VanEck Launches Green Metals ETF To Expand Investor Access to the Energy Transition

VanEck today announced the launch of the VanEck Green Metals ETF (GMET), a new fund that provides comprehensive global exposure to the producers, refiners, processors and recyclers of the green metals that are essential to the world’s ongoing transition to a low carbon economy.

“New technologies, from electric vehicles to offshore wind farms, cannot function without green metals such as lithium, copper, zinc and manganese. As governments around the world mandate and consumers embrace these shifts to lower carbon approaches, demand for these metals is only expected to increase,” said Brandon Rakszawski, Senior ETF Product Manager with VanEck. “We’re very pleased to be introducing GMET, a powerful new tool for investors looking to add global exposure to the leading and emerging companies driving the supply of green metals.”

VanEck notes that the share of demand for green metals is poised to be driven by an increase in clean energy projects and advancements in the decades to come. For example, according to the IEA, as of 2020, clean energy efforts drove 29% of the demand for lithium. That number is expected to increase to 92% by 2040. Similarly, clean energy demand for cobalt is expected to rise from 15% to 69%; while clean energy demand for nickel is expected to increase from 8% to 61% over the same time frame.¹ Concurrently, significant deficits in supply relative to increasing demand, long project lead times and declining resource quality all have the potential to drive metals prices higher.

“Those trends are key to note, but the green metals story is not just one of supply and demand,” added Rakszawski. “In the transition to a low carbon economy, we are poised to see a shift in geographic influence as countries like China, Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo are well positioned to influence the global supply of green metals, making a global approach to this category essential for investors.”

GMET seeks to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Clean-Tech Metals Index (MVGMETTR), a rules-based index offering exposure to companies involved in the production, refining, processing and recycling of metals used in applications, products and processes that enable to energy transition.

“We are pleased to provide the index to VanEck’s new ETF. Our new and innovative index builds on MVIS’ long history of providing investable benchmarks for investors seeking exposure to companies involved in natural resources industries. The index provides investors a tool to target their commodity exposure on companies involved in mining, recycling, or producing the raw materials that facilitate the world’s transformation to clean energy,” said Josh Kaplan, Global Head of Research & Investment Strategy at MV Index Solutions. VanEck is a leader in providing investors with solutions focused on the ongoing energy transition, and GMET joins a fund lineup that also includes the recently launched VanEck Environmental Sustainability Fund (ENVIX).

GMET is listed on the NYSE Arca and has a net expense ratio of 0.59%.

About VanEck

VanEck has a history of looking beyond the financial markets to identify trends that are likely to create impactful investment opportunities. We were one of the first U.S. asset managers to offer investors access to international markets. This set the tone for the firm’s drive to identify asset classes and trends – including gold investing in 1968, emerging markets in 1993, and exchange traded funds in 2006 – that subsequently shaped the investment management industry.

Today, VanEck offers active and passive strategies with compelling exposures supported by well-designed investment processes. As of October 31, 2021, VanEck managed approximately $82.2 billion in assets, including mutual funds, ETFs and institutional accounts. The firm’s capabilities range from core investment opportunities to more specialized exposures to enhance portfolio diversification. Our actively managed strategies are fueled by in-depth, bottom-up research and security selection from portfolio managers with direct experience in the sectors and regions in which they invest. Investability, liquidity, diversity, and transparency are key to the experienced decision-making around market and index selection underlying VanEck’s passive strategies.

Since our founding in 1955, putting our clients’ interests first, in all market environments, has been at the heart of the firm’s mission.

Important Disclosures

MV Index Solutions (MVIS®) develops, monitors and markets the MVIS Indices, a focused selection pf pure-play and investable indices designed to underlie financial products. They cover several asset classes including hard assets and the internal equity markets as well as fixed income markets. MVIS is the index business of VanEck, a U.S. based investment management firm and provider of VanEck ETFs.

Investments in companies involved in the production, refining, processing and recycling of green metals used to facilitate the energy transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources and technologies are subject to a variety of risks. Under certain market conditions, the GMET may underperform as compared to funds that invest in a broader range of investments. There may be significant differences in interpretations of what is considered a "green" metal and the definition used by the Index Provider may differ with those used by other investors, investment advisers or index providers. Additionally, there may also be a limited supply of companies involved in green metals, which may adversely affect GMET.

An investment in GMET may be subject to risks which include, among others, risks related to investing in green metals, clean energy companies, regulatory action and changes in governments, rare earth and strategic metals companies, Australian, Asian issuers and Chinese issuers, investing through stock connect, foreign securities, emerging market issuers, foreign currency, basic materials sector, mining industry, small- and medium-capitalization companies, cash transactions, equity securities, market, operational, index tracking, authorized participant concentration, new fund, absence of prior active market, trading issues, passive management, fund shares trading, premium/discount and liquidity of fund shares, non-diversified, and concentration risks which may make these investments volatile in price or difficult to trade. Small- and medium-capitalization companies may be subject to elevated risk.

VanEck Environmental Sustainability Fund (ENVAX) sustainability strategy may result in the Fund investing in securities or industry sectors that underperform other securities or underperform the market as a whole, and may result in the Fund being unable to take advantage of certain investment opportunities, which may adversely affect investment performance. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the companies identified by the Adviser do not operate as expected when addressing sustainability issues. Regulatory changes or interpretations regarding the definitions and/or use of sustainability criteria could have a material adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to invest in accordance with its sustainability strategy.

You can lose money by investing in the ENVAX. Any investment in ENVAX should be part of an overall investment program, not a complete program. An investment in ENVAX may be subject to risks which include, among others, investing in derivatives, equity securities, emerging market securities. environmental-related securities, foreign currency transactions, foreign securities, investments in other investment companies, management, market, new fund risk, non-diversification, operational, sectors, small and medium capitalization companies, special purpose acquisition companies. Small- and medium-capitalization companies may be subject to elevated risks.

Investing involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of principal. An investor should consider the investment objective, risks, charges and expenses of a Fund carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus and summary prospectus, which contain this and other information, call 800.826.2333 or visit vaneck.com. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Van Eck Securities Corporation, Distributor

666 Third Avenue

New York, NY 10017

¹ Source: IEA (2021), The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions, IEA, Paris. https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions

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