VANECK VECTORS® HIGH INCOME INFRASTRUCTURE MLP ETF
Ticker: YMLI®
Principal U.S. Listing Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
APRIL 1, 2019
YMLISUM
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 and other information about the Fund online at http://www.vaneck.com/ library/etfs/. 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 Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated April 1, 2019, as may be supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
VanEck Vectors® High Income Infrastructure MLP ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Solactive High Income Infrastructure MLP Index (the “Infrastructure MLP Index”).
FUND FEES AND EXPENSES
The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”).
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Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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None |
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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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Management Fee |
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0.82 |
% |
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Other Expenses(a) |
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0.00 |
% |
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Deferred Income Tax Expense and Franchise Tax Expense(b) |
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-0.01 |
% |
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Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
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0.81 |
% |
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(a) |
Van Eck Associates Corporation (the “Adviser”) will pay all expenses of the Fund, except for the fee payment under the investment management agreement, acquired fund fees and expenses, interest expense, offering costs, trading expenses, taxes (including accrued deferred tax liability) and extraordinary expenses. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Adviser has agreed to pay the offering costs until at least April 1, 2020. |
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(b) |
The Fund is classified for federal income tax purposes as a taxable regular corporation or Subchapter “C” corporation. As a “C” corporation, the Fund accrues deferred income tax liability for its future tax liability associated with the capital appreciation of its investments, with certain distributions received by the Fund on equity securities of Master Limited Partnerships (“MLPs”) considered to be return of capital, and with any net operating gains. The Fund’s accrued deferred tax liability, if any, is reflected each day in the Fund’s net asset value per Share and may vary greatly from year to year depending on the nature of the Fund’s investments, the performance of those investments and general market conditions. Therefore, any estimate of deferred income tax expense/(benefit) cannot be reliably predicted from year to year. State franchise taxes are separate and distinct from state income taxes. Due to the nature of the Fund’s investments, the Fund may be required to file franchise tax returns in several states. The Fund is expected to absorb net operating losses and accrue net deferred tax expense primarily related to unrealized depreciation on investments and state franchise tax liability. |
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EXPENSE EXAMPLE
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund.
The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:
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YEAR |
EXPENSES |
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1 |
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$ |
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83 |
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3 |
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$ |
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261 |
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5 |
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$ |
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454 |
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10 |
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$ |
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1,013 |
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PORTFOLIO TURNOVER
The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 52% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES
The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark index. The Infrastructure MLP Index is a rules-based index designed to provide investors a means of tracking the performance of selected infrastructure master limited partnerships (“MLPs”) with an emphasis on current yield. Infrastructure MLP Index components are publicly traded on a U.S. securities exchange. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of MLPs. Each 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.
The Infrastructure MLP Index consists of MLPs classified as “Infrastructure” MLPs. Infrastructure MLPs are a subset of the MLP universe that earn a majority of their cash flow from the transportation and storage of energy commodities. Infrastructure MLPs include all MLPs operating with one of the following as a substantial business segment:
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transportation, terminaling and storage of refined petroleum products (including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, kerosene and heating oil); |
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gathering, compressing, dehydrating, treating, processing, marketing of natural gas, and fractionation of natural gas liquids; |
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transportation and/or storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids; |
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transportation of crude oil, refined petroleum products and/or other liquids; and |
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operating as the general partner of an MLP which primarily engages in any of the businesses listed above. |
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As of December 31, 2018, the Infrastructure MLP Index included 25 MLPs and the U.S. dollar-denominated market capitalizations of the Infrastructure MLP Index components ranged from approximately $685 million to approximately $34.6 billion. These amounts are subject to change.
The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate the investment performance of the Infrastructure MLP Index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the Infrastructure MLP Index. Unlike many investment companies that try to “beat” the performance of a benchmark index, the Fund does not try to “beat” the Infrastructure MLP Index and does not seek temporary defensive positions when markets decline or appear overvalued. Indexing may eliminate the chance that the Fund will substantially outperform the Infrastructure MLP Index but also may reduce some of the risks of active management, such as poor security selection. Under various circumstances or under certain market conditions, it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the securities in the Infrastructure MLP Index or in the weighting of such securities in the Infrastructure MLP Index. In these cases, the Fund may purchase a sample of securities in the Infrastructure MLP Index or underweight or overweight a security in the Infrastructure MLP Index.
MLPs are publicly traded partnerships engaged in the transportation, storage, processing, refining, marketing, exploration, production, and mining of minerals and natural resources. By confining their operations to these specific activities, their interests, or units, are able to trade on public securities exchanges exactly like the shares of a corporation, without entity level taxation.
An MLP consists of a general partner and limited partners (or in the case of MLPs organized as limited liability companies, a managing member and members). The general partner or managing member typically controls the operations and management of the MLP and has an ownership stake in the MLP. The limited partners or members, through their ownership of limited partner or member interests, provide capital to the entity, are intended to have no role in the operation and management of the entity, and receive cash distributions. The Fund will be a limited partner (or a member) in the MLPs in which it invests. MLPs are generally treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Thus, the MLPs themselves generally do not pay U.S. federal income taxes, but investors (like the Fund) that hold interests in MLPs are generally subject
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to tax on their allocable shares of the MLPs’ income and gains. Currently, most MLPs operate in the energy and/or natural resources sectors.
To qualify as an MLP and to avoid being taxed as a corporation, a partnership must receive at least 90% of its income from qualifying sources as set forth in Section 7704(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). These qualifying sources include natural resource-based activities such as the processing, transportation and storage of mineral or natural resources and other commodities.
Partnerships eligible for inclusion in the Infrastructure MLP Index are subject to further market capitalization and liquidity screens before they may be included in the Infrastructure MLP Index.
The Fund is classified as a non-diversified fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and, therefore, may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer. The Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent that the Infrastructure MLP Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries. As of November 30, 2018, the Fund was concentrated in the energy sector.
The Infrastructure MLP Index is calculated and administered by Solactive AG, which is not affiliated with the Fund or the Adviser. Solactive AG determines the components and the relative weightings of the securities in the Infrastructure MLP Index subject to the Infrastructure MLP Index methodology and publishes information regarding the Infrastructure MLP Index. The Infrastructure MLP Index is rebalanced annually, but may be adjusted more frequently under extraordinary circumstances, consistent with the Infrastructure MLP Index methodology.
PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND
Investors in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Therefore, you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund, each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an investment in the Fund.
MLP Risk. Investments in common units of MLPs involve risks that differ from investments in common stock including risks inherent in the structure of MLPs, including (i) tax risks (described further below), (ii) risk related to limited control of management or the general partner or managing member, (iii) limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, except with respect to extraordinary transactions, (iv) conflicts of interest between the general partner or managing member and its affiliates, on the one hand, and the limited partners or members, on the other hand, including those arising from incentive distribution payments or corporate opportunities, (v) dilution risks and risks related to the general partner’s right to require unit-holders to sell their common units at an undesirable time or price, resulting from regulatory changes or other reasons and (vi) cash flow risks, as described in more detail in this Prospectus.
MLP common units and other equity securities can be affected by macro-economic and other factors affecting the stock market in general, expectations of interest rates, investor sentiment towards MLPs or the energy sector, changes in a particular issuer’s financial condition, or unfavorable or unanticipated poor performance of a particular issuer (in the case of MLPs, generally measured in terms of distributable cash flow). MLPs holding credit-related investments are subject to interest rate risk and the risk of default on payment obligations by debt issuers. Prices of common units of individual MLPs and other equity securities also can be affected by fundamentals unique to the partnership or company, including cash flow growth, cash generating power and distribution coverage.
MLP Tax Risk. Much of the benefit the Fund derives from its investment in equity securities of MLPs is a result of MLPs generally being treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Partnerships generally do not pay U.S. federal income tax at the partnership level. Rather, each partner is allocated a share of the partnership’s income, gains, losses, deductions and expenses, and takes that share into account in calculating its own U.S. federal income tax liability. A change in current tax law, or a change in the business of a given MLP, could result in an MLP being treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, the amount of cash available for distribution by the MLP could be reduced and the after-tax return to the Fund with respect to its investment in such MLPs could be materially reduced. Thus, if any of the MLPs owned by the Fund were treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it could result in a reduction in the value of your investment in the Fund and lower distributions.
Changes in tax laws or regulations, or future interpretations of such laws or regulations, could adversely affect the Fund or the MLPs in which the Fund invests and could also negatively impact the amount and tax characterization of dividends received by the Fund’s shareholders. For example, Congress could take actions which would eliminate the tax benefits of depreciation, depletion and amortization deductions realized by MLPs. Alternatively, Congress could impose a tax on pass-through entities such as MLPs or eliminate the use of pass-through taxation entirely. The tax benefits of depreciation, depletion and amortization deductions realized by MLPs effectively defer the income of the MLPs and, in turn, the taxable income of the Fund. Without these benefits the Fund would be subject to current U.S. federal, state and local corporate
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income taxes on a greater proportion of its allocable share of the income and gains of MLPs in which it invests, and the Fund’s ability to pay distributions treated as return-of-capital distributions (for tax purposes). Imposing a tax on pass-through entities and/or eliminating the use of pass-through taxation entirely could result in three levels of tax—at the MLP level, the Fund level and the shareholder level.
Individuals and certain other non-corporate entities are generally eligible for a 20% deduction with respect to certain taxable income from MLPs. However, the Fund (which is taxable as a “C” corporation) will not be eligible for the 20% deduction and will not pass through the 20% deduction to Fund shareholders. As a result, in comparison, investors investing directly in MLPs would be eligible for the 20% deduction for such taxable income from these investments while investors investing in MLPs held indirectly through the Fund would not be eligible for the 20% deduction for their share of such taxable income.
An MLP’s distributions to the Fund generally will not be taxable unless the cash amount (or, in certain cases, the value of marketable securities) distributed exceeds the Fund’s basis in its interest in the MLP. Distributions received by the Fund from an MLP will reduce the Fund’s adjusted basis in its interest in the MLP, but not below zero. A reduced basis will generally result in an increase in the amount of gain (or decrease in the amount of loss) that will be recognized by the Fund for tax purposes on the sale of its interest in the MLP. Cash distributions from an MLP to the Fund (and, in certain cases, the value of marketable securities distributed by an MLP to the Fund) in excess of the Fund’s basis in the MLP will generally be taxable to the Fund as capital gain. The Fund will not benefit from favorable federal income tax rates on long-term capital gains because it will be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes.
Depreciation or other cost recovery deductions passed through to the Fund from investments in MLPs in a given year will generally reduce the Fund’s taxable income (and earnings and profits), but those deductions may be recaptured in the Fund’s income (and earnings and profits) in subsequent years when the MLPs dispose of their assets or when the Fund disposes of its interests in the MLPs. When deductions are recaptured, the Fund may owe a tax (the payment of which will reduce the Fund’s net assets) and distributions to the Fund’s shareholders may be taxable, even though the shareholders at the time of the recapture might not have held Shares in the Fund at the time the deductions were taken by the Fund, and even though the Fund does not have corresponding economic gain on its investment at the time of the recapture.
The tax treatment of all items allocated to the Fund each year by the MLPs will not be known until the Fund receives a schedule K-1 for that year with respect to each of its MLP investments. The Fund’s tax liability will not be known until the Fund completes its annual tax return. The Fund’s tax estimates could vary substantially from the actual liability and therefore the determination of the Fund’s actual tax liability may have a material adverse effect on the value of an investment in the Fund. The payment of corporate income taxes imposed on the Fund will decrease cash available for distribution to shareholders.
Energy Sector Risks. To the extent that the Fund continues to be concentrated in the energy sector, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance will depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the energy sector. Many MLPs operate within the energy sector. Therefore, a substantial portion of the MLPs in which the Fund invests are engaged in the energy sector of the economy. As a result, a downturn in the energy sector of the economy, adverse political, legislative or regulatory developments or other events could have a larger impact on the Fund than on an investment company that does not invest a substantial portion of its assets in the energy sector. At times, the performance of securities of companies in the energy sector may lag the performance of other sectors or the broader market as a whole. The price of oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels may decline and/or experience significant volatility, which could adversely impact companies operating in the energy sector. In addition, there are several specific risks associated with investments in the energy sector, including the following:
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the energy sector is highly regulated. MLPs operating in the energy sector are subject to significant regulation of nearly every aspect of their operations by federal, state and local governmental agencies; |
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MLPs operating in the energy sector may be affected by fluctuations in the prices of energy commodities, including, for example, natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and coal, in the short- and long-term; |
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MLPs engaged in the exploration, development, management or production of energy commodities face the risk that commodity reserves are depleted over time, with the potential associated effect of causing the market value of the MLP to decline over time; |
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MLPs operating in the energy sector could be adversely affected by reductions in the supply of or demand for energy commodities; |
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extreme weather or other natural disasters could impact the value of MLPs operating in the energy sector; |
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the abilities of MLPs operating in the energy sector to grow and to increase cash distributions to unitholders can be highly dependent on their ability to make acquisitions that result in an increase in cash flows; |
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rising interest rates which could adversely impact the financial performance and/or the present value of cash flow of MLPs operating in the energy sector; and |
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MLPs operating in the energy sector are subject to many dangers inherent in the production, exploration, management, transportation, processing and distribution of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined petroleum and petroleum products and other hydrocarbons. In addition, threats of attack by terrorists on energy assets could impact the market for MLPs operating in the energy sector. |
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Industry Specific Risks. Energy Infrastructure MLPs operating in the energy sector are also subject to risks that are specific to the industry they serve.
Midstream. Midstream MLPs that provide crude oil, refined product and natural gas services are subject to supply and demand fluctuations in the markets they serve which may be impacted by a wide range of factors including fluctuating commodity prices, weather, increased conservation, increased governmental or environmental regulation, depletion, rising interest rates, declines in domestic or foreign production, accidents or catastrophic events, increasing operating expenses and economic conditions, among others.
Pipeline. Pipeline MLPs are not subject to direct commodity price exposure because they do not own the underlying energy commodity. However, the MLP sector can be hurt by market perception that MLPs’ performance and distributions are directly tied to commodity prices. Also, a significant decrease in the production of natural gas, oil, or other energy commodities, due to a decline in production from existing facilities, import supply disruption, or otherwise, would reduce revenue and operating income of MLPs and, therefore, the ability of MLPs to make distributions to partners.
A sustained decline in demand for crude oil, natural gas and refined petroleum products could adversely affect MLP revenues and cash flows. Factors that could lead to a decrease in market demand include a recession or other adverse economic conditions, an increase in the market price of the underlying commodity, higher taxes or other regulatory actions that increase costs, or a shift in consumer demand for such products. Demand may also be adversely impacted by consumer sentiment with respect to global warming and/ or by any state or federal legislation intended to promote the use of alternative energy sources, such as bio-fuels.
MLPs employ a variety of means of increasing cash flow, including increasing utilization of existing facilities, expanding operations through new construction, expanding operations through acquisitions, or securing additional long-term contracts. Thus, some MLPs may be subject to construction risk, acquisition risk or other risk factors arising from their specific business strategies. A significant slowdown in large energy companies’ disposition of energy infrastructure assets and other merger and acquisition activity in the energy MLP industry could reduce the growth rate of cash flows received by the Fund from MLPs that grow through acquisitions.
Geopolitical Risk. Global political and economic instability could affect the operations of MLPs and energy companies in unpredictable ways, including through disruptions of natural resource supplies and markets and the resulting volatility in commodity prices.
Market disruptions arising out of geopolitical events could also prevent the Fund from executing advantageous investment decisions in a timely manner.
Tax Status of the Fund. The Fund is treated as a regular corporation, or “C” corporation, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This differs from most investment companies, which elect to be treated as “regulated investment companies” under the Code in order to avoid paying entity level income taxes. Under current law, the Fund is not eligible to elect treatment as a regulated investment company due to its investments primarily in MLPs. Accordingly, the Fund is subject to U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income at the graduated rates applicable to corporations (currently 21%) as well as state and local income taxes. As discussed below, the Fund expects that a portion of the distributions it receives from MLPs may be treated as a tax-deferred return of capital. The amount of taxes currently paid by the Fund will vary depending on the amount of income, gains, losses, and deductions the Fund is allocated from its MLP investments and on the amount of gains and losses derived from sales of MLP interests. Fund-level taxes will reduce your return from an investment in the Fund.
Deferred Tax Risk. For financial reporting (but not tax reporting) purposes, the Fund will accrue deferred income taxes for any future tax liability associated with (i) all or a portion of certain MLP distributions and any net operating gains as well as (ii) capital appreciation of its investments. The Fund’s accrued deferred tax liability will be reflected each day in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). Increases in deferred tax liability will decrease NAV. Conversely, decreases in deferred tax liability will increase NAV. The Fund generally computes deferred income taxes based on the federal tax rate generally applicable to corporations and an assumed rate attributable to state taxes. A change in the federal tax rate applicable to corporations and, consequently, any change in the deferred tax liability of the Fund, may have a significant impact on the NAV of the Fund. The Fund’s current and deferred tax liability, if any, will depend upon the income, gains, losses, and deductions the Fund is allocated from its MLP investments, and on the Fund’s realized and unrealized gains and losses, and therefore may vary greatly from year to year depending on the nature of the Fund’s investments, the performance of these investments and general market conditions. The Fund will rely to a significant extent on information provided by the MLPs, which may not be timely, to estimate deferred tax
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liability for purposes of financial statement reporting and determining NAV. From time to time, Adviser may modify the estimates or assumptions regarding the Fund’s deferred tax liability as new information becomes available.
The Fund estimates regarding its deferred tax liability are made in good faith; however, the daily estimate of the Fund’s deferred tax liability used to calculate the Fund’s NAV could vary dramatically from the Fund’s actual tax liability. The Fund’s actual income tax expense, if any, may be deferred for many years, concentrated in a small number of years, or spread over many years depending on if, and when, investment gains and losses are realized, the timing of recapture income realized by an MLP or realized by the Fund on a sale of an MLP interest, and other factors. As a result, the determination of the Fund’s actual tax liability may have a material impact on the Fund’s NAV.
Although the Fund’s NAV will take into account deferred tax liabilities, there can be no assurance that the purchase price you pay for Shares will take into account deferred tax liabilities. If you purchase Shares at a substantial premium to NAV, the value of the Shares may be adversely impacted by a recapture event that triggers a deferred tax liability not fully reflected in your purchase price or by the issuance of Creation Units at an NAV less than your purchase price. Shareholders who redeem their Shares at a NAV that is based on estimates of the Fund’s current taxes and deferred tax liability and/or asset balances may benefit at the expense of remaining shareholders (or remaining shareholders may benefit at the expense of redeeming shareholders) if the estimates are later revised or ultimately differ from the Fund’s actual tax liability and/or asset balances.
In the event the Fund is in a net deferred tax asset position, the Fund will evaluate all available information and consider the criterion established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board Codification Topic 740, Income Taxes (formerly Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109) in order to properly assess whether it is more likely than not that the deferred tax asset will be realized or whether a valuation allowance is required.
Return of Capital Distributions From the Fund Reduce the Tax Basis of Fund Shares. A portion of the Fund’s distributions are expected to be treated as a return of capital for tax purposes. Return of capital distributions are not taxable income to you but reduce your tax basis in your Fund Shares. Such a reduction in tax basis will generally result in larger taxable gains and/or lower tax losses on a subsequent sale of Fund Shares. The Fund’s return of capital distributions are not derived from the net income or earnings and profits of the Fund. Shareholders should not assume that all Fund distributions are derived from the net income or earnings and profits of the Fund.
Liquidity Risk. Although MLPs trade on national securities exchanges, certain MLP securities may trade less frequently than those of larger companies due to their smaller capitalizations. At times, due to limited trading volumes of certain MLPs, the prices of such MLPs may display abrupt or erratic movements. Moreover, it may be more difficult for the Fund to buy and sell significant amounts of such securities without an unfavorable impact on prevailing market prices. The Fund’s investment in securities that are less actively traded or over time experience decreased trading volume may restrict its ability to take advantage of other market opportunities or to dispose of securities at a fair price at the times when the Adviser believes it is desirable to do so. This also may affect adversely the Fund’s ability to make dividend distributions to you.
Potential Substantial After-Tax Tracking Error From Index Performance. As discussed above, the Fund will be subject to taxation on its taxable income. The Infrastructure MLP Index, however, is calculated without any deductions for taxes. As a result, the Fund’s after tax performance could differ significantly from the Infrastructure MLP Index even if the pretax performance of the Fund and the performance of the Infrastructure MLP Index are closely correlated.
Risk of Cash Transactions. Unlike exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) that qualify for treatment as regulated investment companies under the Code, the Fund will be taxable as a C Corporation. As such, unlike with respect to such other ETFs, the Fund’s redemptions will generally result in taxable income or loss to the Fund. Additionally, the Fund expects to effect its redemptions principally for cash, rather than in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently incur brokerage costs or recognize losses or gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute the portfolio securities in kind. As such, investments in Shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in a conventional ETF that qualifies for treatment as a regulated investment company under the Code.
Market Risk. The prices of the securities in the Fund are subject to the risks associated with investing in the securities market, including general economic conditions and sudden and unpredictable drops in value. An investment in the Fund may lose money.
Operational Risk. 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 Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or system failures.
Index Tracking Risk. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the Infrastructure MLP Index for a number of reasons, including due to the effects of taxes. For example, the Fund incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the Infrastructure MLP Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Infrastructure MLP Index and raising cash to meet redemptions or deploying cash in connection with newly created Creation Units (defined herein), which are not factored into the return of the Infrastructure MLP Index. Transaction costs, including brokerage costs, will decrease the Fund’s NAV to the
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extent not offset by the transaction fee payable by an Authorized Participant (“AP”). 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 Infrastructure MLP Index. Errors in the Infrastructure MLP Index data, the Infrastructure MLP Index computations and/or the construction of the Infrastructure MLP Index in accordance with its methodology may occur from time to time and may not be identified and corrected by the Infrastructure MLP Index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. 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 meet redemptions or pay expenses. In addition, the Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities included in the Infrastructure MLP Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions in which they are represented in the Infrastructure MLP Index. The Fund’s performance may also deviate from the return of the Infrastructure MLP Index due to legal restrictions or limitations, certain listing standards of the Fund’s listing exchange (the “Exchange”), a lack of liquidity on stock exchanges in which such securities trade, potential adverse tax consequences or other regulatory reasons (such as diversification requirements). The Fund may value certain of its investments and/or underlying currencies based on fair value prices. 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 Infrastructure MLP Index. In light of the factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the return of the Infrastructure MLP Index. Changes to the composition of the Infrastructure MLP Index in connection with a rebalancing or reconstitution of the Infrastructure MLP Index may cause the Fund to experience increased volatility, during which time the Fund’s index tracking risk may be heightened.
Authorized Participant Concentration Risk. The Fund may have a limited number of financial institutions that act as APs, none of which are obligated to engage in creation and/or redemption transactions. To the extent that those APs exit the business, or are unable to or choose not to process creation and/or redemption orders, and no other AP is able to step forward to create and redeem, there may be a significantly diminished trading market for Shares or Shares may trade like closed-end funds at a discount (or premium) to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or de-listing. The AP concentration risk may be heightened in scenarios where APs have limited or diminished access to the capital required to post collateral.
No Guarantee of Active Trading Market. While Shares are listed on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for the Shares will be maintained. Further, secondary markets may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods in times of market stress because market makers and APs may step away from making a market in the Shares and in executing creation and redemption orders, which could cause a material deviation in the Fund’s market price from its NAV.
Trading Issues. Trading in Shares on the Exchange may be halted due to market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Shares on the Exchange is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange’s “circuit breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of the Fund will continue to be met or will remain unchanged.
Passive Management Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund invested in equity securities traded on an exchange, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. However, because the Fund is not “actively” managed, unless a specific security is removed from the Infrastructure MLP Index, the Fund generally would not sell a security because the security’s issuer was in financial trouble. Therefore, the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.
Fund Shares Trading, Premium/Discount Risk and Liquidity of Fund Shares. The market price of the Shares may fluctuate in response to the Fund’s NAV, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for Shares. The Adviser cannot predict whether Shares will trade above, below, or at their most recent NAV. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares (including through a trading halt), as well as other factors, may result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV or to the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may pay significantly more or receive significantly less than the underlying value of the Shares that were bought or sold or the shareholder may be unable to sell his or her Shares. Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for the Fund’s Shares may become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings. There are various methods by which investors can purchase and sell Shares. Investors should consult their financial intermediaries before purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund.
Issuer-Specific Changes Risk. The value of individual securities or particular types of securities in the Fund’s portfolio can be more volatile than the market as a whole and can perform differently from the value of the market as a whole, which may
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have a greater impact if the Fund’s portfolio is concentrated in a country, group of countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector or asset class. The value of securities of smaller issuers can be more volatile than that of larger issuers.
Non-Diversified Risk. The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified” fund under the 1940 Act. Therefore, the Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a single issuer. Moreover, the gains and losses on a single investment may have a greater impact on the Fund’s NAV and may make the Fund more volatile than more diversified funds. The Fund may be particularly vulnerable to this risk because the Infrastructure MLP Index it seeks to replicate is comprised of securities of a limited number of companies.
Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to the extent the Infrastructure MLP Index concentrates in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Fund is concentrated in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries, the Fund will be subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that have a negative effect on those sectors and/or industry or groups of industries may negatively impact the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider variety of sectors or industries.
PERFORMANCE
Pursuant to an agreement and plan of reorganization between the VanEck Vectors ETF Trust (the "Trust"), on behalf of the Fund, and Exchange Traded Concepts Trust, on behalf of Yorkville High Income Infrastructure MLP ETF (the "Predecessor Fund"), on February 22, 2016, the Fund acquired all of the assets and liabilities of the Predecessor Fund in exchange for shares of beneficial interest of the Fund (the "Reorganization"). As a result of the Reorganization, the Fund is the accounting successor of the Predecessor Fund. The historical performance information shown below reflects, for the period prior to the Reorganization, the historical performance of the Predecessor Fund.
The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one year, five year and since inception periods compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance. All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.vaneck.com.
Annual Total Returns (%)—Calendar Years
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|
|
|
|
Best Quarter: |
28.07% |
2Q ’16 |
||
Worst Quarter: |
-25.96% |
3Q ’15 |
Average Annual Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31, 2018
The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax
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situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
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Past |
Past |
Since Inception |
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|
VanEck Vectors High Income Infrastructure MLP ETF (return before taxes) |
|
|
-11.26 |
% |
|
|
|
-5.44 |
% |
|
|
|
-2.82 |
% |
|
||||||
|
VanEck Vectors High Income Infrastructure MLP ETF (return after taxes on distributions) |
|
|
-11.26 |
% |
|
|
|
-5.75 |
% |
|
|
|
-3.55 |
% |
|
||||||
|
VanEck Vectors High Income Infrastructure MLP ETF (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares) |
|
|
-6.67 |
% |
|
|
|
-4.09 |
% |
|
|
|
-2.34 |
% |
|
||||||
|
Solactive High Income Infrastructure MLP Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes, except withholding taxes) |
|
|
-12.97 |
% |
|
|
|
-5.89 |
% |
|
|
|
-2.10 |
% |
|
||||||
|
S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
|
|
-4.38 |
% |
|
|
|
8.49 |
% |
|
|
|
11.19 |
% |
|
||||||
See “License Agreements and Disclaimers” for important information.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Investment Adviser. Van Eck Associates Corporation.
Portfolio Managers. The following individuals are primarily and jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio:
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|
|
|
|
Name |
Title with Adviser |
Date Began Managing the Fund |
||
|
||||
Peter H. Liao |
Portfolio Manager |
February 2016 |
||
Guo Hua (Jason) Jin |
Portfolio Manager |
March 2018 |
||
PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES
Each Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in a large specified number of Shares, each called a “Creation Unit,” or multiples thereof. A Creation Unit consists of 50,000 Shares.
Individual Shares of a Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares of the Funds are listed on the Exchange, and because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares of the Funds may trade at a price greater than NAV (i.e., a “premium”) or less than NAV (i.e., a “discount”).
TAX INFORMATION
The Fund’s taxable distributions will generally be treated as ordinary income or qualified dividend income to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Distributions exceeding such amount will be treated first as a return of capital to the extent of, and in reduction of, a shareholder’s tax basis in his or her Shares and, after the shareholder’s tax basis is reduced to zero, as gain on the sale or exchange of Shares. A reduction in a shareholder’s tax basis will generally result in larger taxable gains and/or lower tax losses on a subsequent sale of Fund Shares. A portion of the Fund’s distributions is expected to be treated as a return of capital for tax purposes, although no assurance can be provided in this regard. The Fund’s return of capital distributions are not derived from the net income or earnings and profits of the Fund. Shareholders should not assume that all Fund distributions are derived from the net income or earnings and profits of the Fund. Additionally, a sale of Fund Shares is a taxable event for shares held in a taxable account.
PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES
The Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of the Fund Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your broker-dealer or other intermediary or its employees or associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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800.826.2333
vaneck.com
(04/19)