund to experience
increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be
heightened.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk. The
Fund may have a limited number of Authorized Participants, none of which are
obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent
that those Authorized Participants exit the business, or do not process creation
and/or redemption orders, there may be a significantly diminished trading market
for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium)
to net asset value and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. This can
be reflected as a spread between the bid-ask prices for the Fund. The Authorized
Participant concentration risk may be heightened in cases where Authorized
Participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post
collateral.
No
Guarantee of Active Trading Market Risk. There
can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will develop or
be maintained, as applicable. Further, secondary markets may be subject to
irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement
periods in times of market stress because market makers and Authorized
Participants may step away from making a market in the Shares and in executing
creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation in the
Fund’s market price from its net asset value.
Trading
Issues Risk.
Trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for
reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable.
In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts
caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange’s “circuit
breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange
necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will
remain unchanged.
Passive
Management Risk.
Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore,
unless a specific security is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would
not sell a security because the security’s issuer is in financial trouble. If a
specific security is removed from the Fund’s Index, the Fund may be forced to
sell such security at an inopportune time or for prices other than at current
market values. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of
investing in any fund that invests in bonds or equity securities, such as market
fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. The Fund’s
Index may not contain the appropriate
or
a diversified mix of securities for any particular economic cycle. The timing of
changes in the securities of the Fund’s portfolio in seeking to replicate its
Index could have a negative effect on the Fund. Unlike with an actively managed
fund, the Adviser does not use techniques or defensive strategies designed to
lessen the effects of market volatility or to reduce the impact of periods of
market decline. Additionally, unusual market conditions may cause the Fund’s
Index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance or reconstitution, which could
cause the Fund’s Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. This
means that, based on market and economic conditions, the Fund’s performance
could be lower than funds that may actively shift their portfolio assets to take
advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the impact of a market decline or
a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of
Fund Shares.
The market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s net asset
value, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for
Shares. Shares may trade above, below, or at their most recent net asset value.
Factors including disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares
(including through a trading halt), may result in Shares trading at a
significant premium or discount to net asset value or to the intraday value of
the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market
price is at a premium to the net asset value or sells Shares at a time when the
market price is at a discount to the net asset value, the shareholder may pay
significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of
the Shares. The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close
at a different time than the exchange on which the Shares are traded. Liquidity
in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times.
Accordingly, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable
market closing, fixing or settlement times, bid/ask spreads on the exchange and
the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ net asset value may widen.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s Shares
may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for
the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings and a shareholder may be unable to sell
his or her Shares.
Non-Diversified
Risk.
The Fund is
classified as a “non-diversified” fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
The Fund is subject to the risk that it will be more volatile than a diversified
fund because the Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a
smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a
single issuer. Moreover, the gains and losses on a single investment may have a
greater impact on the Fund’s net asset value and may make the Fund more volatile
than more diversified funds. The Fund may be particularly vulnerable to this
risk if its Index is comprised of securities of a limited number of
companies.
Index-Related
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a
particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to reflect the
Index’s allocation to those types of securities. The securities of many or all
of the companies in the same sector or industry may decline in value due to
developments adversely affecting such sector or industry. By concentrating its
assets in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries, the
Fund is subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that
have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industries may negatively impact
the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider
variety of securities.
PERFORMANCE
The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the
calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average
annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart
and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by
comparing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s
average annual returns for the one year, five year, ten year and/or since
inception periods, as applicable, compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a
broad measure of market performance. All returns assume
reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s
past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how
the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance
information is available online at www.vaneck.com.
Annual Total
Returns (%)—Calendar Year
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Best
Quarter: |
10.68 |
% |
4Q 2022 |
Worst
Quarter: |
-12.89 |
% |
2Q
2022 |
Average Annual
Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31,
2022
The after-tax
returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical
individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of
state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below.
After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through
tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts.
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|
Past One
Year |
Since
Inception (10/05/2021) |
|
|
VanEck
Morningstar ESG Moat ETF (return before taxes) |
-18.61% |
-9.63% |
|
|
VanEck
Morningstar ESG Moat ETF (return after taxes on
distributions) |
-18.80% |
-9.83% |
|
|
VanEck
Morningstar ESG Moat ETF (return after taxes on distributions and sale of
Fund Shares) |
-10.88% |
-7.31% |
|
|
Morningstar®
US
Sustainability Moat Focus IndexSM
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-18.20% |
-9.20% |
|
|
S&P
500®
Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-18.11% |
-8.07% |
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See “License Agreements and Disclaimers” for important
information.
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser.
Van Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio
Manager.
The following individual is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Fund’s portfolio:
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Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing the Fund |
|
|
Peter
H. Liao |
Portfolio
Manager |
October
2021 |
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PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
For
important information about the purchase and sale of Fund Shares, tax
information and payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries,
please turn to the “Summary Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund
Shares, Taxes and Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”
section of this Prospectus.
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VANECK
MORNINGSTAR GLOBAL WIDE MOAT
ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck
Morningstar Global Wide Moat ETF
(the
“Fund”) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the
price and yield performance of the Morningstar®
Global Wide Moat Focus IndexSM
(the “Global Wide Moat Focus Index” or the
“Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
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Shareholder
Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Management
Fee |
0.45 |
% |
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|
Other
Expenses |
0.51 |
% |
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|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a) |
0.96 |
% |
|
|
Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursement(a) |
-0.44 |
% |
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense
Reimbursement(a) |
0.52 |
% |
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|
(a) Van Eck Associates
Corporation (the “Adviser”) has agreed to waive fees and/or pay Fund expenses to
the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding
acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, trading expenses, taxes and
extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.52% of the Fund’s average daily net
assets per year until at least February 1,
2024. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to
continue until the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion
of such expense limitation.
EXPENSE
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing
in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not
take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling
Shares of the Fund.
The example
assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and
then sell or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same (except that the example incorporates the fee
waivers and/or expense reimbursement arrangement for only the first year).
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions,
your costs would be:
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|
YEAR |
EXPENSES |
|
|
1 |
$53 |
|
|
|
3 |
$262 |
|
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|
5 |
$488 |
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|
10 |
$1,138 |
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PORTFOLIO
TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher
portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and
may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year,
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 67% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund normally invests at
least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark
index. The Global Wide Moat Focus Index is comprised of securities issued by
companies that Morningstar, Inc. (“Morningstar” or the “Index provider”)
determines to have sustainable competitive advantages based on a proprietary
methodology that considers quantitative
and
qualitative factors (“wide moat companies”). The quantitative factors used by
Morningstar to identify competitive advantages currently include historical and
projected returns on invested capital relative to cost of capital. The
qualitative factors used by Morningstar to identify competitive advantages
currently include customer switching cost (i.e.,
the costs of customers switching to competitors), internal cost advantages,
intangible assets (e.g.,
intellectual property and brands), network effects (i.e.,
whether products or services become more valuable as the number of customers
grows) and efficient scale (i.e.,
whether the company effectively serves a limited market that potential rivals
have little incentive to enter into). Wide moat companies are selected by
Morningstar from the universe of companies represented in the
Morningstar®
Global Markets IndexSM
(the “Parent Index”) a broad market index representing 97% of developed and
emerging market capitalization that meet certain trading frequency, dollar
trading volume and turnover and free-float market-capitalization requirements.
The Global Wide Moat Focus Index targets a select group of wide moat companies:
those that according to Morningstar’s equity research team are attractively
priced as of each Global Wide Moat Focus Index review. Morningstar utilizes a
momentum screen, in which momentum represents a security’s 12-month price
change. The momentum screen is used to exclude 20% of wide moat companies in the
Parent Index with the worst 12-month momentum based on a 12-month price change
of each company’s securities. Out of the companies in the Parent Index that
Morningstar determines are wide moat companies and display 12-month momentum in
the top 80%, Morningstar selects companies to be included in the Global Wide
Moat Focus Index as determined by the ratio of Morningstar’s estimate of fair
value of the issuer’s common stock to the price. Morningstar’s equity research
fair value estimates are calculated using a standardized, proprietary valuation
model that predominantly relies on a detailed projection of a company’s future
cash flows. Wide moat companies may include medium-capitalization companies. The
Fund, under normal market conditions, will invest at least 40% of its assets in
companies organized or located in multiple countries outside the United States
or doing a substantial amount of business in multiple countries outside the
United States. The Fund’s 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and may be
changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to
shareholders.
As
of December 31, 2022, the Global Wide Moat Focus Index included 68 securities of
companies with a market capitalization range of between approximately $3.1
billion and $1,787.7 billion and a weighted average full market capitalization
of $121.9 billion. The maximum weight of an individual country or sector in the
Global Wide Moat Focus Index is capped at 10% more than its corresponding weight
in the parent index at the time of reconstitution, or 40%, whichever is higher.
The Global Wide Moat Focus Index is divided into two equally weighted
sub-portfolios, and each is reconstituted and rebalanced semi-annually on
alternating quarters.
The
Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate
the investment performance of the Global Wide Moat Focus Index by investing in a
portfolio of securities that generally replicates the Global Wide Moat Focus
Index. Unlike many investment companies that try to “beat” the performance of a
benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the Global Wide Moat Focus
Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with
its investment objective of seeking to replicate the Global Wide Moat Focus
Index.
The
Fund may become “non-diversified” as defined under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act of 1940”), solely as a result of a
change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of the Global Wide Moat Focus Index. This means that the Fund may
invest a greater percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers than
would be the case if the Fund were always managed as a diversified management
investment company. The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same
proportion as the Global Wide Moat Focus Index. Shareholder approval will not be
sought when the Fund crosses from diversified to non-diversified status due
solely to a change in the relative market capitalization or index weighting of
one or more constituents of the Global Wide Moat Focus Index.
The Fund may
concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to
the extent that the Global Wide Moat Focus Index concentrates in an industry or
group of industries. As of September 30, 2022, each of the information
technology, consumer staples, financials, industrials and health care sectors
represented a significant portion of the
Fund.
PRINCIPAL
RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors
in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price
of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in
the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk.
An investment
in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Therefore,
you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund,
each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an
investment in the Fund.
Equity Securities Risk.
The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general
market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the
issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to
specific issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated
to preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect
to priority to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to
greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In
addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically
generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities
have generally also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns.
Industrials
Sector Risk.
The industrials sector comprises companies who produce capital goods used in
construction and manufacturing, such as companies that make and sell machinery,
equipment and supplies that are used to produce other goods.
Companies
in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in government
regulation, world events and economic conditions. In addition, companies in the
industrials sector be adversely affected by environmental damages, product
liability claims and exchange rates.
Financials
Sector Risk.
Companies in the financials sector may be subject to extensive government
regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can
charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The profitability of
companies in the financials sector may be adversely affected by increases in
interest rates, by loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns,
and by credit rating downgrades. In addition, the financials sector is
undergoing numerous changes, including continuing consolidations, development of
new products and structures and changes to its regulatory framework.
Furthermore, some companies in the financials sector perceived as benefiting
from government intervention in the past may be subject to future
government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or face increased government
involvement in their operations. Increased government involvement in the
financials sector, including measures such as taking ownership positions in
financial institutions, could result in a dilution of the Fund’s investments in
financial institutions.
Health
Care Sector Risk.
Companies in the health care sector may be affected by extensive government
regulation, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses,
rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased
emphasis on outpatient services, limited number of products, industry
innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. Many health
care companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of
patents may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Many health
care companies are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability
and similar claims.
Consumer Staples Sector
Risk.
The consumer staples sector comprises companies whose
businesses are less sensitive to economic cycles, such as manufacturers and
distributors of food and beverages and producers of non-durable household goods
and personal products. Companies in
the consumer staples sector may be adversely affected by
changes in the worldwide economy, consumer spending, competition, demographics
and consumer preferences, exploration and production spending. Companies in this
sector are also affected by changes in government regulation, world events and
economic conditions.
Information
Technology Sector Risk.
Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and
internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Information
technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial
resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may
face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent
new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition
for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology
sector are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of patents
may adversely affect the profitability of these companies.
Medium-Capitalization
Companies Risk.
Medium-capitalization companies may be more volatile and more likely than
large-capitalization companies to have narrower product lines, fewer financial
resources, less management depth and experience and less competitive strength.
In addition, these companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading
volume and less liquidity than larger more established companies. Returns on
investments in securities of medium-capitalization companies could trail the
returns on investments in securities of large-capitalization
companies.
Foreign
Securities Risk.
Investments in the securities of foreign issuers involve risks beyond those
associated with investments in U.S. securities. These additional risks include
greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial
information, higher transactional and custody costs, taxation by foreign
governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Because
certain foreign securities markets may be limited in size, the activity of large
traders may have an undue influence on the prices of securities that trade in
such markets. The Fund invests in securities of issuers located in countries
whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any
reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund’s
investments.
Foreign Currency Risk.
The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies and changes in the value of foreign
currencies versus the U.S. dollar may result in reduced returns for the Fund,
and the value of certain foreign currencies may be subject to a high degree of
fluctuation. The Fund may also incur costs in connection with conversions
between U.S. dollars and foreign currencies.
Special
Risk Considerations of Investing in Asian Issuers. Investments
in securities of Asian issuers involve risks and special considerations not
typically associated with investments in the U.S. securities markets. Certain
Asian economies have experienced over-extension of credit, currency devaluations
and restrictions, high unemployment, high inflation, decreased exports and
economic recessions. Economic events in any one Asian country can have a
significant effect on the entire Asian region as well as on major trading
partners outside Asia, and any adverse effect on some or all of the Asian
countries and regions in which the Fund invests. The securities markets in some
Asian economies are relatively underdeveloped and may subject the Fund to higher
action costs or greater uncertainty than investments in more developed
securities markets. Such risks may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s
investments.
Special
Risk Considerations of Investing in European Issuers. Investments
in securities of European issuers involve risks and special considerations not
typically associated with investments in the U.S. securities markets. The
Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union requires member countries to
comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest rates, debt
levels and fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect
every country in Europe. Decreasing imports or exports, changes in governmental
or European Union regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the
euro, the default
or
threat of default by a European Union member country on its sovereign debt,
and/or an economic recession in an European Union member country may have a
significant adverse effect on the economies of other European Union countries
and on major trading partners outside Europe. If any member country exits the
Economic and Monetary Union, the departing country would face the risks of
currency devaluation and its trading partners and banks and others around the
world that hold the departing country’s debt would face the risk of significant
losses. The European financial markets have previously experienced, and may
continue to experience, volatility and have been adversely affected, and may in
the future be affected, by concerns about economic downturns, credit rating
downgrades, rising government debt levels and possible default on or
restructuring of government debt in several European countries. These events
have adversely affected, and may in the future affect, the value and exchange
rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every
country in Europe, including European Union member countries that do not use the
euro and non-European Union member countries. In a referendum held on June 23,
2016, voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, creating
economic and political uncertainty in its wake. On January 31, 2020, the United
Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union and the United Kingdom
entered a transition period which ended on December 31, 2020. On December 30,
2020, the European Union and United Kingdom signed the EU-UK Trade and
Cooperation Agreement, an agreement on the terms governing certain aspects of
the European Union’s and the United Kingdom’s relationship following the end of
the transition period. Notwithstanding the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation
Agreement, following the transition period, there is likely to be considerable
uncertainty as to the United Kingdom’s post-transition framework.
Depositary Receipts
Risk. The
Fund may invest in depositary receipts (including American Depositary Receipts),
which involve similar risks to those associated with investments in foreign
securities. Depositary receipts are receipts listed on U.S. or foreign exchanges
issued by banks or trust companies that entitle the holder to all dividends and
capital gains that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. The issuers of
certain depositary receipts are under no obligation to distribute shareholder
communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any
voting rights with respect to the deposited securities. Investments in
depositary receipts may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their
primary trading market. The issuers of depositary receipts may discontinue
issuing new depositary receipts and withdraw existing depositary receipts at any
time, which may result in costs and delays in the distribution of the underlying
assets to the Fund and may negatively impact the Fund’s
performance.
Cash
Transactions Risk.
Unlike other ETFs, the Fund expects to effect its creations and redemptions at
least partially for cash, rather than wholly for in-kind securities. Therefore,
it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently incur brokerage
costs and/or recognize gains or losses on such sales that the Fund might not
have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in kind. As such,
investments in Shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in a
conventional ETF. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will decrease
the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction fee
payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
Risk.
The prices of securities are subject to the risks associated with investing in
the securities market, including general economic conditions, sudden and
unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and
public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political,
economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics
and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the
global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments
might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline
generally or underperform other investments. An investment
may lose money.
Operational
Risk.
The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors,
including human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s
service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate
processes and technology or system failures.
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk. The
Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities,
which will result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including
brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale
of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. High portfolio
turnover may also result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable
account. The effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund
performance.
Index Tracking Risk. The
Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For
example, the Fund incurs operating expenses, including taxes, not applicable to
the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities and
entering into derivatives transactions (if applicable), especially when
rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition
of the Index or (to the extent the Fund effects creations and redemptions in
cash) raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with
newly created Creation Units. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will
decrease the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction
fee payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Index. Errors in the Index data, the Index computations and/or the
construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time
to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index provider, which may
have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Shareholders should
understand that any gains from the Index provider’s or others’ errors will be
kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from the
Index provider’s or others’ errors will be borne by the Fund and its
shareholders. Additionally, when the Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn
rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the
Fund’s portfolio and the Index, any
transaction
costs and market exposure arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne
directly by the Fund and its shareholders. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the
Index provider or its agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the
Index. Therefore, errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the
Index provider or its agents to the Index may increase the costs to and the
tracking error risk of the Fund.
The
Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into
the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses or to meet
redemptions. In addition, the Fund may not invest in certain securities included
in the Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are
represented in the Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
return of the Index for various reasons, including legal restrictions or
limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries, certain exchange
listing standards, a lack of liquidity in markets in which such securities
trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as
diversification requirements). To the extent the Fund utilizes depositary
receipts, the purchase of depositary receipts may negatively affect the Fund’s
ability to track the performance of the Index and increase tracking error, which
may be exacerbated if the issuer of the depositary receipt discontinues issuing
new depositary receipts or withdraws existing depositary receipts.
The
Fund may value certain of its investments, underlying currencies and/or other
assets based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net
asset value based on fair value prices and the value of the Index is based on
securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e.,
the value of the Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to
track the Index may be adversely affected. In addition, any issues the Fund
encounters with regard to currency convertibility (including the cost of
borrowing funds, if any), repatriation or economic sanctions may also increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
performance of the Index due to the impact of withholding taxes, late
announcements relating to changes to the Index and high turnover of the Index.
When markets are volatile, the ability to sell securities at fair value prices
may be adversely impacted and may result in additional trading costs and/or
increase the index tracking risk. The Fund may also need to rely on borrowings
to meet redemptions, which may lead to increased expenses. For tax efficiency
purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund
to realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Index. In light of the
factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the
return of the Index. Changes to the composition of the Index in connection with
a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index may cause the Fund to experience
increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be
heightened.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk.
The Fund may have a limited number of Authorized Participants, none of which are
obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent
that those Authorized Participants exit the business, or do not process creation
and/or redemption orders, there may be a significantly diminished trading market
for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium)
to net asset value and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. This can
be reflected as a spread between the bid-ask prices for the Fund. The Authorized
Participant concentration risk may be heightened in cases where Authorized
Participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post
collateral.
No
Guarantee of Active Trading Market Risk. There
can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will develop or
be maintained, as applicable. Further, secondary markets may be subject to
irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement
periods in times of market stress because market makers and Authorized
Participants may step away from making a market in the Shares and in executing
creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation in the
Fund’s market price from its net asset value.
Trading
Issues Risk.
Trading in shares on the exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for
reasons that, in the view of the exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable.
In addition, trading in shares on the exchange is subject to trading halts
caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the relevant exchange’s
“circuit breaker” rules. If a trading halt or unanticipated early close of the
exchange occurs, a shareholder may be unable to purchase or sell Shares of the
Fund. There can be no assurance that requirements of the exchange necessary to
maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain
unchanged.
Passive
Management Risk.
Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore,
unless a specific security is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would
not sell a security because the security’s issuer is in financial trouble. If a
specific security is removed from the Fund’s Index, the Fund may be forced to
sell such security at an inopportune time or for prices other than at current
market values. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of
investing in any fund that invests in bonds or equity securities, such as market
fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. The Fund’s
Index may not contain the appropriate or a diversified mix of securities for any
particular economic cycle. The timing of changes in the securities of the Fund’s
portfolio in seeking to replicate its Index could have a negative effect on the
Fund. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques
or defensive strategies designed to lessen the effects of market volatility or
to reduce the impact of periods of market decline. Additionally, unusual market
conditions may cause the Fund’s Index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance
or reconstitution, which could cause the Fund’s Index to vary from its normal or
expected composition. This means that, based on market and economic conditions,
the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their
portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the
impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of
Fund Shares.
The market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s net asset
value, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for
Shares. Shares may trade above, below, or at their most recent net asset value.
Factors including disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares
(including through a trading halt), may result in Shares trading at a
significant premium or discount to net asset value or to the intraday value of
the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market
price is at a premium to the net asset value or sells Shares at a time when the
market price is at a discount to the net asset value, the shareholder may pay
significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of
the Shares. The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close
at a different time than the exchange on which the Shares are traded. Liquidity
in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times.
Accordingly, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable
market closing, fixing or settlement times, bid/ask spreads on the exchange and
the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ net asset value may widen.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s Shares
may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for
the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings and a shareholder may be unable to sell
his or her Shares.
Non-Diversification
Risk.
The Fund may
become classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940
solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index
weighting of one or more constituents of the its Index. If the Fund becomes
non-diversified, it may invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of
a smaller number of individual issuers than a diversified fund. As a result,
changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater
fluctuations in share price than would occur in a more diversified
fund.
Index-Related
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated
in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to reflect
the Index’s allocation to those types of securities. The securities of many or
all of the companies in the same sector or industry may decline in value due to
developments adversely affecting such sector or industry. By concentrating its
assets in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries, the
Fund is subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that
have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industries may negatively impact
the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider
variety of securities.
PERFORMANCE
The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the
calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average
annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart
and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by
comparing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s
average annual returns for the one year, five year, ten year and/or since
inception periods, as applicable, compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a
broad measure of market performance. All returns assume
reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s
past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how
the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance
information is available online at www.vaneck.com.
Annual Total
Returns (%)—Calendar Years
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Best
Quarter: |
20.12 |
% |
2Q 2020 |
Worst
Quarter: |
-18.70 |
% |
1Q
2020 |
Average Annual
Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31,
2022
The after-tax
returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical
individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of
state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below.
After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through
tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts.
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Past One
Year |
Since
Inception (10/30/18) |
|
|
VanEck
Morningstar Global Wide Moat ETF (return before
taxes) |
-11.34% |
9.76% |
|
|
VanEck
Morningstar Global Wide Moat ETF (return after taxes on
distributions) |
-12.08% |
8.67% |
|
|
VanEck
Morningstar Global Wide Moat ETF (return after taxes on distributions and
sale of Fund Shares) |
-6.18% |
7.51% |
|
|
Morningstar®
Global
Wide Moat Focus IndexSM
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes, except withholding
taxes) |
-11.05% |
10.07% |
|
|
S&P
500®
Index (reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-18.11% |
10.90% |
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|
See “License Agreements and Disclaimers” for important
information.
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser.
Van Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio
Manager.
The following individual is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Fund’s portfolio:
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Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing the Fund |
|
|
Peter
H. Liao |
Portfolio
Manager |
October
2018 |
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PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
For
important information about the purchase and sale of Fund Shares, tax
information and payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries,
please turn to the “Summary Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund
Shares, Taxes and Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”
section of this Prospectus.
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VANECK
MORNINGSTAR INTERNATIONAL MOAT
ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck
Morningstar International Moat ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to
replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield
performance of the Morningstar®
Global ex-US Moat Focus IndexSM
(the “ex-US Moat Focus Index” or the “Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
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Shareholder
Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Management
Fee |
0.50 |
% |
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Other
Expenses |
0.17 |
% |
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|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a) |
0.67 |
% |
|
|
Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursement(a) |
-0.09 |
% |
|
|
Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense
Reimbursement(a) |
0.58 |
% |
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|
(a)
Van Eck Associates
Corporation (the “Adviser”) has agreed to waive fees and/or pay Fund expenses to
the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding
acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, trading expenses, taxes and
extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.56% of the Fund’s average daily net
assets per year until at least February 1,
2024. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to
continue until the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion
of such expense limitation.
EXPENSE
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing
in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not
take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling
Shares of the Fund.
The example
assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and
then sell or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same (except that the example incorporates the fee
waivers and/or expense reimbursement arrangement for only the first year).
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions,
your costs would be:
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YEAR |
EXPENSES |
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1 |
$59 |
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3 |
$205 |
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5 |
$364 |
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10 |
$826 |
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PORTFOLIO
TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher
portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and
may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year,
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 105% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund normally invests at
least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark
index. The ex-US Moat Focus Index is comprised of securities issued by companies
that Morningstar, Inc. (“Morningstar” or the “Index provider”) determines have
sustainable competitive advantages based on a proprietary methodology that
considers quantitative and qualitative factors (“wide and narrow moat
companies”). Wide moat companies are those that Morningstar believes will
maintain its competitive advantage(s) for at least 20 years. Narrow moat
companies are those that Morningstar believes will maintain its
competitive
advantage(s) for at least 10 years. Wide and narrow moat companies are selected
from the universe of companies represented in the Morningstar®
Global Markets ex-US IndexSM
(the “Parent Index”), a broad market index representing 97% of developed ex-US
and emerging markets market capitalization. The ex-US Moat Focus Index targets a
select group of equity securities of wide and narrow moat companies, which are
those companies that, according to Morningstar’s equity research team, are
attractively priced as of each ex-US Moat Focus Index review. Morningstar
utilizes a momentum screen, in which momentum represents a security’s 12-month
price change. A momentum signal is used to exclude 20% of the wide and narrow
moat stocks in the Parent Index with the worst 12-month momentum based on a
12-month price change of each stock. Out of the companies in the Parent Index
that Morningstar determines are wide or narrow moat companies and display
12-month momentum in the top 80%, Morningstar selects companies to be included
in the ex-US Moat Focus Index as determined by the ratio of the issuer’s common
stock price to Morningstar’s estimate of fair value. Morningstar’s fair value
estimates are calculated using standardized, proprietary valuation models. Wide
and narrow moat companies may include medium-capitalization companies. The
Fund’s 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without
shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to
shareholders.
As
of December 31, 2022, the Global ex-US Moat Focus Index included 69 securities
of companies with a full market capitalization range of between approximately
$1.5 billion and $410 billion and a weighted average full market capitalization
of $39 billion. These amounts are subject to change.
The
Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate
the investment performance of the ex-US Moat Focus Index by investing in a
portfolio of securities that generally replicates the ex-US Moat Focus Index.
Unlike many investment companies that try to “beat” the performance of a
benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the ex-US Moat Focus Index and
does not seek temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with its
investment objective of seeking to replicate the ex-US Moat Focus Index.
The
Fund may become "non-diversified" as defined under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act of 1940"), solely as a result of a
change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of ex-US Moat Focus Index. This means that the Fund may invest a
greater percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers than would be
the case if the Fund were always managed as a diversified management investment
company. The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same proportion
as the ex-US Moat Focus Index. Shareholder approval will not be sought when the
Fund crosses from diversified to non-diversified status due solely to a change
in the relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of the ex-US Moat Focus Index.
The Fund may
concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to
the extent that the ex-US Moat Focus Index concentrates in an industry or group
of industries. As of September 30, 2022, each of the financials, information
technology, consumer discretionary, communication services and health care
sectors represented a significant portion of the
Fund.
PRINCIPAL
RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors
in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price
of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in
the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk.
An investment
in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Therefore,
you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund,
each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an
investment in the Fund.
Equity Securities Risk. The
value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market
and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the issuers
of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific
issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated to
preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect to
priority to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to
greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In
addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically
generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities
have generally also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns.
Communication Services Sector
Risk. The
Fund will be sensitive to, and its performance will depend to a greater extent
on, the overall condition of the communication services sector.
Companies in the communication services sector may be
affected by industry competition, substantial capital requirements, government
regulations and obsolescence of communications products and services due to
technological advancement.
Consumer Discretionary Sector
Risk. The consumer discretionary sector comprises
companies whose businesses are sensitive to economic cycles, such as
manufacturers of high-end apparel and automobile and leisure companies.
Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject
to fluctuations in supply and demand. These companies may also be adversely
affected by changes in consumer spending as a result of world events, political
and economic conditions, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates,
imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and
labor relations.
Financials
Sector Risk.
Companies in the financials sector may be subject to extensive government
regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can
charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The profitability of
companies in
the
financials sector may be adversely affected by increases in interest rates, by
loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns, and by credit rating
downgrades. In addition, the financials sector is undergoing numerous changes,
including continuing consolidations, development of new products and structures
and changes to its regulatory framework. Furthermore, some companies in the
financials sector perceived as benefiting from government intervention in the
past may be subject to future government-imposed restrictions on their
businesses or face increased government involvement in their operations.
Increased government involvement in the financials sector, including measures
such as taking ownership positions in financial institutions, could result in a
dilution of the Fund’s investments in financial institutions.
Information
Technology Sector Risk.
Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and
internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Information
technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial
resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may
face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent
new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition
for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology
sector are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of patents
may adversely affect the profitability of these companies.
Health
Care Sector Risk.
Companies in the health care sector may be affected by extensive government
regulation, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses,
rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased
emphasis on outpatient services, limited number of products, industry
innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. Many health
care companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of
patents may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Many health
care companies are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability
and similar claims.
Medium-Capitalization
Companies Risk.
The Fund may invest in medium-capitalization companies and, therefore will be
subject to certain risks associated with medium- capitalization companies. These
companies are often subject to less analyst coverage and may be in early and
less predictable periods of their corporate existences, with little or no record
of profitability. In addition, these companies often have greater price
volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than larger more established
companies. These companies tend to have smaller revenues, narrower product
lines, less management depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or
service markets, fewer financial resources and less competitive strength than
large-capitalization companies. Returns on investments in securities of
medium-capitalization companies could trail the returns on investments in
securities of larger companies.
Foreign
Securities Risk.
Investments in the securities of foreign issuers involve risks beyond those
associated with investments in U.S. securities. These additional risks include
greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial
information, higher transactional and custody costs, taxation by foreign
governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Because
certain foreign securities markets may be limited in size, the activity of large
traders may have an undue influence on the prices of securities that trade in
such markets. The Fund invests in securities of issuers located in countries
whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any
reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund’s investments.
Foreign Currency Risk.
The Fund’s exposure to foreign currencies and changes in the value of foreign
currencies versus the U.S. dollar may result in reduced returns for the Fund,
and the value of certain foreign currencies may be subject to a high degree of
fluctuation. The Fund may also incur costs in connection with conversions
between U.S. dollars and foreign currencies.
Emerging
Market Issuers Risk.
Investments in securities of emerging market issuers involve risks not typically
associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries
that may negatively affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Such
heightened risks may include, among others, expropriation and/or nationalization
of assets, restrictions on and government intervention in international trade,
confiscatory taxation, political instability, including authoritarian and/or
military involvement in governmental decision making, armed conflict, the impact
on the economy as a result of civil war, crime (including drug violence) and
social instability as a result of religious, ethnic and/or socioeconomic unrest.
Issuers in certain emerging market countries are subject to less stringent
requirements regarding accounting, auditing, financial reporting and record
keeping than are issuers in more developed markets, and therefore, all material
information may not be available or reliable. Emerging markets are also more
likely than developed markets to experience problems with the clearing and
settling of trades, as well as the holding of securities by local banks, agents
and depositories. Low trading volumes and volatile prices in less developed
markets may make trades harder to complete and settle, and governments or trade
groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories
that may not be subject to independent evaluation. Local agents are held only to
the standards of care of their local markets. In general, the less developed a
country’s securities markets are, the greater the likelihood of custody
problems. The Adviser may be limited in its ability to assess the Index
provider’s due diligence process over Index data prior to its use in Index
computation, construction and/or rebalancing. Additionally, each of the factors
described below could have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance and
increase the volatility of the Fund.
Securities
Markets. Securities
markets in emerging market countries are underdeveloped and are often considered
to be less correlated to global economic cycles than those markets located in
more developed countries. Securities markets in emerging market countries are
subject to greater risks associated with market volatility, lower market
capitalization, lower trading volume, illiquidity, inflation, greater price
fluctuations, uncertainty regarding the existence of trading markets,
governmental control and heavy regulation of labor and industry. These factors,
coupled with restrictions on foreign
investment
and other factors, limit the supply of securities available for investment by
the Fund. This will affect the rate at which the Fund is able to invest in
emerging market countries, the purchase and sale prices for such securities and
the timing of purchases and sales. Emerging markets can experience high rates of
inflation, deflation and currency devaluation. The prices of certain securities
listed on securities markets in emerging market countries have been subject to
sharp fluctuations and sudden declines, and no assurance can be given as to the
future performance of listed securities in general. Volatility of prices may be
greater than in more developed securities markets. Moreover, securities markets
in emerging market countries may be closed for extended periods of time or
trading on securities markets may be suspended altogether due to political or
civil unrest. Market volatility may also be heightened by the actions of a small
number of investors. Brokerage firms in emerging market countries may be fewer
in number and less established than brokerage firms in more developed markets.
Since the Fund may need to effect securities transactions through these
brokerage firms, the Fund is subject to the risk that these brokerage firms will
not be able to fulfill their obligations to the Fund. This risk is magnified to
the extent the Fund effects securities transactions through a single brokerage
firm or a small number of brokerage firms. In addition, the infrastructure for
the safe custody of securities and for purchasing and selling securities,
settling trades, collecting dividends, initiating corporate actions, and
following corporate activity is not as well developed in emerging market
countries as is the case in certain more developed markets.
Political
and Economic Risk. Certain
emerging market countries have historically been subject to political
instability and their prospects are tied to the continuation of economic and
political liberalization in the region. Instability may result from factors such
as government or military intervention in decision making, terrorism, civil
unrest, extremism or hostilities between neighboring countries. Any of these
factors, including an outbreak of hostilities could negatively impact the Fund’s
returns. Limited political and democratic freedoms in emerging market countries
might cause significant social unrest. These factors may have a significant
adverse effect on an emerging market country’s economy.
Many
emerging market countries may be heavily dependent upon international trade and,
consequently, may continue to be negatively affected by trade barriers, exchange
controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other
protectionist measures imposed or negotiated by the countries with which it
trades. They also have been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by
economic conditions in the countries with which they trade.
In
addition, commodities (such as oil, gas and minerals) represent a significant
percentage of certain emerging market countries’ exports and these economies are
particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. Adverse economic
events in one country may have a significant adverse effect on other countries
of this region. In addition, most emerging market countries have experienced, at
one time or another, severe and persistent levels of inflation, including, in
some cases, hyperinflation. This has, in turn, led to high interest rates,
extreme measures by governments to keep inflation in check, and a generally
debilitating effect on economic growth.
Although
inflation in many countries has lessened, there is no guarantee it will remain
at lower levels. The political history of certain emerging market countries has
been characterized by political uncertainty, intervention by the military in
civilian and economic spheres, and political corruption. Such events could
reverse favorable trends toward market and economic reform, privatization, and
removal of trade barriers, and result in significant disruption in securities
markets in the region.
Also,
from time to time, certain issuers located in emerging market countries in which
the Fund invests may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to
sanctions and/or embargoes imposed by the U.S. Government and the United Nations
and/or countries identified by the U.S. Government as state sponsors of
terrorism. As a result, an issuer may sustain damage to its reputation if it is
identified as an issuer which operates in, or has dealings with, such countries.
The Fund, as an investor in such issuers, will be indirectly subject to those
risks.
The
economies of one or more countries in which the Fund may invest may be in
various states of transition from a planned economy to a more market oriented
economy. The economies of such countries differ from the economies of most
developed countries in many respects, including levels of government
involvement, states of development, growth rates, control of foreign exchange
and allocation of resources. Economic growth in these economies may be uneven
both geographically and among various sectors of their economies and may also be
accompanied by periods of high inflation. Political changes, social instability
and adverse diplomatic developments in these countries could result in the
imposition of additional government restrictions, including expropriation of
assets, confiscatory taxes or nationalization of some or all of the property
held by the underlying issuers of securities included in the Fund’s Index. There
is no guarantee that the governments of these countries will not revert back to
some form of planned or non-market oriented economy, and such governments
continue to be active participants in many economic sectors through ownership
positions and regulation. The allocation of resources in such countries is
subject to a high level of government control. Such countries’ governments may
strictly regulate the payment of foreign currency denominated obligations and
set monetary policy. Through their policies, these governments may provide
preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. The policies set
by the government of one of these countries could have a substantial effect on
that country’s economy.
Investment
and Repatriation Restrictions.
The government in an emerging market country may restrict or control to varying
degrees the ability of foreign investors to invest in securities of issuers
located or operating in such emerging market countries. These restrictions
and/or controls may at times limit or prevent foreign investment in securities
of issuers located or
operating
in emerging market countries and may inhibit the Fund’s ability to track its
Index. In addition, the Fund may not be able to buy or sell securities or
receive full value for such securities. Moreover, certain emerging market
countries may require governmental approval or special licenses prior to
investments by foreign investors and may limit the amount of investments by
foreign investors in a particular industry and/or issuer; may limit such foreign
investment to a certain class of securities of an issuer that may have less
advantageous rights than the classes available for purchase by domiciliaries of
such emerging market countries; and/or may impose additional taxes on foreign
investors. A delay in obtaining a required government approval or a license
would delay investments in those emerging market countries, and, as a result,
the Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities while approval is
pending. The government of certain emerging market countries may also withdraw
or decline to renew a license that enables the Fund to invest in such country.
These factors make investing in issuers located or operating in emerging market
countries significantly riskier than investing in issuers located or operating
in more developed countries, and any one of them could cause a decline in the
value of the Fund’s Shares.
Additionally,
investments in issuers located in certain emerging market countries may be
subject to a greater degree of risk associated with governmental approval in
connection with the repatriation of investment income, capital or the proceeds
of sales of securities by foreign investors. Moreover, there is the risk that if
the balance of payments in an emerging market country declines, the government
of such country may impose temporary restrictions on foreign capital
remittances. Consequently, the Fund could be adversely affected by delays in, or
a refusal to grant, required governmental approval for repatriation of capital,
as well as by the application to the Fund of any restrictions on investments.
Furthermore, investments in emerging market countries may require the Fund to
adopt special procedures, seek local government approvals or take other actions,
each of which may involve additional costs to the Fund.
Available
Disclosure About Emerging Market Issuers.
Issuers located or operating in emerging market countries are not subject to the
same rules and regulations as issuers located or operating in more developed
countries. Therefore, there may be less financial and other information publicly
available with regard to issuers located or operating in emerging market
countries and such issuers are not subject to the uniform accounting, auditing
and financial reporting standards applicable to issuers located or operating in
more developed countries.
Foreign
Currency Considerations.
The Fund’s assets that are invested in securities of issuers in emerging market
countries will generally be denominated in foreign currencies, and the proceeds
received by the Fund from these investments will be principally in foreign
currencies. The value of an emerging market country’s currency may be subject to
a high degree of fluctuation. This fluctuation may be due to changes in interest
rates, the effects of monetary policies issued by the United States, foreign
governments, central banks or supranational entities, the imposition of currency
controls or other national or global political or economic developments. The
economies of certain emerging market countries can be significantly affected by
currency devaluations. Certain emerging market countries may also have managed
currencies which are maintained at artificial levels relative to the U.S. dollar
rather than at levels determined by the market. This type of system can lead to
sudden and large adjustments in the currency which, in turn, can have a
disruptive and negative effect on foreign investors.
The
Fund’s exposure to an emerging market country’s currency and changes in value of
such foreign currencies versus the U.S. dollar may reduce the Fund’s investment
performance and the value of your investment in the Fund. Meanwhile, the Fund
will compute and expects to distribute its income in U.S. dollars, and the
computation of income will be made on the date that the income is earned by the
Fund at the foreign exchange rate in effect on that date. Therefore, if the
value of the respective emerging market country’s currency falls relative to the
U.S. dollar between the earning of the income and the time at which the Fund
converts the relevant emerging market country’s currency to U.S. dollars, the
Fund may be required to liquidate certain positions in order to make
distributions if the Fund has insufficient cash in U.S. dollars to meet
distribution requirements under the Internal Revenue Code. The liquidation of
investments, if required, could be at disadvantageous prices or otherwise have
an adverse impact on the Fund’s performance.
Certain
emerging market countries also restrict the free conversion of their currency
into foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar. There is no significant
foreign exchange market for many such currencies and it would, as a result, be
difficult for the Fund to engage in foreign currency transactions designed to
protect the value of the Fund’s interests in securities denominated in such
currencies. Furthermore, if permitted, the Fund may incur costs in connection
with conversions between U.S. dollars and an emerging market country’s currency.
Foreign exchange dealers realize a profit based on the difference between the
prices at which they are buying and selling various currencies. Thus, a dealer
normally will offer to sell a foreign currency to the Fund at one rate, while
offering a lesser rate of exchange should the Fund desire immediately to resell
that currency to the dealer. The Fund will conduct its foreign currency exchange
transactions either on a spot (i.e.,
cash) basis at the spot rate prevailing in the foreign currency exchange market,
or through entering into forward, futures or options contracts to purchase or
sell foreign currencies.
Operational
and Settlement Risk.
In addition to having less developed securities markets, emerging market
countries have less developed custody and settlement practices than certain
developed countries. Rules adopted under the Investment Company Act of 1940
permit the Fund to maintain its foreign securities and cash in the custody of
certain eligible non-U.S. banks and securities depositories. Banks in emerging
market countries that are eligible foreign sub-custodians may be recently
organized or otherwise lack extensive operating experience. In addition, in
certain emerging market countries there
may
be legal restrictions or limitations on the ability of the Fund to recover
assets held in custody by a foreign sub-custodian in the event of the bankruptcy
of the sub-custodian. Because settlement systems in emerging market countries
may be less organized than in other developed markets, there may be a risk that
settlement may be delayed and that cash or securities of the Fund may be in
jeopardy because of failures of or defects in the systems. Under the laws in
many emerging market countries, the Fund may be required to release local shares
before receiving cash payment or may be required to make cash payment prior to
receiving local shares, creating a risk that the Fund may surrender cash or
securities without ever receiving securities or cash from the other party.
Settlement systems in emerging market countries also have a higher risk of
failed trades and back to back settlements may not be possible.
The
Fund may not be able to convert a foreign currency to U.S. dollars in time for
the settlement of redemption requests. In the event of a redemption request from
an Authorized Participant, the Fund will be required to deliver U.S. dollars to
the Authorized Participant on the settlement date. In the event that the Fund is
not able to convert the foreign currency to U.S. dollars in time for settlement,
which may occur as a result of the delays described above, the Fund may be
required to liquidate certain investments and/or borrow money in order to fund
such redemption. The liquidation of investments, if required, could be at
disadvantageous prices or otherwise have an adverse impact on the Fund’s
performance (e.g.,
by causing the Fund to overweight foreign currency denominated holdings and
underweight other holdings which were sold to fund redemptions). In addition,
the Fund will incur interest expense on any borrowings and the borrowings will
cause the Fund to be leveraged, which may magnify gains and losses on its
investments.
In
certain emerging market countries, the marketability of investments may be
limited due to the restricted opening hours of trading exchanges, and a
relatively high proportion of market value may be concentrated in the hands of a
relatively small number of investors. In addition, because certain emerging
market countries’ trading exchanges on which the Fund’s portfolio securities may
trade are open when the relevant Exchanges are closed, the Fund may be subject
to heightened risk associated with market movements. Trading volume may be lower
on certain emerging market countries’ trading exchanges than on more developed
securities markets and securities may be generally less liquid. The
infrastructure for clearing, settlement and registration on the primary and
secondary markets of certain emerging market countries are less developed than
in certain other markets and under certain circumstances this may result in the
Fund experiencing delays in settling and/or registering transactions in the
markets in which it invests, particularly if the growth of foreign and domestic
investment in certain emerging market countries places an undue burden on such
investment infrastructure. Such delays could affect the speed with which the
Fund can transmit redemption proceeds and may inhibit the initiation and
realization of investment opportunities at optimum times.
Certain
issuers in emerging market countries may utilize share blocking schemes. Share
blocking refers to a practice, in certain foreign markets, where voting rights
related to an issuer’s securities are predicated on these securities being
blocked from trading at the custodian or sub-custodian level for a period of
time around a shareholder meeting. These restrictions have the effect of barring
the purchase and sale of certain voting securities within a specified number of
days before and, in certain instances, after a shareholder meeting where a vote
of shareholders will be taken. Share blocking may prevent the Fund from buying
or selling securities for a period of time. During the time that shares are
blocked, trades in such securities will not settle. The blocking period can last
up to several weeks. The process for having a blocking restriction lifted can be
quite onerous with the particular requirements varying widely by country. In
addition, in certain countries, the block cannot be removed. As a result of the
ramifications of voting ballots in markets that allow share blocking, the
Adviser, on behalf of the Fund, reserves the right to abstain from voting
proxies in those markets.
Corporate
and Securities Laws.
Securities laws in emerging market countries are relatively new and unsettled
and, consequently, there is a risk of rapid and unpredictable change in laws
regarding foreign investment, securities regulation, title to securities and
securityholders rights. Accordingly, foreign investors may be adversely affected
by new or amended laws and regulations. In addition, the systems of corporate
governance to which emerging market issuers are subject may be less advanced
than those systems to which issuers located in more developed countries are
subject, and therefore, securityholders of issuers located in emerging market
countries may not receive many of the protections available to securityholders
of issuers located in more developed countries. In circumstances where adequate
laws and securityholders rights exist, it may not be possible to obtain swift
and equitable enforcement of the law. In addition, the enforcement of systems of
taxation at federal, regional and local levels in emerging market countries may
be inconsistent and subject to sudden change. The Fund has limited rights and
few practical remedies in emerging markets and the ability of U.S. authorities
to bring enforcement actions in emerging markets may be limited.
Special
Risk Considerations of Investing in Asian Issuers. Investments
in securities of Asian issuers involve risks and special considerations not
typically associated with investments in the U.S. securities markets. Certain
Asian economies have experienced over-extension of credit, currency devaluations
and restrictions, high unemployment, high inflation, decreased exports and
economic recessions. Economic events in any one Asian country can have a
significant effect on the entire Asian region as well as on major trading
partners outside Asia, and any adverse effect on some or all of the Asian
countries and regions in which the Fund invests. The securities markets in some
Asian economies are relatively underdeveloped and may subject the Fund to higher
action costs or greater uncertainty than investments in more developed
securities markets. Such risks may adversely affect the value of the Fund’s
investments.
Special
Risk Considerations of Investing in Chinese Issuers. Investments
in securities of Chinese issuers, including issuers outside of China, involve
certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investments in
U.S securities. These risks include among others (i) more frequent (and
potentially widespread) trading suspensions and government interventions with
respect to Chinese issuers resulting in a lack of liquidity and in price
volatility, (ii) currency revaluations and other currency exchange rate
fluctuations or blockage, (iii) the nature and extent of intervention by the
Chinese government in the Chinese securities markets, whether such intervention
will continue and the impact of such intervention or its discontinuation, (iv)
the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets, (v) the risk that the
Chinese government may decide not to continue to support economic reform
programs, (vi) limitations on the use of brokers, (vii) higher rates of
inflation, (viii) greater political, economic and social uncertainty, (ix)
market volatility caused by any potential regional or territorial conflicts or
natural or other disasters, and (x) the risk of increased trade tariffs,
embargoes, sanctions investment restrictions and other trade limitations.
Certain securities are, or may in the future become restricted, and the Fund may
be forced to sell such securities and incur a loss as a result. In addition, the
economy of China differs, often unfavorably, from the U.S. economy in such
respects as structure, general development, government involvement, wealth
distribution, rate of inflation, growth rate, interest rates, allocation of
resources and capital reinvestment, among others. The Chinese central government
has historically exercised substantial control over virtually every sector of
the Chinese economy through administrative regulation and/or state ownership and
actions of the Chinese central and local government authorities continue to have
a substantial effect on economic conditions in China. In addition, the Chinese
government has from time to time taken actions that influence the prices at
which certain goods may be sold, encourage companies to invest or concentrate in
particular industries, induce mergers between companies in certain industries
and induce private companies to publicly offer their securities to increase or
continue the rate of economic growth, control the rate of inflation or otherwise
regulate economic expansion. The Chinese government may do so in the future as
well, potentially having a significant adverse effect on economic conditions in
China.
Special
Risk Considerations of Investing in European Issuers. Investments
in securities of European issuers involve risks and special considerations not
typically associated with investments in the U.S. securities markets. The
Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union requires member countries to
comply with restrictions on inflation rates, deficits, interest rates, debt
levels and fiscal and monetary controls, each of which may significantly affect
every country in Europe. Decreasing imports or exports, changes in governmental
or European Union regulations on trade, changes in the exchange rate of the
euro, the default or threat of default by a European Union member country on its
sovereign debt, and/or an economic recession in an European Union member country
may have a significant adverse effect on the economies of other European Union
countries and on major trading partners outside Europe. If any member country
exits the Economic and Monetary Union, the departing country would face the
risks of currency devaluation and its trading partners and banks and others
around the world that hold the departing country’s debt would face the risk of
significant losses. The European financial markets have previously experienced,
and may continue to experience, volatility and have been adversely affected, and
may in the future be affected, by concerns about economic downturns, credit
rating downgrades, rising government debt levels and possible default on or
restructuring of government debt in several European countries. These events
have adversely affected, and may in the future affect, the value and exchange
rate of the euro and may continue to significantly affect the economies of every
country in Europe, including European Union member countries that do not use the
euro and non-European Union member countries. In a referendum held on June 23,
2016, voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, creating
economic and political uncertainty in its wake. On January 31, 2020, the United
Kingdom officially withdrew from the European Union and the United Kingdom
entered a transition period which ended on December 31, 2020. On December 30,
2020, the European Union and United Kingdom signed the EU-UK Trade and
Cooperation Agreement, an agreement on the terms governing certain aspects of
the European Union’s and the United Kingdom’s relationship following the end of
the transition period. Notwithstanding the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation
Agreement, following the transition period, there is likely to be considerable
uncertainty as to the United Kingdom’s post-transition framework.
Special
Risk Considerations of Investing in United Kingdom Issuers. Investments
in securities of United Kingdom issuers, including issuers located outside of
the United Kingdom that generate significant revenues from the United Kingdom,
involve risks and special considerations not typically associated with
investments in the U.S. securities markets. Investments in United Kingdom
issuers may subject the Fund to regulatory, political, currency, security and
economic risks specific to the United Kingdom. The British economy relies
heavily on the export of financials to the United States and other European
countries. The British economy, along with the United States and certain other
European Union economies, experienced a significant economic slowdown during the
recent financial crisis. In a referendum held on June 23, 2016, voters in the
United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, creating economic and
political uncertainty in its wake. On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom
officially withdrew from the European Union. On December 30, 2020, the European
Union and United Kingdom signed the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, an
agreement on the terms governing certain aspects of the European Union’s and the
United Kingdom’s relationship following the end of the transition period.
Notwithstanding the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, following the
transition period, there is likely to be considerable uncertainty as to the
United Kingdom’s post-transition framework.
Depositary Receipts
Risk. The
Fund may invest in depositary receipts (including American Depositary Receipts),
which involve similar risks to those associated with investments in foreign
securities. Depositary receipts are receipts listed on U.S. or foreign exchanges
issued by banks or trust companies that entitle the holder to all dividends and
capital gains that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. The issuers of
certain depositary receipts are under no obligation to distribute shareholder
communications to the holders of such receipts, or to pass through to them any
voting rights with respect to the deposited
securities.
Investments in depositary receipts may be less liquid than the underlying shares
in their primary trading market. The issuers of depositary receipts may
discontinue issuing new depositary receipts and withdraw existing depositary
receipts at any time, which may result in costs and delays in the distribution
of the underlying assets to the Fund and may negatively impact the Fund’s
performance.
Cash
Transactions Risk.
Unlike other ETFs, the Fund expects to effect its creations and redemptions at
least partially for cash, rather than wholly for in-kind securities. Therefore,
it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently incur brokerage
costs and/or recognize gains or losses on such sales that the Fund might not
have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in kind. As such,
investments in Shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in a
conventional ETF. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will decrease
the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction fee
payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
Risk.
The prices of securities are subject to the risks associated with investing in
the securities market, including general economic conditions, sudden and
unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and
public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political,
economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics
and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the
global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments
might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline
generally or underperform other investments. An investment
may lose money.
Operational
Risk.
The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors,
including human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s
service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate
processes and technology or system failures.
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk.
The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities,
which will result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including
brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale
of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. High portfolio
turnover may also result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable
account. The effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund
performance.
Index Tracking Risk. The
Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For
example, the Fund incurs operating expenses, including taxes, not applicable to
the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities and
entering into derivatives transactions (if applicable), especially when
rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition
of the Index or (to the extent the Fund effects creations and redemptions in
cash) raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with
newly created Creation Units. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will
decrease the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction
fee payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Index. Errors in the Index data, the Index computations and/or the
construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time
to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index provider, which may
have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Shareholders should
understand that any gains from the Index provider’s or others’ errors will be
kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from the
Index provider’s or others’ errors will be borne by the Fund and its
shareholders. Additionally, when the Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn
rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the
Fund’s portfolio and the Index, any transaction costs and market exposure
arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and
its shareholders. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index provider or its
agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Index. Therefore,
errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index provider or its
agents to the Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the
Fund.
The
Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into
the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses or to meet
redemptions. In addition, the Fund may not invest in certain securities included
in the Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are
represented in the Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
return of the Index for various reasons, including legal restrictions or
limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries, certain exchange
listing standards, a lack of liquidity in markets in which such securities
trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as
diversification requirements). To the extent the Fund utilizes depositary
receipts, the purchase of depositary receipts may negatively affect the Fund’s
ability to track the performance of the Index and increase tracking error, which
may be exacerbated if the issuer of the depositary receipt discontinues issuing
new depositary receipts or withdraws existing depositary receipts.
The
Fund may value certain of its investments, underlying currencies and/or other
assets based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net
asset value based on fair value prices and the value of the Index is based on
securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e.,
the value of the Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to
track the Index may be adversely affected. In addition, any issues the Fund
encounters with regard to currency convertibility (including the cost of
borrowing funds, if any), repatriation or economic sanctions may also increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
performance of the Index due to the impact of withholding taxes, late
announcements relating to changes to the Index and high turnover of the Index.
When markets are volatile, the ability to sell securities at fair value prices
may
be
adversely impacted and may result in additional trading costs and/or increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund may also need to rely on borrowings to meet
redemptions, which may lead to increased expenses. For tax efficiency purposes,
the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund to
realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Index. In light of the
factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the
return of the Index. Changes to the composition of the Index in connection with
a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index may cause the Fund to experience
increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be
heightened.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk.
The Fund may have a limited number of Authorized Participants, none of which are
obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent
that those Authorized Participants exit the business, or do not process creation
and/or redemption orders, there may be a significantly diminished trading market
for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium)
to net asset value and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. This can
be reflected as a spread between the bid-ask prices for the Fund. The Authorized
Participant concentration risk may be heightened in cases where Authorized
Participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post
collateral.
No
Guarantee of Active Trading Market Risk. There
can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will develop or
be maintained, as applicable. Further, secondary markets may be subject to
irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement
periods in times of market stress because market makers and Authorized
Participants may step away from making a market in the Shares and in executing
creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation in the
Fund’s market price from its net asset value.
Trading
Issues Risk.
Trading in shares on the exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for
reasons that, in the view of the exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable.
In addition, trading in shares on the exchange is subject to trading halts
caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the relevant exchange’s
“circuit breaker” rules. If a trading halt or unanticipated early close of the
exchange occurs, a shareholder may be unable to purchase or sell Shares of the
Fund. There can be no assurance that requirements of the exchange necessary to
maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain
unchanged.
Passive
Management Risk.
Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore,
unless a specific security is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would
not sell a security because the security’s issuer is in financial trouble. If a
specific security is removed from the Fund’s Index, the Fund may be forced to
sell such security at an inopportune time or for prices other than at current
market values. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of
investing in any fund that invests in bonds or equity securities, such as market
fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. The Fund’s
Index may not contain the appropriate or a diversified mix of securities for any
particular economic cycle. The timing of changes in the securities of the Fund’s
portfolio in seeking to replicate its Index could have a negative effect on the
Fund. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques
or defensive strategies designed to lessen the effects of market volatility or
to reduce the impact of periods of market decline. Additionally, unusual market
conditions may cause the Fund’s Index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance
or reconstitution, which could cause the Fund’s Index to vary from its normal or
expected composition. This means that, based on market and economic conditions,
the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their
portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the
impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of
Fund Shares. The
market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s net asset
value, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for
Shares. Shares may trade above, below, or at their most recent net asset value.
Factors including disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares
(including through a trading halt), may result in Shares trading at a
significant premium or discount to net asset value or to the intraday value of
the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market
price is at a premium to the net asset value or sells Shares at a time when the
market price is at a discount to the net asset value, the shareholder may pay
significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of
the Shares. The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close
at a different time than the exchange on which the Shares are traded. Liquidity
in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times.
Accordingly, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable
market closing, fixing or settlement times, bid/ask spreads on the exchange and
the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ net asset value may widen.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s Shares
may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for
the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings and a shareholder may be unable to sell
his or her Shares.
Non-Diversification
Risk.
The Fund may
become classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940
solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index
weighting of one or more constituents of the its Index. If the Fund becomes
non-diversified, it may invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of
a smaller number of individual issuers than a diversified fund. As a result,
changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater
fluctuations in share price than would occur in a more diversified
fund.
Index-Related
Concentration Risk. The
Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a particular sector or sectors or industry
or group of industries to reflect the Index’s allocation to those types of
securities. The securities of many or all of the companies in
the same sector or industry may decline in
value due to developments adversely affecting such sector or industry. By
concentrating its assets in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group
of industries, the Fund is subject to the risk that economic, political or other
conditions that have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industries may
negatively impact the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were
invested in a wider variety of securities.
PERFORMANCE
The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the
calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average
annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart
and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by
comparing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s
average annual returns for the one year, five year, ten year and/or since
inception periods, as applicable, compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a
broad measure of market performance. All returns assume
reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s
past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how
the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance
information is available online at www.vaneck.com.
Annual Total
Returns (%)—Calendar Years
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Best
Quarter: |
18.64 |
% |
4Q 2022 |
Worst
Quarter: |
-23.87 |
% |
1Q
2020 |
Average Annual
Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31,
2022
The after-tax
returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical
individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of
state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below.
After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through
tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts.
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Past One
Year |
Past Five
Years |
Since
Inception (7/13/2015) |
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VanEck
Morningstar International Moat ETF (return before
taxes) |
-7.42% |
0.14% |
2.83% |
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VanEck
Morningstar International Moat ETF (return after taxes on
distributions) |
-8.28% |
-0.72% |
1.87% |
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VanEck
Morningstar International Moat ETF (return after taxes on distributions
and sale of Fund Shares) |
-4.06% |
0.06% |
2.04% |
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Morningstar®
Global ex-US Moat Focus IndexSM
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes, except withholding
taxes) |
-6.59% |
0.73% |
3.54% |
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S&P
500®
Index (reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-18.11% |
9.42% |
10.48% |
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See “License Agreements and Disclaimers” for important
information.
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser.
Van Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio
Manager.
The following individual is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Fund’s portfolio:
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Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing the Fund |
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Peter
H. Liao |
Portfolio
Manager |
July
2015 |
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PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
For
important information about the purchase and sale of Fund Shares, tax
information and payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries,
please turn to the “Summary Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund
Shares, Taxes and Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”
section of this Prospectus.
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VANECK
MORNINGSTAR SMID MOAT ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck
Morningstar SMID Moat ETF
(the
“Fund”) seeks to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the
price and yield performance of the Morningstar®
US
Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus IndexSM
(the “US Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus Index” or the
“Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
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Shareholder
Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Management
Fee |
0.45 |
% |
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Other
Expenses(a)
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0.12 |
% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a) |
0.57 |
% |
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Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursement(b) |
-0.08 |
% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses after Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement
(b) |
0.49 |
% |
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(a) “Other Expenses” are based
on estimated amounts for the current fiscal
year.
(b) Van Eck Associates
Corporation (the “Adviser”) has agreed to waive fees and/or pay Fund expenses to
the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding
acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, trading expenses, taxes and
extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.49% of the Fund’s average daily net
assets per year until at least February 1,
2024. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to
continue until the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion
of such expense limitation.
EXPENSE
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing
in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not
take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling
Shares of the Fund.
The example
assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and
then sell or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same (except that the example incorporates the fee
waiver arrangement for only the first year). Although your actual costs may be
higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would
be:
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YEAR
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EXPENSES |
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1 |
$50 |
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3 |
$175 |
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PORTFOLIO
TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher
portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and
may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, may affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund commenced operations on
October 4, 2022, therefore no portfolio turnover figures are available for the
fiscal year ended September 30, 2022.
PRINCIPAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund normally invests at
least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark
index. The US Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus Index is comprised of small- and
medium-capitalization companies as defined by Morningstar, Inc. (“Morningstar”
or the “Index provider”), that Morningstar determines have sustainable
competitive advantages based on a proprietary methodology that considers
quantitative and qualitative factors (“wide and narrow moat companies”). The
quantitative factors used by Morningstar to identify competitive advantages
currently include historical and projected returns on invested capital relative
to cost of capital. The qualitative factors used by Morningstar to identify
competitive advantages currently include
customer
switching cost (i.e.,
the costs of customers switching to competitors), internal cost advantages,
intangible assets (e.g.,
intellectual property and brands), network effects (i.e.,
whether products or services become more valuable as the number of customers
grows) and efficient scale (i.e.,
whether the company effectively serves a limited market that potential rivals
have little incentive to enter into). Wide moat companies are those that
Morningstar believes will maintain their competitive advantage(s) for at least
20 years. Narrow moat companies are those that Morningstar believes will
maintain their competitive advantage(s) for at least 10 years. Wide and narrow
moat companies are selected from the universe of companies represented in the
Morningstar®
US
Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus IndexSM
(the “Parent Index”), a broad market index representing small- and
medium-capitalization U.S. companies. For purposes of the Parent Index,
Morningstar considers those companies in the bottom 70% - 90% of total U.S.
market cap to be medium-capitalization companies and those companies in the
bottom 90% - 97% to be small-capitalization companies. The Index targets a
select group of equity securities of wide and narrow moat companies, which are
those companies that, according to Morningstar’s equity research team, are
attractively priced based on pre-defined factors as of each index review.
Morningstar utilizes a momentum screen, in which momentum represents a
security’s 12-month price change. A momentum signal is used to exclude 20% of
the wide and narrow moat stocks in the Parent Index with the worst 12-month
momentum based on a 12-month price change of each stock. Out of the companies in
the Parent Index that Morningstar determines are wide or narrow moat companies
and display 12-month momentum in the top 80%, Morningstar selects companies to
be included in the Index as determined by the ratio of the issuer’s common stock
price to Morningstar’s estimate of fair value. Morningstar’s fair value
estimates are calculated using standardized, proprietary valuation models. The
Fund’s 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without
shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to
shareholders.
As
of December 31, 2022, the US Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus Index included 95
securities of companies with a full market capitalization range of between
approximately $2.3 billion and $40 billion and a weighted average full market
capitalization of $15.1 billion. These amounts are subject to change. The Index
is divided into two equally-weighted sub-portfolios, and each is reconstituted
and rebalanced semi-annually on alternating quarters.
The
Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate
the investment performance of the US Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus Index by investing
in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the US Small-Mid Cap Moat
Focus Index. Unlike many investment companies that try to “beat” the performance
of a benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the US Small-Mid Cap Moat
Focus Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions that are
inconsistent with its investment objective of seeking to track the US Small-Mid
Cap Moat Focus Index.
The Fund is classified as a non-diversified
fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment
Company Act of 1940") and, therefore, may invest a greater percentage of its
assets in a particular issuer. The Fund may
concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to
the extent that the US Small-Mid Cap Moat Focus Index concentrates in an
industry or group of industries. As of September 30, 2022, each of the
industrials, information technology, consumer discretionary, financials, and
health care sectors represented a significant portion of the US Small-Mid Cap
Moat Focus Index.
PRINCIPAL
RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors
in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price
of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in
the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk.
An investment
in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Therefore,
you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund,
each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an
investment in the Fund.
Equity Securities Risk. The
value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market
and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the issuers
of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific
issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated to
preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect to
priority to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to
greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In
addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically
generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities
have generally also experienced significantly more volatility in those
returns.
Small-
and Medium-Capitalization Companies Risk.
The Fund may invest in small- and medium-capitalization companies and, therefore
will be subject to certain risks associated with small- and medium-
capitalization companies. These companies are often subject to less analyst
coverage and may be in early and less predictable periods of their corporate
existences, with little or no record of profitability. In addition, these
companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less
liquidity than larger more established companies. These companies tend to have
smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience,
smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources
and less competitive strength than large-capitalization companies. Returns on
investments in securities of small- and medium-capitalization companies could
trail the returns on investments in securities of larger
companies.
Consumer Discretionary Sector
Risk. The consumer discretionary sector comprises
companies whose businesses are sensitive to economic cycles, such as
manufacturers of high-end apparel and automobile and leisure companies.
Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject
to fluctuations in supply and demand. These companies may also be adversely
affected by changes in consumer spending as a result of world events, political
and economic conditions, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates,
imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and
labor relations.
Financials
Sector Risk.
Companies in the financials sector may be subject to extensive government
regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can
charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The profitability of
companies in the financials sector may be adversely affected by increases in
interest rates, by loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns,
and by credit rating downgrades. In addition, the financials sector is
undergoing numerous changes, including continuing consolidations, development of
new products and structures and changes to its regulatory framework.
Furthermore, some companies in the financials sector perceived as benefiting
from government intervention in the past may be subject to future
government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or face increased government
involvement in their operations. Increased government involvement in the
financials sector, including measures such as taking ownership positions in
financial institutions, could result in a dilution of the Fund’s investments in
financial institutions.
Health
Care Sector Risk.
Companies in the health care sector may be affected by extensive government
regulation, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses,
rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased
emphasis on outpatient services, limited number of products, industry
innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. Many health
care companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of
patents may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Many health
care companies are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability
and similar claims.
Industrials
Sector Risk.
The industrials sector comprises companies who produce capital goods used in
construction and manufacturing, such as companies that make and sell machinery,
equipment and supplies that are used to produce other goods. Companies in the
industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in government
regulation, world events and economic conditions. In addition, companies in the
industrials sector be adversely affected by environmental damages, product
liability claims and exchange rates.
Information
Technology Sector Risk.
Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and
internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Information
technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial
resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may
face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent
new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition
for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology
sector are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of patents
may adversely affect the profitability of these companies.
Market
Risk. The
prices of securities are subject to the risks associated with investing in the
securities market, including general economic conditions, sudden and
unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and
public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political,
economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics
and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the
global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments
might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline
generally or underperform other investments. An investment
may lose money.
Operational
Risk.
The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors,
including human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s
service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate
processes and technology or system failures.
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk.
The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities,
which will result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including
brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale
of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. High portfolio
turnover may also result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable
account. The effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund
performance.
Index Tracking Risk. The
Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For
example, the Fund incurs operating expenses, including taxes, not applicable to
the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities and
entering into derivatives transactions (if applicable), especially when
rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition
of the Index or (to the extent the Fund effects creations and redemptions in
cash) raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with
newly created Creation Units. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will
decrease the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction
fee payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Index. Errors in the Index data, the Index computations and/or the
construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time
to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index provider, which may
have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Shareholders should
understand that any gains from the Index provider’s or others’ errors will be
kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from the
Index
provider’s
or others’ errors will be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. Additionally,
when the Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn rebalances its portfolio to
attempt to increase the correlation between the Fund’s portfolio and the Index,
any transaction costs and market exposure arising from such portfolio
rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and its shareholders. Apart from
scheduled rebalances, the Index provider or its agents may carry out additional
ad hoc rebalances to the Index. Therefore, errors and additional ad hoc
rebalances carried out by the Index provider or its agents to the Index may
increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the Fund.
The
Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into
the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses or to meet
redemptions. In addition, the Fund may not invest in certain securities included
in the Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are
represented in the Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
return of the Index for various reasons, including legal restrictions or
limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries, certain exchange
listing standards, a lack of liquidity in markets in which such securities
trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as
diversification requirements). To the extent the Fund utilizes depositary
receipts, the purchase of depositary receipts may negatively affect the Fund’s
ability to track the performance of the Index and increase tracking error, which
may be exacerbated if the issuer of the depositary receipt discontinues issuing
new depositary receipts or withdraws existing depositary receipts.
The
Fund may value certain of its investments, underlying currencies and/or other
assets based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net
asset value based on fair value prices and the value of the Index is based on
securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e.,
the value of the Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to
track the Index may be adversely affected. In addition, any issues the Fund
encounters with regard to currency convertibility (including the cost of
borrowing funds, if any), repatriation or economic sanctions may also increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
performance of the Index due to the impact of withholding taxes, late
announcements relating to changes to the Index and high turnover of the Index.
When markets are volatile, the ability to sell securities at fair value prices
may be adversely impacted and may result in additional trading costs and/or
increase the index tracking risk. The Fund may also need to rely on borrowings
to meet redemptions, which may lead to increased expenses. For tax efficiency
purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund
to realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Index. In light of the
factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the
return of the Index. Changes to the composition of the Index in connection with
a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index may cause the Fund to experience
increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be
heightened.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk.
The Fund may have a limited number of Authorized Participants, none of which are
obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent
that those Authorized Participants exit the business, or do not process creation
and/or redemption orders, there may be a significantly diminished trading market
for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium)
to net asset value and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. This can
be reflected as a spread between the bid-ask prices for the Fund. The Authorized
Participant concentration risk may be heightened in cases where Authorized
Participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post
collateral.
New
Fund Risk.
The Fund is a new fund, with a limited or no operating history and a small asset
base. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain a viable
size. Due to the Fund’s small asset base, certain of the Fund’s expenses and its
portfolio transaction costs may be higher than those of a fund with a larger
asset base. To the extent that the Fund does not grow to or maintain a viable
size, it may be liquidated, and the expenses, timing and tax consequences of
such liquidation may not be favorable to some shareholders.
No
Guarantee of Active Trading Market Risk. There
can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will develop or
be maintained, as applicable. Further, secondary markets may be subject to
irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement
periods in times of market stress because market makers and Authorized
Participants may step away from making a market in the Shares and in executing
creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation in the
Fund’s market price from its net asset value.
Trading
Issues Risk.
Trading in shares on the exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for
reasons that, in the view of the exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable.
In addition, trading in shares on the exchange is subject to trading halts
caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the relevant exchange’s
“circuit breaker” rules. If a trading halt or unanticipated early close of the
exchange occurs, a shareholder may be unable to purchase or sell Shares of the
Fund. There can be no assurance that requirements of the exchange necessary to
maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain
unchanged.
Passive
Management Risk.
Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore,
unless a specific security is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would
not sell a security because the security’s issuer is in financial trouble. If a
specific security is removed from the Fund’s Index, the Fund may be forced to
sell such security at an inopportune time or for prices other than at current
market values. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of
investing in any fund that invests in bonds or equity securities, such as market
fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. The Fund’s
Index may not contain the appropriate
or
a diversified mix of securities for any particular economic cycle. The timing of
changes in the securities of the Fund’s portfolio in seeking to replicate its
Index could have a negative effect on the Fund. Unlike with an actively managed
fund, the Adviser does not use techniques or defensive strategies designed to
lessen the effects of market volatility or to reduce the impact of periods of
market decline. Additionally, unusual market conditions may cause the Fund’s
Index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance or reconstitution, which could
cause the Fund’s Index to vary from its normal or expected composition. This
means that, based on market and economic conditions, the Fund’s performance
could be lower than funds that may actively shift their portfolio assets to take
advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the impact of a market decline or
a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of
Fund Shares. The
market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s net asset
value, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for
Shares. Shares may trade above, below, or at their most recent net asset value.
Factors including disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares
(including through a trading halt), may result in Shares trading at a
significant premium or discount to net asset value or to the intraday value of
the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market
price is at a premium to the net asset value or sells Shares at a time when the
market price is at a discount to the net asset value, the shareholder may pay
significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of
the Shares. The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close
at a different time than the exchange on which the Shares are traded. Liquidity
in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times.
Accordingly, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable
market closing, fixing or settlement times, bid/ask spreads on the exchange and
the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ net asset value may widen.
Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s Shares
may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for
the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings and a shareholder may be unable to sell
his or her Shares.
Non-Diversified
Risk.
The Fund is
classified as a “non-diversified” fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
The Fund is subject to the risk that it will be more volatile than a diversified
fund because the Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a
smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a
single issuer. Moreover, the gains and losses on a single investment may have a
greater impact on the Fund’s net asset value and may make the Fund more volatile
than more diversified funds. The Fund may be particularly vulnerable to this
risk if its Index is comprised of securities of a limited number of
companies.
Index-Related
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated
in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to reflect
the Index’s allocation to those types of securities. The securities of many or
all of the companies in the same sector or industry may decline in value due to
developments adversely affecting such sector or industry. By concentrating its
assets in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries, the
Fund is subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that
have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industries may negatively impact
the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider
variety of securities.
PERFORMANCE
The Fund
commenced operations on October 4, 2022 and therefore does not have a
performance history for the calendar year ended December 31,
2022. Once available, the Fund’s performance information will be
accessible on the Fund’s website at www.vaneck.com.
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser.
Van
Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio
Manager.
The following individual is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Fund’s portfolio:
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Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing the Fund |
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Peter
H. Liao |
Portfolio
Manager |
October
2022 |
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PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
For
important information about the purchase and sale of Fund Shares, tax
information and payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries,
please turn to the “Summary Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund
Shares, Taxes and Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”
section of this Prospectus.
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VANECK
MORNINGSTAR WIDE MOAT ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck
Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to replicate as
closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance
of the Morningstar®
Wide Moat Focus IndexSM
(the “Wide Moat Focus Index” or the “Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
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Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Management
Fee |
0.45 |
% |
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Other
Expenses |
0.01 |
% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a) |
0.46 |
% |
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Fee
Waivers and Expense Reimbursement(a) |
0.00 |
% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and Expense
Reimbursement(a) |
0.46 |
% |
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(a) Van Eck Associates
Corporation (the “Adviser”) has agreed to waive fees and/or pay Fund expenses to
the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund (excluding
acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, trading expenses, taxes and
extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.49% of the Fund’s average daily net
assets per year until at least February 1,
2024. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to
continue until the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion
of such expense limitation.
EXPENSE
EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing
in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not
take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling
Shares of the Fund.
The example
assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and
then sell or hold all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example
also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s
operating expenses remain the same (except that the example incorporates the fee
waivers and/or expense reimbursement arrangement for only the first year).
Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions,
your costs would be:
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YEAR |
EXPENSES |
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1 |
$47 |
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3 |
$148 |
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5 |
$258 |
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10 |
$579 |
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PORTFOLIO
TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it
purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher
portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and
may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These
costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the
example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year,
the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 51% of the average value of its
portfolio.
PRINCIPAL
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund normally invests at
least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark
index. The Wide Moat Focus Index is comprised of securities issued by companies
that Morningstar, Inc. (“Morningstar” or the “Index provider”) determines to
have sustainable competitive advantages based on a proprietary methodology that
considers quantitative and qualitative factors (“wide moat companies”). Wide
moat companies are selected from the universe of companies represented in
the
Morningstar®
US Market IndexSM,
a broad market index representing 97% of U.S. market capitalization. The Wide
Moat Focus Index targets a select group of wide moat companies: those that
according to Morningstar’s equity research team are attractively priced as of
each Wide Moat Focus Index review. Out of the companies in the Morningstar US
Market Index that Morningstar determines are wide moat companies, Morningstar
selects companies to be included in the Wide Moat Focus Index as determined by
the ratio of Morningstar’s estimate of fair value of the issuer’s common stock
to the price. Morningstar’s equity research fair value estimates are calculated
using a standardized, proprietary valuation model. Wide moat companies may
include medium-capitalization companies. The Fund’s 80% investment policy is
non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’
prior written notice to shareholders.
As
of December 31, 2022, the Wide Moat Focus Index included 49 securities of
companies with a full market capitalization range of between approximately $5.1
billion and $1,787.7 billion and a weighted average full market capitalization
of $142.5 billion. These amounts are subject to change.
The
Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate
the investment performance of the Wide Moat Focus Index by investing in a
portfolio of securities that generally replicates the Wide Moat Focus Index.
Unlike many investment companies that try to “beat” the performance of a
benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the Wide Moat Focus Index and
does not seek temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with its
investment objective of seeking to replicate the Wide Moat Focus
Index.
The
Fund may become "non-diversified" as defined under the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act of 1940"), solely as a result of a
change in relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of the Wide Moat Focus Index. This means that the Fund may invest a
greater percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers than would be
the case if the Fund were always managed as a diversified management investment
company. The Fund intends to be diversified in approximately the same proportion
as the Wide Moat Focus Index. Shareholder approval will not be sought when the
Fund crosses from diversified to non-diversified status due solely to a change
in the relative market capitalization or index weighting of one or more
constituents of the Wide Moat Focus Index.
The Fund may
concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to
the extent that the Wide Moat Focus Index concentrates in an industry or group
of industries. As of September 30, 2022, each of the information technology,
industrials, health care, financials and consumer discretionary sectors
represented a significant portion of the
Fund.
PRINCIPAL
RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors
in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price
of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in
the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk.
An investment
in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency.
Therefore,
you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund,
each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an
investment in the Fund.
Equity Securities Risk. The
value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market
and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the issuers
of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific
issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated to
preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect to
priority to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to
greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In
addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically
generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities
have generally also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns.
Consumer Discretionary Sector
Risk. The consumer discretionary sector comprises
companies whose businesses are sensitive to economic cycles, such as
manufacturers of high-end apparel and automobile and leisure companies.
Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject
to fluctuations in supply and demand. These companies may also be adversely
affected by changes in consumer spending as a result of world events, political
and economic conditions, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates,
imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and
labor relations.
Health
Care Sector Risk.
Companies in the health care sector may be affected by extensive government
regulation, restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses,
rising costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased
emphasis on outpatient services, limited number of products, industry
innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. Many health
care companies are heavily dependent on patent protection. The expiration of
patents may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Many health
care companies are subject to extensive litigation based on product liability
and similar claims.
Industrials
Sector Risk.
The industrials sector comprises companies who produce capital goods used in
construction and manufacturing, such as companies that make and sell machinery,
equipment and supplies that are used to produce other goods. Companies in the
industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in government
regulation, world events and economic conditions. In addition, companies in the
industrials sector be adversely affected by environmental damages, product
liability claims and exchange rates.
Information
Technology Sector Risk.
Information technology companies face intense competition, both domestically and
internationally, which may have an adverse effect on profit margins. Information
technology companies may have limited product lines, markets, financial
resources or personnel. The products of information technology companies may
face product obsolescence due to rapid technological developments and frequent
new product introduction, unpredictable changes in growth rates and competition
for the services of qualified personnel. Companies in the information technology
sector are heavily dependent on patent protection and the expiration of patents
may adversely affect the profitability of these companies.
Financials
Sector Risk.
Companies in the financials sector may be subject to extensive government
regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can
charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The profitability of
companies in the financials sector may be adversely affected by increases in
interest rates, by loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns,
and by credit rating downgrades. In addition, the financials sector is
undergoing numerous changes, including continuing consolidations, development of
new products and structures and changes to its regulatory framework.
Furthermore, some companies in the financials sector perceived as benefiting
from government intervention in the past may be subject to future
government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or face increased government
involvement in their operations. Increased government involvement in the
financials sector, including measures such as taking ownership positions in
financial institutions, could result in a dilution of the Fund’s investments in
financial institutions.
Medium-Capitalization
Companies Risk.
Medium-capitalization companies may be more volatile and more likely than
large-capitalization companies to have narrower product lines, fewer financial
resources, less management depth and experience and less competitive strength.
In addition, these companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading
volume and less liquidity than larger more established companies. Returns on
investments in securities of medium-capitalization companies could trail the
returns on investments in securities of large-capitalization
companies.
Market
Risk.
The prices of securities are subject to the risks associated with investing in
the securities market, including general economic conditions, sudden and
unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and
public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political,
economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics
and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the
global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments
might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline
generally or underperform other investments. An investment
may lose money.
Operational
Risk.
The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors,
including human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Fund’s
service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate
processes and technology or system failures.
High
Portfolio Turnover Risk.
The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of its portfolio securities,
which will result in increased transaction costs to the Fund, including
brokerage commissions, dealer mark-ups and other transaction costs on the sale
of the securities and on reinvestment in other securities. High portfolio
turnover may also result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable
account. The effects of high portfolio turnover may adversely affect Fund
performance.
Index Tracking Risk. The
Fund’s return may not match the return of the Index for a number of reasons. For
example, the Fund incurs operating expenses, including taxes, not applicable to
the Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities and
entering into derivatives transactions (if applicable), especially when
rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition
of the Index or (to the extent the Fund effects creations and redemptions in
cash) raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with
newly created Creation Units. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will
decrease the Fund’s net asset value to the extent not offset by the transaction
fee payable by an Authorized Participant.
Market
disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the
Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track
the Index. Errors in the Index data, the Index computations and/or the
construction of the Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time
to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Index provider, which may
have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Shareholders should
understand that any gains from the Index provider’s or others’ errors will be
kept by the Fund and its shareholders and any losses or costs resulting from the
Index provider’s or others’ errors will be borne by the Fund and its
shareholders. Additionally, when the Index is rebalanced and the Fund in turn
rebalances its portfolio to attempt to increase the correlation between the
Fund’s portfolio and the Index, any transaction costs and market exposure
arising from such portfolio rebalancing will be borne directly by the Fund and
its shareholders. Apart from scheduled rebalances, the Index provider or its
agents may carry out additional ad hoc rebalances to the Index. Therefore,
errors and additional ad hoc rebalances carried out by the Index provider or its
agents to the Index may increase the costs to and the tracking error risk of the
Fund.
The
Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into
the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses or to meet
redemptions. In addition, the Fund may not invest in certain securities included
in the Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are
represented in the Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
return of the Index for various reasons, including legal restrictions or
limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries, certain exchange
listing standards, a lack of liquidity in markets in which such securities
trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as
diversification requirements). To the extent the Fund utilizes depositary
receipts, the purchase
of
depositary receipts may negatively affect the Fund’s ability to track the
performance of the Index and increase tracking error, which may be exacerbated
if the issuer of the depositary receipt discontinues issuing new depositary
receipts or withdraws existing depositary receipts.
The
Fund may value certain of its investments, underlying currencies and/or other
assets based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net
asset value based on fair value prices and the value of the Index is based on
securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e.,
the value of the Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to
track the Index may be adversely affected. In addition, any issues the Fund
encounters with regard to currency convertibility (including the cost of
borrowing funds, if any), repatriation or economic sanctions may also increase
the index tracking risk. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the
performance of the Index due to the impact of withholding taxes, late
announcements relating to changes to the Index and high turnover of the Index.
When markets are volatile, the ability to sell securities at fair value prices
may be adversely impacted and may result in additional trading costs and/or
increase the index tracking risk. The Fund may also need to rely on borrowings
to meet redemptions, which may lead to increased expenses. For tax efficiency
purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund
to realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Index. In light of the
factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the
return of the Index. Changes to the composition of the Index in connection with
a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Index may cause the Fund to experience
increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be
heightened.
Authorized
Participant Concentration Risk. The
Fund may have a limited number of Authorized Participants, none of which are
obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent
that those Authorized Participants exit the business, or do not process creation
and/or redemption orders, there may be a significantly diminished trading market
for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium)
to net asset value and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. This can
be reflected as a spread between the bid-ask prices for the Fund. The Authorized
Participant concentration risk may be heightened in cases where Authorized
Participants have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post
collateral.
No
Guarantee of Active Trading Market Risk.
There can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will
develop or be maintained, as applicable. Further, secondary markets may be
subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade
settlement periods in times of market stress because market makers and
Authorized Participants may step away from making a market in the Shares and in
executing creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation
in the Fund’s market price from its net asset value.
Trading
Issues Risk. Trading
in shares on the exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons
that, in the view of the exchange, make trading in shares inadvisable. In
addition, trading in shares on the exchange is subject to trading halts caused
by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the relevant exchange’s “circuit
breaker” rules. If a trading halt or unanticipated early close of the exchange
occurs, a shareholder may be unable to purchase or sell Shares of the Fund.
There can be no assurance that requirements of the exchange necessary to
maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain
unchanged.
Passive
Management Risk.
Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not “actively” managed. Therefore,
unless a specific security is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would
not sell a security because the security’s issuer is in financial trouble. If a
specific security is removed from the Fund’s Index, the Fund may be forced to
sell such security at an inopportune time or for prices other than at current
market values. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of
investing in any fund that invests in bonds or equity securities, such as market
fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments,
changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. The Fund’s
Index may not contain the appropriate or a diversified mix of securities for any
particular economic cycle. The timing of changes in the securities of the Fund’s
portfolio in seeking to replicate its Index could have a negative effect on the
Fund. Unlike with an actively managed fund, the Adviser does not use techniques
or defensive strategies designed to lessen the effects of market volatility or
to reduce the impact of periods of market decline. Additionally, unusual market
conditions may cause the Fund’s Index provider to postpone a scheduled rebalance
or reconstitution, which could cause the Fund’s Index to vary from its normal or
expected composition. This means that, based on market and economic conditions,
the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their
portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the
impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of
Fund Shares.
The market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s net asset
value, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for
Shares. Shares may trade above, below, or at their most recent net asset value.
Factors including disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of
market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares
(including through a trading halt), may result in Shares trading at a
significant premium or discount to net asset value or to the intraday value of
the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market
price is at a premium to the net asset value or sells Shares at a time when the
market price is at a discount to the net asset value, the shareholder may pay
significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of
the Shares. The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close
at a different time than the exchange on which the Shares are traded. Liquidity
in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times.
Accordingly, during the time when the exchange is open but after the applicable
market closing, fixing or settlement times,
bid/ask
spreads on the exchange and the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ net
asset value may widen. Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market
for the Fund’s Shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating
liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings and a
shareholder may be unable to sell his or her Shares.
Non-Diversification
Risk.
The Fund may
become classified as “non-diversified” under the Investment Company Act of 1940
solely as a result of a change in relative market capitalization or index
weighting of one or more constituents of the its Index. If the Fund becomes
non-diversified, it may invest a greater portion of its assets in securities of
a smaller number of individual issuers than a diversified fund. As a result,
changes in the market value of a single investment could cause greater
fluctuations in share price than would occur in a more diversified
fund.
Index-Related
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated
in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to reflect
the Index’s allocation to those types of securities. The securities of many or
all of the companies in the same sector or industry may decline in value due to
developments adversely affecting such sector or industry. By concentrating its
assets in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries, the
Fund is subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that
have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industries may negatively impact
the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider
variety of securities.
PERFORMANCE
The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the
calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average
annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart
and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by
comparing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s
average annual returns for the one year, five year, ten year and/or since
inception periods, as applicable, compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a
broad measure of market performance. All returns assume
reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s
past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how
the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance
information is available online at www.vaneck.com.
Annual Total
Returns (%)—Calendar Years
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Best
Quarter: |
19.24 |
% |
2Q 2020 |
Worst
Quarter: |
-20.01 |
% |
1Q
2020 |
Average Annual
Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31,
2022
The after-tax
returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical
individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of
state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend
on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below.
After-tax
returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through
tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement
accounts.
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Past One
Year |
Past Five
Years |
Past Ten
Years |
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VanEck
Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (return before taxes) |
-13.54% |
10.40% |
12.83% |
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VanEck
Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (return after taxes on
distributions) |
-13.80% |
10.04% |
12.48% |
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VanEck
Morningstar Wide Moat ETF (return after taxes on distributions and sale of
Fund Shares) |
-7.84% |
8.23% |
10.68% |
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Morningstar®
Wide Moat Focus IndexSM
(reflects
no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-13.08% |
10.95% |
13.39% |
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S&P
500®
Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes) |
-18.11% |
9.42% |
12.56% |
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See “License Agreements and Disclaimers” for important
information.
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT
Investment
Adviser.
Van Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio
Manager.
The following individual is primarily responsible for the day-to-day management
of the Fund’s portfolio:
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Name |
Title
with Adviser |
Date
Began Managing the Fund |
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Peter
H. Liao |
Portfolio
Manager |
April
2012 |
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PURCHASE
AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
For
important information about the purchase and sale of Fund Shares, tax
information and payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries,
please turn to the “Summary Information About Purchases and Sales of Fund
Shares, Taxes and Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”
section of this Prospectus.
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VANECK®
SOCIAL SENTIMENT ETF |
SUMMARY
INFORMATION
INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVE
VanEck®
Social Sentiment ETF
(the
“Fund”) seeks to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the
price and yield performance of the
BUZZ NextGen AI US Sentiment Leaders Index
(the
“Sentiment Leaders Index”
or the “Index”).
FUND FEES AND
EXPENSES
The
following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You
may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial
intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples
below.
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Shareholder
Fees
(fees
paid directly from your investment) |
None |
Annual
Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses
that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
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Management
Fee |
0.75 |
% |
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Other
Expenses(a)
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0.41 |
% |
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Total
Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a) |
1.16 |
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