INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND
Class A: INIVX / Class C: IIGCX / Class I: INIIX / Class Y: INIYX
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS APRIL 10, 2017
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Before you invest, you may want to review the Funds prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Funds prospectus and other information about the Fund online at http://www.vaneck.com/library/mutualfunds/. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800.826.2333, or by sending an email request to info@vaneck.com. The Funds prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated April 10, 2017, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The International Investors Gold Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in common stocks of gold-mining companies. The Fund may take current income into consideration when choosing investments.
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 VanEck Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in the Shareholder InformationSales Charges section on page 32 of the Funds prospectus, in the Availability of Discounts section on page 50 of the Funds Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and, with respect to purchases of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to the Funds prospectus, entitled Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers.
Shareholder Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)
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Class A |
Class C |
Class I |
Class Y |
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Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
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5.75 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price) |
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0.00 |
%1 |
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1.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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Class A |
Class C |
Class I |
Class Y |
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Management Fees |
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0.71 |
% |
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0.71 |
% |
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0.71 |
% |
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0.71 |
% |
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Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees |
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0.25 |
% |
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1.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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Other Expenses |
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0.39 |
% |
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0.39 |
% |
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0.30 |
% |
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0.40 |
% |
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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1.35 |
% |
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2.10 |
% |
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1.01 |
% |
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1.11 |
% |
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Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements2 |
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0.00 |
% |
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0.00 |
% |
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-0.01 |
% |
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-0.01 |
% |
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursements |
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1.35 |
% |
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2.10 |
% |
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1.00 |
% |
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1.10 |
% |
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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. |
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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 1.45% for Class A, 2.20% for Class C, 1.00% for Class I, and 1.10% for Class Y of the Funds average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2018. 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. |
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 $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then either redeem all of your shares at the end of these periods or continue to hold them. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Funds operating expenses remain the same, and applies fee waivers
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and/or expense reimbursements, if any, for the periods indicated above under Annual Fund Operating Expenses. Although your actual expenses may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
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Share Status |
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
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Class A |
Sold or Held |
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$ |
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705 |
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$ |
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978 |
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$ |
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1,272 |
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$ |
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2,105 |
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Class C |
Sold |
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$ |
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313 |
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$ |
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658 |
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$ |
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1,129 |
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$ |
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2,431 |
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Held |
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$ |
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213 |
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$ |
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658 |
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$ |
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1,129 |
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$ |
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2,431 |
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Class I |
Sold or Held |
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$ |
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102 |
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$ |
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321 |
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$ |
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557 |
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$ |
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1,235 |
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Class Y |
Sold or Held |
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$ |
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112 |
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$ |
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352 |
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$ |
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611 |
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$ |
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1,351 |
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 Funds performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Funds portfolio turnover rate was 28% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
Under normal conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies principally engaged in gold-related activities, instruments that derive their value from gold, gold coins and bullion. A company principally engaged in gold-related activities is one that derives at least 50% of its revenues from gold-related activities, including the exploration, mining or processing of or dealing in gold. The Fund concentrates its investments in the gold-mining industry and therefore invests 25% or more of its total assets in such industry. The Fund is considered to be non-diversified which means that it may invest a larger portion of its assets in a single issuer.
The Fund invests in securities of companies with economic ties to countries throughout the world, including the U.S. Under ordinary circumstances, the Fund will invest in securities of issuers from a number of different countries, which may include emerging market countries. The Fund may invest in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities, which are subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, and securities of companies of any capitalization range. The Fund primarily invests in companies that the portfolio manager believes represent value opportunities and/or that have growth potential within their market niche, through their ability to increase production capacity at reasonable cost or make gold discoveries around the world. The portfolio manager utilizes both a macro-economic examination of gold market themes and a fundamental analysis of prospective companies in the search for value and growth opportunities.
The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets, as of the date of the investment, in gold and silver coins, gold, silver, platinum and palladium bullion and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest primarily in such coins and bullion and derivatives on the foregoing. The Funds investments in coins and bullion will not earn income, and the sole source of return to the Fund from these investments will be from gains or losses realized on the sale of such investments.
The Fund may gain exposure to gold bullion and other metals by investing up to 25% of the Funds total assets in a wholly owned subsidiary of the Fund (the Subsidiary). The Subsidiary primarily invests in gold bullion, gold futures and other instruments that provide direct or indirect exposure to gold, including ETFs, and also may invest in silver, platinum and palladium bullion and futures. The Subsidiary (unlike the Fund) may invest without limitation in these investments. The Fund will look-through the Subsidiary to the Subsidiarys underlying investments for determining compliance with the Funds investment policies. For tax reasons, it may be advantageous for the Fund to create and maintain its exposure to the commodity markets, in whole or in part, by investing in the Subsidiary. The portfolio of the Subsidiary is managed by the Adviser for the exclusive benefit of the Fund.
The Fund may use derivative instruments, such as structured notes, futures, options, warrants, currency forwards and swap agreements, to gain or hedge exposure. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities issued by other investment companies, including ETFs. The Fund may also invest in money market funds, but these investments are not subject to this limitation. The Fund may invest in ETFs to participate in, or gain rapid exposure to, certain market sectors, or when direct investments in certain countries are not permitted.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The Funds share price and return will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Funds portfolio securities. Accordingly, an investment in the Fund involves the risk of losing money.
Canadian Issuers. The Canadian economy is very dependent on the demand for, and supply and price of, natural resources. The Canadian market is relatively concentrated in issuers involved in the production and distribution of natural
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resources. There is a risk that any changes in natural resources sectors could have an adverse impact on the Canadian economy. The Canadian economy is dependent on and may be significantly affected by the U.S. economy, given that the United States is Canadas largest trading partner and foreign investor. Reduction in spending on Canadian products and services or changes in the U.S. economy may adversely impact the Canadian economy.
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 Fund 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.
Commodities and Commodity-Linked Derivatives 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 Funds use of such derivative instruments.
Concentration in Gold-Mining Industry. The Fund may be subject to greater risks and market fluctuations than a fund whose portfolio has exposure to a broader range of industries. The Fund may be susceptible to financial, economic, political or market events, as well as government regulation, impacting the gold industry. Fluctuations in the price of gold often dramatically affect the profitability of companies in the gold industry.
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 security, asset, index or reference rate. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund 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 Funds derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or sell such positions. Over the counter instruments may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to counterparty risk.
Direct Investments. Direct investments may involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses. Because of the absence of any public trading market for these investments, the Fund may take longer to liquidate these positions than would be the case for publicly traded securities. Direct investments are generally considered illiquid and will be aggregated with other illiquid investments for purposes of the limitation on illiquid investments.
Emerging Market Securities. Emerging market securities typically present even greater exposure to the risks described under Foreign Securities and may be particularly sensitive to certain economic changes. Emerging market securities are exposed to a number of risks that may make these investments volatile in price or difficult to trade.
Foreign Currency Transactions. An investment transacted in a foreign currency may lose value due to fluctuations in the rate of exchange. These fluctuations can make the return on an investment go up or down, entirely apart from the quality or performance of the investment itself.
Foreign Securities. Foreign investments 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.
Investments in Other Investment Companies. The Funds investment in another investment company may subject the Fund indirectly to the underlying risks of the investment company. The Fund also will bear its share of the underlying investment companys fees and expenses, which are in addition to the Funds own fees and expenses.
Management. Investment decisions made by the Adviser in seeking to achieve the Funds investment objective may not produce the returns expected by the Adviser, may cause a decline in the value of the securities held by the Fund and, in turn, cause the Funds shares to lose value or underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.
Market. Market risk refers to the risk that the market prices of securities that the Fund holds will rise or fall, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. In general, equity securities tend to have greater price volatility than debt securities.
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Non-Diversification. A non-diversified funds 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 funds portfolio may have a greater negative effect than a similar decline or default by a single security in a diversified portfolio.
Operational. The Fund is exposed to operational risk arising from a number of factors, including but not limited to, human error, processing and communication errors, errors of the Funds service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or system failures.
Regulatory. Changes in the laws or regulations of the United States or the Cayman Islands, 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 or the Subsidiary. 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. In addition, the CFTC or the SEC could at any time alter the regulatory requirements governing the use of commodity futures, options on commodity futures, structured notes or swap transactions by investment companies, which could result in the inability of the Fund to achieve its investment objective through its current strategies.
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.
Subsidiary. By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiarys investments. The Subsidiary is not registered under the 1940 Act, and, unless otherwise noted in this prospectus, is not subject to all the investor protections of the 1940 Act.
PERFORMANCE
The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Funds performance from year to year and by showing how the Funds average annual total returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and one or more other performance measures. For instance, the NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index is a modified market capitalization-weighted index comprised of publicly traded companies primarily involved in the mining of gold and silver in locations around the world. The MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) represents large- and mid-cap companies across 23 developed and 23 emerging market countries. The Funds 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 Funds 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
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Best Quarter: |
+46.89% |
2Q 16 |
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Worst Quarter: |
-33.43% |
2Q 13 |
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Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/15 |
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Life of |
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Class A Shares (2/10/56) |
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Before Taxes |
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44.27 |
% |
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-13.95 |
% |
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-1.88 |
% |
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After Taxes on Distributions1 |
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40.29 |
% |
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-14.53 |
% |
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-3.19 |
% |
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After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
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24.99 |
% |
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-9.88 |
% |
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-1.12 |
% |
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Class C Shares (10/3/03) |
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Before Taxes |
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51.00 |
% |
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-13.59 |
% |
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-2.03 |
% |
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Class I Shares (10/2/06) |
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Before Taxes |
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53.63 |
% |
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-12.55 |
% |
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0.51 |
% |
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Class Y Shares (4/30/10) |
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Before Taxes |
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53.49 |
% |
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-12.67 |
% |
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-9.09 |
% |
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NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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54.35 |
% |
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-15.40 |
% |
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-5.14 |
% |
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MSCI All Country World Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
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8.49 |
% |
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9.96 |
% |
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4.12 |
% |
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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-deferred account, such as a 401(k) plan or Investment Retirement Account. |
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment Adviser. Van Eck Associates Corporation
Portfolio Managers.
Joseph M. Foster has been Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 1998 and a member of the investment team since 1996. Imaru Casanova has been Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2014. Ms. Casanova has worked at the Adviser since 2011.
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 Funds transfer agent. Purchase minimums for Classes A, C 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 Advisers discretion.
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. 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 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 intermediarys website for more information.
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800.544.4653
vaneck.com
(04/17)