Vaneck Funds

04/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/29/2024 12:36

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company - Form 497K

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CM COMMODITY INDEX FUND
Class A: CMCAX / Class I: COMIX / Class Y: CMCYX
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS MAY 1, 2024
00299329
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's prospectus, reports to shareholders, and other information about the Fund online at https://www.vaneck.com/us/en/etf-mutual-fund-finder/mutual-funds/documents/. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800.826.2333, or by sending an email request to [email protected]. The Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated May 1, 2024, as may be supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The CM Commodity Index Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the UBS Constant Maturity Commodity Total Return Index.
FUND FEES AND EXPENSES
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. 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.You may qualify for Class A sales charge discounts if you and your family (includes spouse and children under age 21) invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000, in the aggregate, in Classes A and C of the VanEck Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the "Shareholder Information-Sales Charges" section of this prospectus, in the "Availability of Discounts" section of the Fund's Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") and, with respect to purchases of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to this prospectus, entitled "Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers."
Shareholder Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)
Class A Class I Class Y
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)
5.75% 0.00% 0.00%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price)
0.00%ยน 0.00% 0.00%
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Class A Class I Class Y
Management Fees 0.65% 0.65% 0.65%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees 0.25% 0.00% 0.00%
Other Expenses 0.42% 0.24% 0.28%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.32% 0.89% 0.93%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements2
-0.37% -0.24% -0.23%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements
0.95% 0.65% 0.70%
1 A contingent deferred sales charge for Class A shares of 1.00% for one year applies to redemptions of qualified commissionable shares purchased at or above the $1 million breakpoint level.
2 Van Eck Absolute Return Advisers 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, dividends and interest payments on securities sold short, taxes and extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.95% for Class A, 0.65% for Class I, and 0.70% for Class Y of the Fund's average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2025. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to continue until the Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion of such expense limitation.
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EXPENSE EXAMPLE
The following example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either redeem all of your shares at the end of these periods or continue to hold them. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same, and applies fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, if any, for the periods indicated above under "Annual Fund Operating Expenses." Although your actual expenses may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
Share Status 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Class A Sold or Held $666 $935 $1,224 $2,043
Class I Sold or Held $66 $260 $470 $1,074
Class Y Sold or Held $72 $273 $492 $1,122
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate that the Fund pays higher 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, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 0% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in instruments that derive their value from the performance of the UBS Constant Maturity Commodity Total Return Index (formerly known as UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Total Return Index) (the "CMCI" or the "Index"), as described below, and in bonds, debt securities and other fixed income instruments ("Fixed Income Instruments") issued by various U.S. public- or private-sector entities. The Fund invests in commodity-linked derivative instruments, including commodity index- linked notes, swap agreements, commodity futures contracts and options on futures contracts that provide economic exposure to the investment returns of the commodities markets, as represented by the CMCI and its constituents.
Commodities are assets that have tangible properties, such as oil, metals, and agricultural products. A commodity-linked derivative is a derivative instrument whose value is linked to the movement of a commodity, commodity index, commodity option or futures contract. The value of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be affected by overall market movements and other factors affecting the value of a particular industry or commodity, such as weather, disease, embargoes, or political and regulatory developments.
The CMCI is a rules-based, composite benchmark index diversified across 29 commodity components from the following five sectors: energy, precious metals, industrial metals, agriculture and livestock. The CMCI is comprised of futures contracts with maturities ranging from three months up to a maximum of about three years for each commodity, depending on liquidity. The return of the CMCI reflects a combination of (i) the returns on the futures contracts comprising the CMCI; and (ii) the return based on a hypothetical fixed income portfolio representing collateral for the hypothetical investment in futures contracts comprising the CMCI. The selection and relative weightings of the components of the CMCI are designed to reflect the economic significance and market liquidity of each commodity, as determined based on global economic data, consumption data, commodity futures prices, open interest and volume data. The CMCI maintains a predefined target maturity for each commodity component by means of a continuous rolling process, in which a weighted percentage of contracts with less time to maturity for each commodity are replaced with contracts with more time to maturity on a daily basis. The CMCI is rebalanced monthly back to the target weightings of the commodity components of the CMCI and the target weightings of all commodity components are revised once per year. A more detailed description of the CMCI is contained in the "Description of the CMCI" section of this prospectus.
The Fund will seek to track the returns of the CMCI by entering into swap contracts and commodity index-linked notes with one or more counterparties, which contracts and notes will rise and fall in value in response to changes in the value of the CMCI. As of the date of this prospectus, UBS AG, London ("UBS") was the only available counterparty with which the Fund may enter into such swap contracts on the CMCI. The Fund may enter into such contracts and notes directly or indirectly through a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fund (the "Subsidiary"). Commodity index-linked notes are derivative debt instruments with principal and/or coupon payments linked to the performance of commodity indices (such as the CMCI). These commodity index-linked notes are sometimes referred to as "structured notes" because the terms of these notes may be structured by the issuer and the purchaser of the note. The Fund may also seek to gain exposure to the individual commodity components of the CMCI by investing in futures contracts that comprise the CMCI.
The Fund currently expects that it will invest in all commodity-linked derivative instruments through the Subsidiary, an exempted limited company organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands. The Subsidiary is wholly owned and controlled by the Fund and is advised by the Adviser. The Fund's investment in the Subsidiary is not expected to exceed 25% of the value of the Fund's total assets at each quarter-end of the Fund's fiscal year. The Fund's investment in the Subsidiary generally provides the Fund with exposure to commodity-linked derivative instruments within the limits of the federal tax laws, which limit the ability of investment companies like the Fund to invest directly in such instruments. The Subsidiary has the same investment objective as the Fund and
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will follow the same general investment policies and restrictions except that, unlike the Fund, it may invest without limit in commodity-linked derivative instruments.
The derivative instruments in which the Fund and the Subsidiary primarily intend to invest are instruments linked to commodity indices, such as the CMCI, and instruments linked to the value of a particular commodity or commodity futures contract, or a subset of commodities or commodity futures contracts. These instruments may specify exposure to commodity futures with different roll dates, reset dates or contract months than those specified by a particular commodity index. As a result, the commodity-linked derivatives component of the Fund's portfolio may deviate from the returns of any particular commodity index. The Fund or the Subsidiary may over-weight or under-weight its exposure to a particular commodity index, or a subset of commodities, such that the Fund has greater or lesser exposure to that index than the value of the Fund's net assets, or greater or lesser exposure to a subset of commodities than is represented by a particular commodity index.
Assets not invested in commodity-linked derivative instruments or the Subsidiary may be invested in Fixed Income Instruments, including derivative Fixed Income Instruments.
The average duration of the portfolio of Fixed Income Instruments will vary based on interest rates and, under normal market conditions, is not expected to exceed five years. Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixed income security that is used to determine the sensitivity of a security's price to changes in interest rates. The Fund will invest primarily in securities of the U.S. Government and its agencies and investment grade bonds of private issuers rated Baa3 or higher by Moody's Investor Service, Inc. or, if unrated, determined by the Adviser to be of comparable quality. The Fund may, without limitation, seek to obtain market exposure to the securities in which it primarily invests by entering into a series of purchase and sale contracts or by using other investment techniques (such as buy back or dollar rolls, repurchase agreements or reverse repurchase agreements). The Fund may also invest, without limitation, in money market funds.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The Fund's share price and return will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund's portfolio securities. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund involves the risk of losing money.
Agricultural Commodity Sector Risk.The performance of the Fund in part is linked to the daily performance of the spot price of certain agricultural commodities, including corn, soybeans, sugar and wheat. Investments in the agriculture sector may be highly volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably due to a number of factors, including the supply of and demand of each commodity, legislative or regulatory developments relating to food safety, political, legal, financial, accounting and tax matters and other events that the Fund cannot control. In addition, increased competition caused by economic recession, labor difficulties and changing consumer tastes and spending can affect the demand for agricultural products, and consequently the value of investments in that sector. As a result, the price of an agricultural commodity could decline, which would adversely affect an investment in the Fund if it held that commodity.
Commodities and Commodity-Linked Instruments Risk. Commodities include, among other things, energy products, agricultural products, industrial metals, precious metals and livestock. The commodities markets may fluctuate widely based on a variety of factors, including overall market movements, economic events and policies, changes in interest rates or inflation rates, changes in monetary and exchange control programs, war, acts of terrorism, natural disasters and technological developments. Variables such as disease, drought, floods, weather, trade, embargoes, tariffs and other political events, in particular, may have a larger impact on commodity prices than on traditional securities. These additional variables may create additional investment risks that subject the Fund's investments to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The prices of commodities can also fluctuate widely due to supply and demand disruptions in major producing or consuming regions. Because certain commodities may be produced in a limited number of countries and may be controlled by a small number of producers, political, economic and supply-related events in such countries could have a disproportionate impact on the prices of such commodities. These factors may affect the value of the Fund's investments in varying ways, and different factors may cause the values and the volatility of the Fund's investments to move in inconsistent directions at inconsistent rates. Because the value of a commodity-linked derivative instrument and structured note typically are based upon the price movements of physical commodities, the value of these securities will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying commodities or related index of investment.
Commodities and Commodity-Linked Instruments Tax Risk. The tax treatment of commodity-linked derivative instruments may be adversely affected by changes in legislation, regulations or other legally binding authority. If, as a result of any such adverse action, the income of the Fund from certain commodity-linked derivatives were treated as non- qualifying income, the Fund might fail to qualify as a regulated investment company and/or be subject to federal income tax at the Fund level. The uncertainty surrounding the treatment of certain derivative instruments under the qualification tests for a regulated investment company may limit the Fund's use of such derivative instruments.
The Fund may be required, for federal income tax purposes, to mark-to-market and recognize as income for each taxable year any net unrealized gains and losses on certain futures contracts and option contracts as of the end of the year as well as those actually realized during the year. Gain or loss from futures contracts required to be marked-to-market will be 60% long-term and 40% short-term capital gain or loss if held directly by the Fund, but if held by the Subsidiary, as is expected, such gains will be recognized as ordinary income by the Fund to the extent of the Subsidiary's annual net earnings if any. Application of this rule may alter the timing and character of distributions to shareholders. The Fund may be required to defer the recognition of losses on futures contracts or certain option contracts to the extent of any unrecognized gains on related positions held by the Fund.
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Commodity 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 commodities in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries. Many or all of the commodities 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.
Commodity 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 (if applicable) raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with inflows into the Fund. The Fund's inability to replicate the returns of the hypothetical fixed income portfolio component of the Index and/or transaction costs, including brokerage costs, may decrease the Fund's net asset value.
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 (where applicable), 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. 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.

Credit Risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer or guarantor of a security will be unable and/or unwilling to honor its payment obligations and/or default completely on securities. The Fund's securities are subject to varying degrees of credit risk, depending on the issuer's financial condition and on the terms of the securities, which may be reflected in credit ratings. There is a possibility that the credit rating of a security may be downgraded after purchase or the perception of an issuer's creditworthiness may decline, which may adversely affect the value of the security. Lower credit quality may also affect liquidity and make it difficult for the Fund to sell the security.
Debt Securities Risk. Debt securities are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a debt security will be unable to make interest payments or repay principal when it becomes due. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. Debt securities with longer durations have higher risk and volatility. For example, if a bond has a duration of five years and interest rates increase by 1%, the bond's price will decline by approximately 5%.
Derivatives Counterparty Risk. A loss may be sustained as a result of the failure of another party to a contract (usually referred to as a "counterparty") to make required payments, fulfill its contractual obligations or otherwise comply with a contract's terms because of the financial condition of the counterparty (i.e., financial difficulties or insolvency), market activities and developments, the counterparty being unable or unwilling to perform under the contract or other reasons. In a swap agreement, the Fund bears the risk of loss of the amount expected to be received under the agreement in the event of the default or bankruptcy of a counterparty. These risks are heightened and may materially impact the Fund's ability to achieve its investment objective given that
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the Fund may enter into swap agreements with one or a limited number of counterparties, and as of the date of this prospectus, UBS was the only available counterparty with which the Fund may enter into such swap contracts on the CMCI. The Fund may also invest in commodity-linked structured notes issued by a limited number of issuers that will act as counterparties. The Fund's use of one or a limited number of counterparties and its investments in commodity-linked structured notes issued by only a limited number of issuers increases the Fund's exposure to counterparty credit risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the counterparty will be unable and/or unwilling to honor its obligations and/or default completely on the derivative transaction. Swap agreements also may be considered to be illiquid. Further, there is a risk that no suitable counterparties are willing to enter into, or continue to enter into, transactions with the Fund and, as a result, the Fund may not be able to achieve its investment objective.
Derivatives Risk. Derivatives and other similar instruments (referred to collectively as "derivatives") are financial instruments whose values are based on the value of one or more reference assets or indicators, such as a security, currency, interest rate, or index. The Fund's use of derivatives involves risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other more traditional investments. Moreover, although the value of a derivative is based on an underlying asset or indicator, a derivative typically does not carry the same rights as would be the case if the Fund invested directly in the underlying securities, currencies or other assets.
Derivatives are subject to a number of risks, such as potential changes in value in response to market developments or, in the case of "over-the-counter" derivatives, as a result of a counterparty's credit quality and the risk that a derivative transaction may not have the effect the Adviser anticipated. Derivatives also involve the risk of mispricing or improper valuation and the risk that changes in the value of a derivative may not achieve the desired correlation with the underlying asset or indicator. Derivative transactions can create investment leverage and may be highly volatile, and the Fund could lose more than the amount it invests. The use of derivatives may increase the amount and affect the timing and character of taxes payable by shareholders of the Fund.
Many derivative transactions are entered into "over-the-counter" without a central clearinghouse; as a result, the value of such a derivative transaction will depend on, among other factors, the ability and the willingness of the Fund's counterparty to perform its obligations under the transaction. If a counterparty were to default on its obligations, the Fund's contractual remedies against such counterparty may be subject to bankruptcy and insolvency laws, which could affect the Fund's rights as a creditor (e.g., the Fund may not receive the net amount of payments that it is contractually entitled to receive). Counterparty risk also refers to the related risks of having concentrated exposure to such a counterparty. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund's derivative positions at any time, and the Fund may not be able to initiate or liquidate a swap position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses. The Fund may also face the risk that it may not be able to meet margin and payment requirements and maintain a derivatives position.
Derivatives are also subject to operational and legal risks. Operational risk generally refers to risk related to potential operational issues, including documentation issues, settlement issues, system failures, inadequate controls, and human errors. Legal risk generally refers to insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of counterparty, or legality or enforceability of a contract.
Energy Commodity Sector Risk. The performance of the Fund in part is linked to the daily performance of the spot price of certain energy-related commodities such as crude oil. The market values of such commodities are strongly affected by the supply of, and demand for, those commodities, as well as, among other factors, capital expenditures on exploration and production, energy conservation efforts, government regulation and subsidization, world event, technological advances and general economic conditions. Therefore, energy commodities are subject to swift price fluctuations, and investments in such commodities can be cyclical and/or highly volatile. Additionally, significant declines in the price of oil may contribute to significant market volatility, which may materially adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Gap Risk. The Fund and the Subsidiary are subject to the risk that a commodity price will fluctuate even during periods when there is no trading. Usually, such movements occur when there are adverse news announcements, which can cause a commodity price to drop substantially from the previous day's closing price.
Interest Rate Risk. Debt securities and preferred securities are subject to interest rate risk. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most debt securities and certain preferred securities go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most debt securities go up. Many factors can cause interest rates to rise, including central bank monetary policy, rising inflation rates and general economic conditions. Debt securities with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, usually making them more volatile than debt securities, such as bonds, with shorter durations. A substantial investment by the Fund in debt securities with longer-term maturities during periods of rising interest rates may cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline significantly. Changing interest rates may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in heightened market volatility and may detract from Fund performance to the extent the Fund is exposed to such interest rates and/or volatility. It is difficult to predict the magnitude, timing or direction of interest rate changes and the impact these changes will have on the markets in which the Fund invests.
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
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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.
Metals Commodity Sector Risk.The performance of the Fund in part is linked to the daily performance of the spot price of certain industrial and precious metals, including aluminum, copper, gold, silver and zinc. Investments in metals may be highly volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably due to a number of factors, including the supply and demand of each metal, environmental or labor costs, political, legal, financial, accounting and tax matters and other events that the Fund cannot control. In addition, changes in international monetary policies or economic and political conditions can affect the supply of metals, and consequently the value of metal investments. The United States or foreign governments may pass laws or regulations limiting metal investments for strategic or other policy reasons. Further, the principal supplies of metal industries may be concentrated in a small number of countries and regions. Consequently, the price of a metal held by the Fund could decline, which would adversely affect the Fund's performance.
Money Market Funds Risk. Although a money market fund is designed to be a relatively low risk investment, it is subject to certain risks. An investment in a money market fund is not a bank account and is not insured or guaranteed by a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Although money market funds seek to maintain a net asset value of $1.00 per share, it is possible that the Fund may lose money by investing in a money market fund.
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.
Passive Management Risk.Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not "actively" managed. Therefore, unless a specific security/asset is removed from its Index, the Fund generally would not sell such a security/asset because the security's issuer/asset is in financial trouble. If a specific security/asset is removed from the Fund's Index, the Fund may be forced to sell such security/asset 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 a similar asset class, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security/asset prices. The Fund's Index may not contain the appropriate or a diversified mix of securities and/or assets for any particular economic cycle. The timing of changes in the composition of the Fund's portfolio in seeking to track 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.
Regulatory Risk. Changes in the laws or regulations of the United States, including any changes to applicable tax laws and regulations, could impair the ability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective and could increase the operating expenses of the Fund. The Adviser is registered as a commodity pool operator under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act and the rules of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and is subject to CFTC regulation with respect to the Fund. The CFTC has adopted rules regarding the disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping requirements that will apply with respect to the Fund as a result of the Adviser's registration as a commodity pool operator. Generally, these rules allow for substituted compliance with CFTC disclosure and shareholder reporting requirements, based on the Adviser's compliance with comparable Securities and Exchange Commission requirements. This means that for most of the CFTC's disclosure and shareholder reporting applicable to the Adviser as the Fund's commodity pool operator, the Adviser's compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure and shareholder reporting will be deemed to fulfill the Adviser's CFTC compliance obligations. However, as a result of CFTC regulation with respect to the Fund, the Fund may incur additional compliance and other expenses. The Adviser is also registered as a "commodity trading advisor" ("CTA") but relies on an exemption with respect to the Fund from CTA regulations available for a CTA that also serves as the Fund's commodity pool operator. The CFTC has neither reviewed nor approved the Fund, their investment strategies, or this Prospectus.
Repurchase Agreements Risk. A repurchase agreement exposes the Fund to the risk that the party that sells the security may default on its obligation to repurchase it. The Fund may lose money if it cannot sell the security at the agreed-upon time and price or the security loses value before it can be sold. A reverse repurchase agreement involves the risk that the market value of the securities the Fund is obligated to repurchase under the agreement may decline below the repurchase price.
Subsidiary Investment Risk. Changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, under which the Fund and the Subsidiary are organized, respectively, could result in the inability of the Fund to operate as intended and could negatively affect the Fund and its shareholders. The Subsidiary is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not subject to the investor protections of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Thus, the Fund, as an investor in the Subsidiary, will not have all the protections offered to investors in registered investment companies.
Tax Risk (with respect to investments in the Subsidiary). The Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income from certain qualifying sources of income in order to qualify as a regulated investment company under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The Internal Revenue Service issued a revenue ruling in December 2005, which concluded that income and gains from certain commodity-linked derivatives are not qualifying income under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a result, the Fund's ability to invest directly in commodity-linked futures contracts or swaps or in certain exchange-traded trusts that hold
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commodities as part of its investment strategy is limited by the requirement that it receive no more than ten percent (10%) of its gross income from such investments. The Fund expects to invest its assets in the Subsidiary, consistent with applicable law and the advice of counsel, in a manner that should permit the Fund to treat income allocable from the Subsidiary as qualifying income. The Internal Revenue Service has issued regulations that treat a fund's income inclusion with respect to an investment in a non-U.S. company generating investment income as qualifying income only if there is a current-year distribution out of the earnings and profits of the non-U.S. company that are attributable to such income inclusion or if the income from the Subsidiary is related to the Fund's business of investing. The Fund intends to treat its income from the Subsidiary as qualifying income. There can be no assurance that the Internal Revenue Service will not change its position with respect to some or all of these issues or if the Internal Revenue Service did so, that a court would not sustain the Internal Revenue Service's position. Furthermore, the tax treatment of the Fund's investments in the Subsidiary may be adversely affected by future legislation, court decisions, future Internal Revenue Service guidance or Treasury regulations.
U.S. Treasury Securities 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.
PERFORMANCE
The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual total returns compare with the Fund's benchmark index and those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund's Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be lower than those shown.
Additionally, large purchases and/or redemptions of shares of a class, relative to the amount of assets represented by the class, may cause the annual returns for each class to differ. Updated performance information for the Fund is available on the VanEck website at vaneck.com.
Class A: Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31
Best Quarter: +21.58% 1Q 2022
Worst Quarter: -24.73% 1Q 2020
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Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/2023 1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Class A Shares (12/31/10)
Before Taxes -8.45% 8.99% 0.01%
After Taxes on Distributions1
-9.74% 5.03% -2.41%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
-5.00% 5.34% -1.06%
Class I Shares (12/31/10)
Before Taxes -2.63% 10.59% 0.89%
Class Y Shares (12/31/10)
Before Taxes -2.77% 10.56% 0.84%
UBS Constant Maturity Commodity Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)2
-1.41% 11.90% 2.04%
S&P 500 Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
26.29% 15.69% 12.03%
1 After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. These returns are shown for one class of shares only; after-tax returns for the other classes may vary. Actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation and may differ from those shown in the preceding table. The after-tax return information shown above does not apply to Fund shares held through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or Investment Retirement Account.
2 Performance of the UBS Constant Maturity Commodity Index prior to July 18, 2022 reflects the UBS Constant Maturity Commodity Index's previous methodology which had a different funding reference rate than the current index methodology.

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment Adviser. Van Eck Absolute Return Advisers Corporation
Portfolio Managers.
Roland Morris, Jr. has been Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2014. Chris Mailloux has been Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund since May 2024. Mr. Mailloux has also been employed by Van Eck Associates Corporation since 2007.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
In general, shares of the Fund may be purchased or redeemed on any business day, primarily through financial representatives such as brokers or advisers, or directly by eligible investors through the Fund's transfer agent. Purchase minimums for Classes A and Y shares are $1,000 for an initial purchase and $100 for a subsequent purchase, with no purchase minimums for any purchase through a retirement or pension plan account, for any "wrap fee" account and similar programs offered without a sales charge by certain financial institutions and third-party recordkeepers and/or administrators, and for any account using the Automatic Investment Plan, or for any other periodic purchase program. Purchase minimums for Class I shares are $1 million for an initial purchase and no minimum for a subsequent purchase; the initial minimum may be reduced or waived at the Adviser's discretion.
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders annually. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax advantaged retirement account, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account (IRA), in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from such account.
PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and/or its affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial professional to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial professional or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

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(05/2024)