Long/Short Equity Index Fund

Long/Short Equity Index Fund

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Long/Short Equity Index Fund (formerly named Long/Short Equity Fund) seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Market Vectors North America Long/Short Equity Index (the “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 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 Van Eck Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the “Shareholder Information” section of the Fund’s prospectus and in the “Availability of Discounts” and “Breakpoint Linkage Rules for Discounts” sections of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees(fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees Long/Short Equity Index Fund	Class A		Class I	Class Y
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%		none	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price)	none	[1]	none	none

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses Long/Short Equity Index Fund		Class A	Class I	Class Y
Management Fees		0.65%	0.65%	0.65%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees		0.25%	none	none
Other Expenses	[1]	0.42%	0.39%	0.36%
Dividends and Interest Payments on Securities Sold Short		0.09%	0.09%	0.09%
Remainder of Other Expenses		0.33%	0.30%	0.27%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses (AFFE)	[1]	0.10%	0.10%	0.10%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses		1.42%	1.14%	1.11%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements	[2]	0.28%	0.30%	0.22%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements		1.14%	0.84%	0.89%

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. Although your actual expenses may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

Sold

Expense Example Long/Short Equity Index Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years
Class A	685	973
Class I	86	332
Class Y	91	331

Held

Expense Example No Redemption Long/Short Equity Index Fund (USD $)	1 Year	3 Years
Class A	685	973
Class I	86	332
Class Y	91	331

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 14% of the average value of its portfolio.

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities that comprise the Index. The Index is constructed using a rules based process and seeks to capture the performance of a group of long/short equity hedge funds that focus on North American companies (the “Proprietary L/S Equity Universe”). Market Vectors Index Solutions GmbH (the “Index Provider”), an affiliate of the Adviser, uses a two-step process to identify the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe. First, the Index Provider identifies an initial universe of North American focused long/short equity hedge funds. Second, the Index Provider eliminates outlier hedge funds, typically eliminating more of the underperforming outlier hedge funds, from the initial universe with a patented True Alpha^® (True α^®) metric that scores and ranks funds based on their risk-adjusted performance over a twelve month period. The Index Provider defines outlier hedge funds as those funds with the True Alpha scores for that twelve month period that differ from the average score of the funds that comprise the initial universe to a statistically significant degree. Applying a regression analysis to the returns of the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe, the Index Provider determines the long and/or short positions in exchange traded products, including exchange traded funds and exchange traded notes (“Exchange Traded Products”), that, in the aggregate, can best explain the performance of the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe in recent prior periods and, therefore, can be expected to track the performance of the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe in future periods. The Index is reconstituted and rebalanced monthly. The Exchange Traded Products that comprise the Index may include Exchange Traded Products that invest in equity and debt securities, as well as other asset categories. The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate the investment performance of the Index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the performance of the Index.

The Fund is considered to be “non-diversified”, which means that it may invest a larger portion of its assets in a single issuer. A significant portion of the Fund’s assets may be held in cash or cash equivalents including, but not limited to, money market instruments, U.S. Treasury bills, interests in short-term investment funds or shares of money market or short-term bond funds. While the Fund may hold both long and short positions in any of the instruments in which it invests, it does not intend to borrow money for investment purposes. It seeks to maintain a net exposure, including cash and cash equivalents of 100% of net assets.

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. Also, because the Fund invests directly in Exchange Traded Products, which, in turn, invest directly in or have exposure to equity and debt securities and other asset categories, the following principal risks are those of the Fund and Exchange Traded Products, as appropriate. As a result of the Fund’s direct investment in Exchange Traded Products, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks of the securities held by and other investments made by the Exchange Traded Products.

Debt Securities. 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.

Exchange Traded Products. While the risks of owning shares of an Exchange Traded Product generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying investments of the Exchange Traded Product, lack of liquidity in the Exchange Traded Product can result in its value being more volatile than its underlying portfolio investments. An Exchange Traded Product can trade at prices higher or lower than the value of its underlying assets. In addition, trading in an Exchange Traded Product may be halted by the exchange on which it trades.

Exchange Traded Products’ Underlying Investments. Through its investment in an Exchange Traded Product, the Fund is subject to the risks associated with the Exchange Traded Product’s underlying investments, including the possibility that the value of the securities or other assets held by the Exchange Traded Product could decrease. These risks include any combination of the risks described below, although the Fund’s exposure to a particular risk will be proportionate to the Fund’s overall allocation and an Exchange Traded Product’s asset allocation. Additionally, the Fund will bear additional expenses based on its pro rata share of the Exchange Traded Product’s operating expenses. Consequently, an investment in the Fund entails more direct and indirect expenses than a direct investment in an Exchange Traded Product.

Commodities and Commodity-Linked Derivatives. Exposure to the commodities markets, such as precious metals, industrial metals, gas and other energy products and natural resources, may subject the Exchange Traded Product to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities. The commodities markets may fluctuate widely based on a variety of factors including changes in overall market movements, political and economic events and policies, war, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and changes in interest rates or inflation 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.

Common Stock. Common stocks are subject to greater fluctuations in market value than certain other asset classes as a result of such factors as a company’s business performance, investor perceptions, stock market trends and general economic conditions.

Concentration. An Exchange Traded Product that concentrates its investments in an industry or group of industries is more vulnerable to adverse market, economic, regulatory, political or other developments affecting such industry or group of industries than a fund that invests its assets more broadly.

Derivatives. The use of derivatives, such as swap agreements, options, warrants, futures contracts, currency forwards and structured notes, presents risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in traditional securities. The use of derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying currency, security, asset, index or reference rate. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing an Exchange Traded Product to lose more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security. Also, a liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Exchange Traded Product’s derivative positions at times when the Exchange Traded Product might wish to terminate or sell such positions and over the counter instruments may be illiquid and are subject to counterparty risk.

Emerging Markets. Investments in the securities of emerging markets typically present even greater exposure to the risks described under “Foreign Securities” and may be particularly sensitive to certain economic changes. Emerging markets securities are exposed to a number of risks that may make these investments volatile in price or difficult to trade.

Foreign Currency. Investments in global markets or securities that are denominated in foreign currencies give rise to foreign currency exposure. The U.S. dollar value of these investments will vary depending on changes in exchange rates and the performance of the underlying assets.

Foreign Securities. Investments in securities of foreign issuers are subject to greater risks than U.S. domestic investments. These additional risks may include exchange rate fluctuations and exchange controls; less publicly available information; more volatile or less liquid securities markets; and the possibility of arbitrary action by foreign governments, or political, economic or social instability. Foreign companies also may be subject to significantly higher levels of taxation than U.S. companies, including potentially confiscatory levels of taxation, thereby reducing the earnings potential of such foreign companies.

Investment Style. Securities of a particular investment style, such as a growth style or value style, tend to perform differently and shift into and out of favor with investors depending on changes in market and economic conditions.

Large-Capitalization Companies. Securities of large-capitalization companies could fall out of favor with the market and underperform securities of small- or medium-capitalization companies. Larger, more established companies may be slow to respond to challenges and may grow more slowly than smaller companies.

Small- and Medium-Capitalization Companies. Securities of small- and medium-sized companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than larger more established companies. The stocks of small- and medium-sized companies may have returns that vary, sometimes significantly, from the overall stock market.

Investment Restrictions. The Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), places limits on the percentage of the total outstanding stock of another investment company that may be owned by the Fund; however, exemptive relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) permits the Fund to invest in other unaffiliated investment companies in excess of this limitation if certain conditions are met (the “Exemptive Relief”). The Fund is subject to the conditions set forth in the Exemptive Relief and certain additional provisions of the 1940 Act that limit the amount that the Fund and its affiliates, in the aggregate, can invest in the outstanding voting securities of any one investment company. The Fund and its affiliates may not actively acquire “control” of an investment company, which is presumed once ownership of an investment company’s outstanding voting securities exceeds 25%. Also, to comply with provisions of the 1940 Act and the Exemptive Relief, the Adviser may be required to vote shares of an investment company in the same general proportion as shares held by other shareholders of the investment company.

Market. Market risk refers to the risk that the market prices of securities that the Fund or an Exchange Traded Product holds will rise or fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. In general, equity securities tend to have greater price volatility than debt securities. The Exchange Traded Products, including exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) and exchange traded notes (“ETNs”), may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset values.

Non-Diversification. A non-diversified fund’s greater investment in a single issuer makes the fund more susceptible to financial, economic or market events impacting such issuer. A decline in the value of or default by a single security in the non-diversified fund’s portfolio may have a greater negative effect than a similar decline or default by a single security in a diversified portfolio.

Regulatory. 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. For example, in 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) adopted amendments to its rules that affect the ability of certain investment advisers to registered investment companies and other entities to rely on previously available exclusions or exemptions from registration under the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as amended (“CEA”) and regulations thereunder. Specifically, these amendments, which became effective on January 1, 2013, require an investment adviser of a registered investment company to register with the CFTC as a “commodity pool operator” (“CPO”) if the investment company either markets itself as a vehicle for trading commodity interests or conducts more than a de minimis amount of speculative trading in commodity interests. The staff of the CFTC issued temporary no-action relief (the “No-Action Relief”) from CPO registration to operators of funds-of-funds that cannot reasonably know whether indirect exposure to commodity interests would prevent them from qualifying for an exemption from registration as a CPO. In reliance on the No-Action Relief, the Adviser has claimed a temporary exemption from registration as a CPO. To the extent the Fund and the Adviser are required to comply with applicable CFTC disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping regulations, compliance with such regulations could increase the Fund’s expenses, adversely affecting the Fund’s total return.

Short Sales. If the Fund sells a security short and subsequently has to buy the security back at a higher price, the Fund will lose money on the transaction. Any loss will be increased by the amount of compensation, interest or dividends and transaction costs the Fund must pay to a lender of the security. The amount the Fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales, which has the effect of leveraging the Fund, could increase the exposure of the Fund to the market, increase losses and increase the volatility of returns.

The Fund may not always be able to close out a short position at a particular time or at an acceptable price. A lender may request that borrowed securities be returned to it on short notice, and the Fund may have to buy the borrowed securities at an unfavorable price. If this occurs at a time that other short sellers of the same security also want to close out their positions, it is more likely that the Fund will have to cover its short sale at an unfavorable price and potentially reduce or eliminate any gain, or cause a loss, as a result of the short sale.

Tracking Error. Unlike a traditional index that is comprised of securities representing a particular segment of the market, such as the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index, the Index is comprised of long and/or short positions in Exchange-Traded Products that are selected and weighted monthly based upon the application of a regression analysis to the returns of the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe in recent prior periods. The performance of the Index may not match the performance of the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe prospectively due to the timing of the application of the regression analysis and changes that may subsequently occur in the management of the underlying hedge funds that comprise the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe. In addition, the Fund’s performance may not match the performance of the Index due to, among other factors, the Fund incurring operating expenses and not being fully invested at all times as a result of cash inflows and cash reserves to meet redemptions. Accordingly, the performance of the Fund may vary from the performance of the Proprietary L/S Equity Universe and the performance of the Index.

U.S. Government Obligations. U.S. Government obligations may be adversely impacted by changes in interest rates, and securities issued by U.S. Government agencies or government-sponsored entities may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

PERFORMANCE

The Fund commenced operations on December 12, 2013. Accordingly, as of the date of this prospectus, the Fund does not have a full calendar year of performance.

[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.

[1] Other expenses and acquired fund fees and expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

[2] 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, 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, 2016. 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.