VanEck Funds (Form: 485BPOS, Received: 04/29/2020 06:26:09)



		PROSPECTUS
		MAY 1, 2020

VanEck Funds

Emerging Markets Fund

Class A: GBFAX / Class C: EMRCX / Class I: EMRIX / Class Y: EMRYX / Class Z: EMRZX

Global Hard Assets Fund

Class A: GHAAX / Class C: GHACX / Class I: GHAIX / Class Y: GHAYX

International Investors Gold Fund

Class A:INIVX / Class C: IIGCX / Class I: INIIX / Class Y: INIYX

These securities have not been approved or disapproved either by the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), or by any State Securities
Commission. Neither the SEC nor any State Commission has passed upon
the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus.

Any claim to the contrary is a criminal offense.

800.826.2333 vaneck.com



TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Summary Information
Emerging Markets Fund (Class A, C, I, Y, Z)	1
Global Hard Assets Fund (Class A, C, I, Y)	6
International Investors Gold Fund (Class A, C, I, Y)	11
II. Investment Objectives, Strategies, Policies, Risks and Other Information	16
1. Investment Objectives	16
2. Additional Information About Principal Investment Strategies and Risks	16
3. Additional Investment Strategies	22
4. Other Information and Policies	24
III. Shareholder Information	25
1. How to Buy, Sell, Exchange or Transfer Shares	25
2. How to Choose a Class of Shares	29
3. Sales Charges	30
4. Householding of Reports and Prospectuses	33
5. Retirement Plans	34
6. Federal Income Taxes	34
7. Dividends and Capital Gains Distributions	35
8. Management of the Funds and Service Providers	37
IV. Financial Highlights	41
Appendix A: Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers	49

EMERGING MARKETS FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y, Z)

SUMMARY INFORMATION

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Emerging Markets Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities in emerging markets around the world.

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 Information-Sales Charges” section of this prospectus, in the “Availability of Discounts” section of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) and, with respect to purchases of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to this prospectus, entitled “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers”. Investors may pay commissions and/or other forms of compensation to an intermediary, such as a broker, for transactions in Class Z shares, which are not reflected in the table or the example below.

Shareholder Fees

(fees paid directly from your investment)




	Class A	Class C	Class I	Class Y	Class Z
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price)	0.00%¹	1.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%

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




	Class A	Class C	Class I	Class Y	Class Z
Management Fees	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	1.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Other Expenses²	0.53%	0.57%	0.41%	0.43%	0.52%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.53%	2.32%	1.16%	1.18%	1.27%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements³	0.00%	0.00%	-0.16%	-0.08%	-0.37%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursements	1.53%	2.32%	1.00%	1.10%	0.90%


¹	A contingent deferred sales charge for Class A shares of 1.00% for one year applies to redemptions of qualified commissionable shares purchased at or above the $1 million breakpoint level.


²	Other expenses of Class Z are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

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 1.60% for Class A, 2.50% for Class C, 1.00% for Class I, 1.10% for Class Y, and 0.90% for Class Z of the Fund’s average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2021. 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 Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, and applies fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, if any, for the periods indicated above under “Annual Fund Operating Expenses.” Although your actual expenses may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

EMERGING MARKETS FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y, Z) (continued)




	Share Status	1 Year		3 Years		5 Years		10 Years
Class A	Sold or Held		$722		$1,031		$1,361		$2,294
Class C	Sold		$335		$724		$1,240		$2,656
	Held		$235		$724		$1,240		$2,656
Class I	Sold or Held		$102		$353		$623		$1,395
Class Y	Sold or Held		$112		$367		$641		$1,425
Class Z	Sold or Held		$92		$366		$661		$1,501

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 24% 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 that are organized in, maintain at least 50% of their assets in, or derive at least 50% of their revenues from, emerging market countries. The Adviser has broad discretion to identify countries that it considers to qualify as emerging markets. The Adviser selects emerging market countries that the Fund will invest in based on the Adviser’s evaluation of economic fundamentals, legal structure, political developments and other specific factors the Adviser believes to be relevant.

Utilizing qualitative and quantitative measures, the Fund’s portfolio manager seeks to invest in reasonably-priced companies that have strong structural growth potential. The portfolio manager seeks attractive investment opportunities in all areas of emerging markets, and utilizes a flexible investment approach across all market capitalizations.

The Fund’s holdings may include issues denominated in currencies of emerging market countries, investment companies (like country funds) that invest in emerging market countries, and American Depositary Receipts, and similar types of investments, representing emerging market securities.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities issued by other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“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 exposure to, certain market sectors, or when direct investments in certain countries are not permitted or available. The Fund may also invest in restricted securities, including Rule 144A securities.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

Chinese Issuers. Investing in securities of Chinese companies involves certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. issuers, including, among others, (i) more frequent (and potentially widespread) trading suspensions and government interventions with respect to Chinese issuers, resulting in lack of liquidity and in price volatility; (ii) currency revaluations and other currency exchange rate fluctuations or blockage; (iii) the nature and extent of intervention by the Chinese government in the Chinese securities markets, whether such intervention will continue and the impact of such intervention or its discontinuation; (iv) the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets; (v) the risk that the Chinese government may decide not to continue to support economic reform programs; (vi) limitations on the use of brokers; (vii) higher rates of inflation; (viii) greater political, economic and social uncertainty; (ix) market volatility caused by any potential regional or territorial conflicts or natural disasters and (x) the risk of increased trade tariffs, embargoes and other trade limitations. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s rapid economic growth. As a result, a reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, the institution of tariffs or other trade barriers, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy.

Risk of Investing in the Communication Services Sector. The Fund will be sensitive to, and its performance may depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the communication services sector. Companies in the communication services sector may be affected by industry competition, substantial capital requirements, government regulations and obsolescence of communications products and services due to technological advancement.

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 Fund’s 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 company’s fees and expenses, which are in addition to the Fund’s own fees and expenses.

Investments through Stock Connect. The Fund’s investments in Chinese A-shares through Stock Connect will be subject to investment quotas and trading restrictions which may pose risks to the Fund. In addition, uncertainty in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) tax rules may result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund.

Management. Investment decisions made by the Adviser in seeking to achieve the Fund’s 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 Fund’s shares to lose value or underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.

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, sudden and unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments might affect companies world-wide. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

Restricted Securities Risk. The Fund may hold securities that are restricted as to resale under the U.S. Federal securities laws,

such as securities in certain privately held companies. Such securities may be highly illiquid and their values may experience

significant volatility. Restricted securities may be difficult to value.

Sectors. The Fund may be subject to greater risks and market fluctuations than a fund whose portfolio has exposure to a broader range of sectors. The Fund may be susceptible to financial, economic, political or market events, as well as government regulation, impacting the financial services, industrials, communication and consumer discretionary sectors.

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.

PERFORMANCE

The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance. For instance, the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Markets Index is an all market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance of emerging markets. The MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Markets Index consists of the following 26 emerging market country indices: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund’s Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be lower than those shown.

EMERGING MARKETS FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y, Z) (continued)

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.

The Fund’s Class Z shares commenced operations on September 16, 2019, and therefore, no performance information is shown for the Fund’s Class Z shares.

CLASS A: Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31



Best Quarter:	+21.57%	1Q '12
Worst Quarter:	-25.88%	3Q '11




Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/19	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Life of Class
Class A Shares (12/20/93)
Before Taxes	22.09%	3.98%	5.13%	—
After Taxes on Distributions¹	21.58%	3.96%	5.08%	—
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	13.34%	3.15%	4.13%	—
Class C Shares (10/3/03)
Before Taxes	27.51%	4.39%	4.91%	—
Class I Shares (12/31/07)
Before Taxes	30.11%	5.74%	6.27%	—
Class Y Shares (4/30/10)
Before Taxes	30.07%	5.64%	—	5.66%
MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Markets Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes except withholding taxes)	17.65%	5.30%	3.60%	—

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. These returns are shown for one class of shares only; after-tax returns for the other classes may vary. Actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation and may differ from those shown in the preceding table. The after-tax return information shown above does not apply to Fund shares held through a tax-advantaged account, such as a 401(k) plan or Investment Retirement Account.

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Investment Adviser. Van Eck Associates Corporation

Portfolio Managers.

David Semple has been Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2002. Angus Shillington has been Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2014. Mr. Shillington has worked at the Adviser as a Senior Analyst since 2009.

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

In general, shares of the Fund may be purchased or redeemed on any business day, primarily through financial representatives such as brokers or advisers, or directly by eligible investors through the Fund’s transfer agent. Purchase minimums for Classes A, 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. Class Z shares have no initial or subsequent purchase minimums, although financial intermediaries may have their own minimums. Purchase minimums for Class I shares are $1 million for an initial purchase and no minimum for a subsequent purchase; the initial minimum may be reduced or waived at the Adviser’s discretion.

TAX INFORMATION

The Fund normally distributes net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax advantaged retirement account, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account (IRA), in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from such account.

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and/or its affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial professional to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial professional or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y)

SUMMARY INFORMATION

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Global Hard Assets Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in hard asset securities. Income is a secondary consideration.

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 Information-Sales Charges” section of this prospectus, in the “Availability of Discounts” section of the Fund’s SAI and, with respect to purchases of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to this prospectus, entitled “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers”.

Shareholder Fees

(fees paid directly from your investment)




	Class A	Class C	Class I	Class Y
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price)	0.00%¹	1.00%	0.00%	0.00%

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




	Class A	Class C	Class I	Class Y
Management Fees	1.00%	1.00%	1.00%	1.00%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	1.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Other Expenses	0.35%	0.44%	0.09%	0.24%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.60%	2.44%	1.09%	1.24%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements²	-0.22%	-0.24%	-0.14%	-0.11%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursements	1.38%	2.20%	0.95%	1.13%


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.

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 1.38% for Class A, 2.20% for Class C, 0.95% for Class I, and 1.13% for Class Y of the Fund’s average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2021. 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




	Share Status	1 Year		3 Years		5 Years		10 Years
Class A	Sold or Held		$707		$1,031		$1,376		$2,348
Class C	Sold		$323		$738		$1,279		$2,758
	Held		$223		$738		$1,279		$2,758
Class I	Sold or Held		$97		$333		$587		$1,316
Class Y	Sold or Held		$115		$383		$670		$1,490

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

Under normal conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of hard assets companies and instruments that derive their value from hard assets. Hard assets include precious metals (including gold), base and industrial metals, energy, natural resources and other commodities. A hard assets company is a company that derives, directly or indirectly, at least 50% of its revenues from exploration, development, production, distribution or facilitation of processes relating to hard assets. The Fund concentrates its investments in the securities of hard assets companies and instruments that derive their value from hard assets.

The Fund may invest without limitation in any one hard assets sector and is not required to invest any portion of its assets in any one hard assets sector. The Fund may invest in securities of companies located anywhere in the world, including the U.S. Under ordinary circumstances, the Fund will invest in securities of issuers from a number of different countries, and may invest any amount of its assets in emerging markets. The Fund may invest in securities of companies of any capitalization range. Utilizing qualitative and quantitative measures, the Fund’s investment management team selects equity securities of companies that it believes represent value opportunities and/or that have growth potential. Candidates for the Fund’s portfolio are evaluated based on their relative desirability using a wide range of criteria and are regularly reviewed to ensure that they continue to offer absolute and relative desirability.

The Fund may use derivative instruments, such as structured notes, warrants, currency forwards, futures contracts, options and swap agreements, to gain or hedge exposure to hard assets, hard assets companies and other assets. The Fund may enter into foreign currency transactions to attempt to moderate the effect of currency fluctuations. The Fund may write covered call options on portfolio securities to the extent that the value of all securities with respect to which covered calls are written does not exceed 10% of the Fund’s net asset value. The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities issued by other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (“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 exposure to, certain market sectors, or when direct investments in certain countries are not permitted or available.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

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 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 Canada’s 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, disease, 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.

GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y) (continued)

Hard Assets Sectors. The Fund may be subject to greater risks and market fluctuations than a fund whose portfolio has exposure to a broader range of sectors. The Fund may be susceptible to financial, economic, political or market events, as well as government regulation, impacting the hard assets sectors (such as the energy and metals sectors). Precious metals and natural resources securities are at times volatile and there may be sharp fluctuations in prices, even during periods of rising prices.

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, sudden and unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments might affect companies world-wide. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

PERFORMANCE

The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and one or more other performance measures. For instance, the S&P® North American Natural Resources Sector Index represents U.S. traded securities that are classified under the GICS® energy and materials sector excluding the chemicals industry and steel sub-industry. MSCI AC World Daily TR Gross USD Index represents large- and mid-cap companies across 23 developed and 26 emerging market countries. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund’s Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be lower than those shown.

CLASS A: Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31



Best Quarter:	+23.42%	4Q '10
Worst Quarter:	-27.23%	3Q '15

GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y) (continued)




Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/19	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Life of Class
Class A Shares (11/2/94)
Before Taxes	5.20%	-6.93%	-3.73%	—
After Taxes on Distributions¹	4.98%	-7.00%	-3.81%	—
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	3.24%	-5.10%	-2.67%	—
Class C Shares (11/2/94)
Before Taxes	9.67%	-6.58%	-3.93%	—
Class I Shares (5/1/06)
Before Taxes	12.06%	-5.45%	-2.78%	—
Class Y Shares (4/30/10)
Before Taxes	11.88%	-5.60%	—	-3.69%
S&P^® North American Natural Resources Sector Index	17.63%	-1.41%	1.39%	—
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
MSCI AC World Daily TR Gross USD Index (reflects no deduction for	27.30%	9.00%	9.37%	—
fees, expenses or taxes)

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Investment Adviser. Van Eck Associates Corporation

Portfolio Managers.

Shawn Reynolds has been Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2010. Charles T. Cameron has been Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2016 and a member of the investment team since 1995. Mr. Cameron has also been an investment team member on various funds managed by the Adviser since 1995.

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

Purchase minimums for Class I shares are $1 million for an initial purchase and no minimum for a subsequent purchase; the initial minimum may be reduced or waived at the Adviser’s discretion.

TAX INFORMATION

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y)

SUMMARY INFORMATION

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 Information-Sales Charges” section of this prospectus, in the “Availability of Discounts” section of the Fund’s SAI and, with respect to purchases of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to this prospectus, entitled “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers.”

Shareholder Fees

(fees paid directly from your investment)




	Class A	Class C	Class I	Class Y
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price)	0.00%¹	1.00%	0.00%	0.00%

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




	Class A	Class C	Class I	Class Y
Management Fees	0.73%	0.73%	0.73%	0.73%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	1.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Other Expenses	0.51%	0.58%	0.36%	0.44%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.49%	2.31%	1.09%	1.17%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements²	-0.04%	-0.11%	-0.09%	-0.07%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursements	1.45%	2.20%	1.00%	1.10%


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.

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 Fund’s average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2021. 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

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y) (continued)




	Share Status	1 Year		3 Years		5 Years		10 Years
Class A	Sold or Held		$714		$1,015		$1,338		$2,249
Class C	Sold		$323		$711		$1,225		$2,637
	Held		$223		$711		$1,225		$2,637
Class I	Sold or Held		$102		$338		$592		$1,321
Class Y	Sold or Held		$112		$365		$637		$1,414

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

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 Fund’s 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 Fund’s 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 Subsidiary’s underlying investments for determining compliance with the Fund’s 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 exposure to, certain market sectors, or when direct investments in certain countries are not permitted or available.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

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.

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.

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, sudden and unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments might affect companies world-wide. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND (CLASS A, C, I, Y) (continued)

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.

Subsidiary. By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The Subsidiary is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (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 Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s 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. MSCI AC World Daily TR Gross USD Index represents large- and mid-cap companies across 23 developed and 26 emerging market countries. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund’s Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be lower than those shown.

CLASS A: Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31



Best Quarter:	+46.89%	2Q '16
Worst Quarter:	-33.43%	2Q '13




Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/19	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Life of Class
Class A Shares (2/10/56)
Before Taxes	30.04%	7.35%	-3.06%	—
After Taxes on Distributions¹	28.23%	5.88%	-4.17%	—
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	17.90%	5.03%	-2.33%	—
Class C Shares (10/3/03)
Before Taxes	36.12%	7.80%	-3.22%	—
Class I Shares (10/2/06)
Before Taxes	38.61%	9.09%	-2.10%	—
Class Y Shares (4/30/10)
Before Taxes	38.52%	8.99%	—	-3.62%
NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes, except withholding taxes)	40.89%	10.84%	-3.35%	—
MSCI AC World Daily TR Gross USD Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	27.30%	9.00%	9.37%	—

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 and a member of the investment team since 2011.

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

Purchase minimums for Class I shares are $1 million for an initial purchase and no minimum for a subsequent purchase; the initial minimum may be reduced or waived at the Adviser’s discretion.

TAX INFORMATION

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

II. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION

This section states each Fund’s investment objective and describes certain strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective. This section also provides additional information about the principal risks associated with investing in each Fund.

1. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES


Fund	Emerging Markets Fund


Objective	The Emerging Markets Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities in emerging markets around the world.


Fund	Global Hard Assets Fund


Objective	The Global Hard Assets Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in hard asset securities. Income is a secondary consideration.


Fund	International Investors Gold Fund


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.

Each Fund’s investment objective is fundamental and may only be changed with shareholder approval.

2. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RISKS

Commodities and Commodity-Linked Derivatives Risk. (Global Hard Assets Fund and International Investors Gold Fund only.) Commodities include precious metals (such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium in the form of bullion and coins), industrial metals, gas and other energy products and natural resources. The value of a commodity-linked derivative investment generally is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity (such as energy, mineral, or agricultural products), a commodity futures contract or commodity index, or other economic variable based upon changes in the value of commodities or the commodities markets. The Fund may seek exposure to the commodity markets through investments in leveraged or unleveraged commodity-linked or index-linked notes, which are derivative debt instruments with principal and/or coupon payments linked to the value of commodities, commodity futures contracts or the performance of commodity indices. These notes are sometimes referred to as “structured notes” because the terms of these notes may be structured by the issuer and the purchaser of the note.

Exposure to the commodities markets 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, disease, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and changes in interest rates or inflation rates. Prices of various commodities may also be affected by factors such as drought, floods, weather, embargoes, tariffs and other regulatory developments. The prices of commodities can also fluctuate widely due to supply and demand disruptions in major producing or consuming regions. Certain commodities may be produced in a limited number of countries and may be controlled by a small number of producers. As a result, political, economic and supply related events in such countries could have a disproportionate impact on the prices of such commodities.

Commodity-Linked “Structured” Securities. Because the value of a commodity-linked derivative instrument typically is based upon the price movements of a physical commodity, the value of the commodity-linked derivative instrument may be affected by changes in overall market movements, commodity index volatility, changes in interest rates, or factors affecting a particular industry. The value of these securities will rise or fall in response to changes in the underlying commodity or related index of investment.

Structured Notes. Structured notes expose the Fund economically to movements in commodity prices. The performance of a structured note is determined by the price movement of the commodity underlying the note. A highly liquid secondary market may not exist for structured notes, and there can be no assurance that one will develop. These notes are often leveraged, increasing the volatility of each note’s market value relative to changes in the underlying commodity, commodity futures contract or commodity index.

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 was 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. As a regulated investment company, the Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources treated as qualifying income under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), including income from any financial instrument or position that constitutes a security under section 2(a)(36) of the 1940 Act. In September 2016 the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced that it will no longer issue private letter rulings on questions relating to the treatment of a corporation as a regulated investment company that require a determination of whether a financial instrument or position is a security under section 2(a)(36) of the

1940 Act. The IRS also revoked rulings issued to some funds regarding the treatment of commodity-linked notes held directly by such funds. The uncertainty surrounding the treatment of certain derivative instruments under the qualification tests for a regulated investment company may limit the Fund’s use of such derivative instruments. The Global Hard Assets Fund and the International Investors Gold Fund also may incur transaction and other costs to comply with any new or additional guidance from the IRS.

Risk of Investing in the Communication Services Sector. (Emerging Markets Fund only.) The Fund will be sensitive to, and its performance may depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the communication services sector. Companies in the communication services sector may be affected by industry competition, substantial capital requirements, government regulations and obsolescence of communications products and services due to technological advancement.

Concentration in Gold-Mining Industry Risk. (International Investors Gold Fund only.) The Fund concentrates its investments in the securities of companies engaged in gold-related activities, including exploration, mining, processing, or dealing in gold. The International Investors Gold 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 (including environmental regulation), impacting the gold-mining industry. Fluctuations in the price of gold often dramatically affect the profitability of companies in the gold-mining industry. Changes in the political or economic climate for a large gold producer, such as China or Australia, may have a direct impact on the price of gold worldwide. The value of securities of companies in the gold-mining industry are highly dependent on the price of gold at any given time.

Consumer Discretionary Sector Risk. (Emerging Markets Fund only.) As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in companies in the consumer discretionary sector. The Fund may be subject to greater risks and market fluctuations than a fund whose portfolio has exposure to a broader range of sectors. The Fund may be susceptible to financial, economic, political or market events, as well as government regulation, impacting the consumer discretionary sector. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector are subject to fluctuations in supply and demand. These companies may also be adversely affected by changes in consumer spending as a result of world events, political and economic conditions, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates, imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and labor relations.

Derivatives Risk. (Global Hard Assets Fund and International Investors Gold Fund only.) The term “derivatives” covers a broad range of financial instruments, including swap agreements, options, warrants, futures contracts, currency forwards and structured notes, whose values are derived, at least in part, from the value of one or more indicators, such as a security, asset, index or reference rate.

The use of derivatives 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, commodity, asset, index or reference rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it originally committed to initial margin, and more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility, among other consequences. There may be imperfect correlation between changes in the market value of a derivative and the value of its underlying reference asset, or in the case of hedging, in the value of the portfolio investment being hedged, and this may be exaggerated in times of market stress or volatility. Many derivatives require the Fund to post margin or collateral or otherwise maintain liquid assets in a manner that satisfies contractual undertakings and regulatory requirements. In order to satisfy margin or other requirements, the Fund may need to sell securities from its portfolio or exit positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. All of this could, in turn, affect the Fund's ability to fully execute its investment strategies and/or achieve its investment objective. The use of derivatives may increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders because changes in government regulation of derivatives could affect the character, timing and amount of the Fund’s taxable income or gains. Additionally, the Fund’s use of derivatives may be limited by the requirements for taxation of the Fund as a regulated investment company. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the Fund's counterparty in a transaction may be unwilling, or unable, to perform its obligations under the transaction. The use of derivatives also involves the risk of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying currency, security, commodity, asset, index or reference rate. Derivatives may be subject to changing government regulation that could impact the Fund's ability to use certain derivatives and their cost.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION (continued)

testing requirements and requirements related to board reporting. These new requirements would apply unless the fund is qualified as a “limited derivatives user,” as defined in the SEC’s proposal. The fund trading reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions would need to aggregate the amount of indebtedness associated with the reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions with the aggregate amount of any other senior securities representing indebtedness when

calculating the fund’s asset coverage ratio. Reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions would not be

included in the calculation of whether the fund is a limited derivatives user, but for the fund subject to the VaR testing, reverse

repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions would be included for purposes of such testing. Any new requirements,

if adopted, may increase the cost of the fund’s investments and cost of doing business, which could adversely affect investors.

Leverage Risk. (Global Hard Assets Fund and International Investors Gold Fund only.) To the extent that a Fund borrows money or utilizes certain derivatives, it may be leveraged. Leveraging generally exaggerates the effect on NAV of any increase or decrease in the market value of a Fund’s portfolio securities. To manage the risk associated with leveraging, a Fund may segregate liquid assets, or otherwise “cover” its derivatives position in a manner consistent with the 1940 Act and the rules and SEC interpretations thereunder. A Fund may modify its asset segregation policies at any time to comply with any changes in the SEC’s positions regarding asset segregation.

Direct Investments Risk. Direct investments are investments made directly with an enterprise through a shareholder or similar agreement not through publicly traded shares or interests. A Fund will not invest more than 10% of its total assets in 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, a Fund may take longer to liquidate these positions than would be the case for publicly traded securities. Although these securities may be resold in privately negotiated transactions, the prices on these sales could be less than those originally paid by the Fund. Issuers whose securities are not publicly traded may not be subject to public disclosure and other investor protection requirements applicable to 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 Risk. Emerging market securities typically present even greater exposure to the risks described under “Foreign Securities Risk” 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. Political risks may include unstable governments, nationalization, restrictions on foreign ownership, laws that prevent investors from getting their money out of a country and legal systems that do not protect property rights as well as the laws of the U.S. These restrictions and/or controls may at times limit or prevent foreign investment in securities of issuers located or operating in emerging market countries. Market risks may include economies that concentrate in only a few industries, securities issued that are held by only a few investors, limited trading capacity in local exchanges and the possibility that markets or issues may be manipulated by foreign nationals who have inside information. These factors, among others, make investing in issuers located or operating in emerging market countries significantly riskier than investing in issuers located or operating in more developed countries, and any one of them could cause a decline in the value of a Fund’s shares.

Financial Services Sector Risk. (Emerging Markets Fund only.) As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in companies in the financial services sectors. The Fund may be subject to greater risks and market fluctuations than a fund whose portfolio has exposure to a broader range of sectors. The Fund may be susceptible to financial, economic, political or market events, as well as government regulation, impacting the financial services sector. Companies in the financial services sector may be subject to extensive government regulation that affects the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. The profitability of companies in the financial services sector may be adversely affected by increases in interest rates, by loan losses, which usually increase in economic downturns, and by credit rating downgrades. In addition, the financial services sector is undergoing numerous changes, including continuing consolidations, development of new products and structures and changes to its regulatory framework. Furthermore, recent developments in the credit markets may cause companies operating in the financial services sector to incur large losses, experience declines in the value of their assets and even cease operations.

Foreign Currency Transactions Risk. 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. A Fund may enter into foreign currency transactions either to facilitate settlement transactions or for purposes of hedging exposure to underlying currencies. To manage currency exposure, the Fund may enter into forward currency contracts to “lock in” the U.S. dollar price of the security. A forward currency contract involves an agreement to purchase or sell a specified currency at a specified future price set at the time of the contract.

Foreign Securities Risk. 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, including the takeover of property without adequate compensation or imposition of prohibitive taxation, or political, economic or social instability. Each Fund invests in securities of issuers located in countries whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on a Fund’s investments. 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.

Foreign companies may become subject to sanctions imposed by the United States, another country or an international organization, which could result in the immediate freeze of the foreign companies’ assets or securities. The imposition of such sanctions could impair the market value of the securities of such foreign companies and limit a Fund’s ability to buy, sell, receive or deliver the securities. A Fund may invest indirectly in foreign securities through depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which involve risks similar to those associated with direct investments in such securities.

Hard Assets Sectors Risk. (Global Hard Assets Fund only.) The Fund concentrates its investments in the securities of hard assets companies and instruments that derive their value from hard assets. Hard assets include precious metals (including gold), base and industrial metals, energy, natural resources, and other commodities.

The Fund may be subject to greater risks and market fluctuations than a fund whose portfolio has exposure to a broader range of sectors. The Fund may be susceptible to financial, economic, political or market events, as well as government regulation (including environmental regulation), impacting the hard assets sectors. Specifically, the energy sector can be affected by changes in the prices of and supplies of oil and other energy fuels, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, and tax and other government regulations. The metals sector can be affected by sharp price volatility over short periods caused by global economic, financial and political factors, resource availability, government regulation, economic cycles, changes in inflation, interest rates, currency fluctuations, metal sales by governments, central banks or international agencies, investment speculation and fluctuations in industrial and commercial supply and demand. Precious metals and natural resources securities are at times volatile and there may be sharp fluctuations in prices, even during periods of rising prices. Additionally, companies engaged in the production and distribution of hard assets may be adversely affected by changes in world events, political and economic conditions, energy conservation, environmental policies, commodity price volatility, changes in exchange rates, imposition of import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources and labor relations.

Industrials Sector Risk. (Emerging Markets Fund only). As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in companies in the industrials sector. To the extent that it continues to invest significantly in the industrials sector, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance may depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the industrials sector. Companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in government regulation, world events and economic conditions. In addition, companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by environmental damages, product liability claims and exchange rates.

Risks of Investing in Australian Issuers. (International Investors Gold Fund only.) As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in securities of Australian issuers. Investment in Australian issuers may subject the Fund to regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risk specific to Australia. The Australian economy is heavily dependent on exports from the agricultural and mining sectors. As a result, the Australian economy is susceptible to fluctuations in the commodity markets. The Australian economy is also becoming increasingly dependent on its growing services industry. The Australian economy is dependent on trading with key trading partners, including the United States, China, Japan, Singapore and certain European countries. Reduction in spending on Australian products and services, or changes in any of the economies, may cause an adverse impact on the Australian economy. Additionally, Australia is located in a part of the world that has historically been prone to natural disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes and droughts, and is economically sensitive to environmental events. Any such event may adversely impact the Australian economy, causing an adverse impact on the value of the Fund.

Risks of Investing in Canadian Issuers. (Global Hard Assets Fund and International Investors Gold Fund only.) As of December 31, 2019, each Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in securities of 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 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 Canada’s 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. Since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) in 1994, total two-way merchandise trade between the United States and Canada has more than doubled. To further this relationship, all three NAFTA countries entered into The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America in March 2005, which addressed economic and security related issues. However, political developments in the United States, including ratification of the successor agreement to NAFTA, may have implications for the trade arrangements between the United States and Canada, which could negatively affect the value of the securities held by the Funds. These agreements may further increase Canada’s dependency on the U.S. economy. Past periodic demands by the Province of Quebec for sovereignty have significantly affected equity valuations and foreign currency movements in the Canadian market and such demands may continue to have this effect in the future. In addition, certain sectors of Canada’s economy may be subject to foreign ownership limitations. This may negatively impact a Fund’s ability to invest in Canadian issuers.

Investments in Chinese Issuers Risk. (Emerging Markets Fund only.) As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in securities of Chinese issuers, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. Investing in securities of Chinese

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION (continued)

companies involves certain risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in securities of U.S. issuers, including, among others, (i) more frequent (and potentially widespread) trading suspensions and government interventions with respect to Chinese issuers, resulting in lack of liquidity and in price volatility; (ii) currency revaluations and other currency exchange rate fluctuations or blockage; (iii) the nature and extent of intervention by the Chinese government in the Chinese securities markets, whether such intervention will continue and the impact of such intervention or its discontinuation; (iv) the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets; (v) the risk that the Chinese government may decide not to continue to support economic reform programs; (vi) limitations on the use of brokers; (vii) higher rates of inflation; (viii) greater political, economic and social uncertainty; (ix) market volatility caused by any potential regional or territorial conflicts or natural disasters or other disasters, such as the recent coronavirus outbreak and; (x) the risk of increased trade tariffs, embargoes and other trade limitations. In addition, the economy of China differs, often unfavorably, from the U.S. economy in such respects as structure, general development, government involvement, wealth distribution, rate of inflation, growth rate, interest rates, allocation of resources and capital reinvestment, among others. The Chinese central government has historically exercised substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through administrative regulation and/or state ownership and actions of the Chinese central and local government authorities continue to have a substantial effect on economic conditions in China. In addition, previously the Chinese government has from time to time taken actions that influence the prices at which certain goods may be sold, encourage companies to invest or concentrate in particular industries, induce mergers between companies in certain industries and induce private companies to publicly offer their securities to increase or continue the rate of economic growth, control the rate of inflation or otherwise regulate economic expansion. The Chinese government may do so in the future as well, potentially having a significant adverse effect on economic conditions in China. Export growth continues to be a major driver of China’s rapid economic growth. As a result, a reduction in spending on Chinese products and services, the institution of tariffs or other trade barriers, or a downturn in any of the economies of China’s key trading partners may have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy. The current political climate and the further escalation of a trade war between China and the United States may have an adverse effect on both the U.S. and Chinese economies, as each country has recently imposed tariffs on the other country's products. These actions may trigger a significant reduction in international trade, the oversupply of certain manufactured goods, substantial price reductions of goods and possible failure of individual companies and/or large segments of China’s export industry, which could have a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Events such as these and their consequences are difficult to predict and it is unclear whether further tariffs may be imposed or other escalating actions may be taken in the future.

Risks of Investing in Indian Issuers Risk. (Emerging Markets Fund only.) As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in securities of Indian issuers. Investing in securities of Indian issuers involves risks not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers in more developed countries that may negatively affect the value of your investment in the Fund. Such heightened risks include, among others, greater government control over the economy, political and legal uncertainty, currency fluctuations or blockage of foreign currency exchanges and the risk of nationalization or expropriation of assets. Issuers in India are subject to less stringent requirements regarding accounting, auditing and financial reporting than are issuers in more developed markets, and therefore, all material information may not be available or reliable. In addition, religious and border disputes persist in India. India has experienced civil unrest and hostilities with neighboring countries, including Pakistan, and the Indian government has confronted separatist movements in several Indian states. India has also experienced acts of terrorism that have targeted foreigners, which have had a negative impact on tourism, an important sector of the Indian economy. The Indian securities markets are smaller than securities markets in more developed economies and are subject to greater price volatility. Indian stock exchanges have also experienced problems such as temporary exchange closures, broker defaults, settlement delays and strikes by brokers that have affected the market price and liquidity of the securities of Indian companies. In addition, the governing bodies of the Indian stock exchanges have from time to time restricted securities from trading, limited price movements and restricted margin requirements. Further, from time to time, disputes have occurred between listed companies and the Indian stock exchanges and other regulatory bodies that, in some cases, have had a negative effect on market sentiment. Certain restrictions on foreign investment may decrease the liquidity of the Fund's portfolio. In addition, the Reserve Bank of India, the Indian counterpart of the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States, imposes certain limits on the foreign ownership of Indian securities. These restrictions and/or controls may at times limit or prevent foreign investment in securities of issuers located or operating in India.

Risks of Investing in Other Investment Companies. Each Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities issued by other investment companies (excluding money market funds), including open end and closed end funds and ETFs, subject to the limitations under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Funds’ investments in money market funds are not subject to this limitation.

A Fund’s 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 company’s fees and expenses, which are in addition to the Fund’s own fees and expenses. Shares of closed-end funds and ETFs may trade at prices that reflect a premium above or a discount below the investment company’s net asset value, which may be substantial in the case of closed-end funds. If investment company securities are purchased at a premium to net asset value, the premium may not exist when those securities are sold and the Fund could incur a loss.

Risks of Investing Through Stock Connect. (Emerging Markets Fund only.) The Fund may invest in Chinese A-shares listed and traded on the Shanghai or Shenzhen Stock Exchanges through Stock Connect, or on such other stock exchanges in China which participate in Stock Connect from time to time.

Trading through Stock Connect is subject to a number of restrictions that may affect the Fund’s investments and returns. For example, trading through Stock Connect is subject to daily quotas that limit the maximum daily net purchases on any particular day, which may restrict or preclude the Fund’s ability to invest in Stock Connect A-shares. In addition, investments made through Stock Connect are subject to trading, clearance and settlement procedures that are relatively untested in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), which could pose risks to the Fund. Furthermore, securities purchased via Stock Connect will be held via a book entry omnibus account in the name of HKSCC, Hong Kong’s clearing entity, at the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited (“CSDCC”). The Fund’s ownership interest in Stock Connect securities will not be reflected directly in book entry with CSDCC and will instead only be reflected on the books of its Hong Kong sub-custodian. The Fund may therefore depend on HKSCC’s ability or willingness as record-holder of Stock Connect securities to enforce the Fund’s shareholder rights. PRC law did not historically recognize the concept of beneficial ownership; while PRC regulations and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange have issued clarifications and guidance supporting the concept of beneficial ownership via Stock Connect, the interpretation of beneficial ownership in the PRC by regulators and courts may continue to evolve. Moreover, Stock Connect A-shares generally may not be sold, purchased or otherwise transferred other than through Stock Connect in accordance with applicable rules.

A primary feature of Stock Connect is the application of the home market’s laws and rules applicable to investors in A-shares. Therefore, the Fund’s investments in Stock Connect A-shares are generally subject to PRC securities regulations and listing rules, among other restrictions. The Fund will not benefit from access to Hong Kong investor compensation funds, which are set up to protect against defaults of trades, when investing through Stock Connect. Stock Connect is only available on days when markets in both the PRC and Hong Kong are open, which may limit the Fund’s ability to trade when it would be otherwise attractive to do so. Since the inception of Stock Connect, foreign investors (including the Fund) investing in A-shares through Stock Connect have been temporarily exempt from the PRC corporate income tax and value-added tax on the gains on disposal of such A-shares. Dividends are subject to PRC corporate income tax on a withholding basis at 10% unless reduced under a double tax treaty with China upon application to and obtaining approval from the competent tax authority. Additionally, uncertainties in permanent PRC tax rules governing taxation of income and gains from investments in Stock Connect A-shares could result in unexpected tax liabilities for the Fund. The withholding tax treatment of dividends and capital gains payable to overseas investors currently is unsettled.

Management Risk. Investment decisions made by the Adviser in seeking to achieve the Fund’s 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 Fund’s shares to lose value or underperform other funds with similar investment objectives.

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, sudden and unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline generally or could underperform other investments. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

Non-Diversification Risk. (International Investors Gold Fund only.) A non-diversified fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in a single issuer than a “diversified” fund. A “diversified” fund is required by the 1940 Act, generally, with respect to 75% of the value of its total assets, to invest not more than 5% of such assets in the securities of a single issuer and not to hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of a single issuer. 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.

Operational Risk. An investment in a Fund involves “operational risk”-the risk arising from the Fund’s operations. Each 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.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION (continued)

Regulatory Risk. (International Investors Gold Fund only.) The Fund and the Subsidiary are subject to the laws and regulated by the governments of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands, respectively. 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.

Investment in the Subsidiary is expected to provide the Fund with exposure to the commodities markets within the limitations of the federal income tax requirements of Subchapter M of the Code. Subchapter M requires, among other things, that at least 90% of the Fund’s gross income be derived from securities or derived with respect to its business of investing in securities (typically referred to as “qualifying income”). Historically, in many cases a fund intending to utilize a subsidiary for commodities investments would apply to the IRS to obtain a private letter ruling that income from the fund’s investment in a subsidiary would constitute qualifying income for purposes of Subchapter M. However, in March 2019, the IRS issued final regulations permitting regulated investment companies to treat income from investments such as the International Investors Gold Fund’s Subsidiary as qualifying income for purposes of Subchapter M even if the Subsidiary does not make a distribution of that income such that funds no longer need to rely upon private letter ruling. Accordingly, the Fund expects to invest its assets in the Subsidiary, consistent with applicable law and the advice of counsel, in a manner that should permit the Fund to treat income allocable from the Subsidiary as qualifying income. Should the IRS take action that adversely affects the tax treatment of the Fund’s use of the Subsidiary, it could limit the Fund’s ability to pursue its investment objective as described. The Fund also may incur transaction and other costs to comply with any new or additional guidance from the IRS.

Risk of Investing in Small- and Medium-Capitalization Companies. Securities of small- and medium-sized companies are often subject to less analyst coverage and may be in early and less predictable periods of their corporate existences. In addition, these companies often have greater price volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than larger, more established companies. These companies tend to have smaller revenues, narrower product lines, less management depth and experience, smaller shares of their product or service markets, fewer financial resources and less competitive strength than larger companies. The stocks of small- and medium-sized companies may have returns that vary, sometimes significantly, from the overall stock market.

Restricted Securities Risk. (Emerging Markets Fund only.) Regulation S and Rule 144A securities are restricted securities. Restricted securities are securities that are not registered under the Securities Act. They may be less liquid and more difficult to value than other investments because such securities may not be readily marketable. The Fund may not be able to sell a restricted security promptly or at a reasonable time or price. Although there may be a substantial institutional market for these securities, it is not possible to predict exactly how the market for such securities will develop or whether it will continue to exist. A restricted security that was liquid at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid and its value may decline as a result. Restricted securities that are deemed illiquid will count towards the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. In addition, transaction costs may be higher for restricted securities than for more liquid securities. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering restricted securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration.

Subsidiary Risk. (International Investors Gold Fund only.) By investing in the Subsidiary, the Fund is indirectly exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary’s investments. The derivatives and other investments held by the Subsidiary, including ETFs that invest in gold bullion, are generally similar to those that are permitted to be held by the Fund and are subject to the same risks that apply to similar investments if held directly by the Fund. These risks are described elsewhere in this prospectus.

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. In addition, changes in the laws of the United States and/or the Cayman Islands could result in the inability of the Fund and/or the Subsidiary to operate as described in this prospectus and the SAI and could eliminate or severely limit the Fund’s ability to invest in the Subsidiary which may adversely affect the Fund and its shareholders.

3. ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

DERIVATIVES

(Emerging Markets Fund as a non-principal strategy only. See “Additional Information about Principal Investment Strategies and Risks-Derivatives Risk” for information about the Global Hard Assets Fund’s and the International Investors Gold Fund’s use of derivatives.) The Fund may use derivative instruments, such as swap agreements, options, warrants, futures contracts, currency forwards and structured notes, to gain or hedge exposure. The value of a derivative instrument is derived, at least in part, from the value of one or more indicators, such as a currency, security, commodity, asset, index or reference rate. The use of derivatives 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, commodity, asset, index or reference rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it originally committed to initial margin, and more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility, among other consequences. There may be imperfect correlation between changes in the market value of a derivative and the value of its underlying reference asset, or in the case of hedging, in the value of the portfolio investment being hedged, and this may be

exaggerated in times of market stress or volatility. Many derivatives require the Fund to post margin or collateral or otherwise maintain liquid assets in a manner that satisfies contractual undertakings and regulatory requirements. In order to satisfy margin or other requirements, the Fund may need to sell securities from its portfolio or exit positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. All of this could, in turn, affect the Fund's ability to fully execute its investment strategies and/or achieve its investment objective. The use of derivatives may increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders because changes in government regulation of derivatives could affect the character, timing and amount of the Fund’s taxable income or gains. Additionally, the Fund’s use of derivatives may be limited by the requirements for taxation of the Fund as a regulated investment company. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the Fund's counterparty in a transaction may be unwilling, or unable, to perform its obligations under the transaction. The use of derivatives also involves the risk of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying currency, security, commodity, asset, index or reference rate. Derivatives may be subject to changing government regulation that could impact the Fund's ability to use certain derivatives and their cost.

calculating the fund’s asset coverage ratio. Reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions would not be

included in the calculation of whether the fund is a limited derivatives user, but for the fund subject to the VaR testing, reverse

repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions would be included for purposes of such testing. Any new requirements,

if adopted, may increase the cost of the fund’s investments and cost of doing business, which could adversely affect investors.

ADDITIONAL REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS
With respect to each Fund, the Adviser has claimed an exclusion from the definition of a "commodity pool operator" ("CPO") under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as amended ("CEA"), and the rules of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and, therefore, is not subject to CFTC registration or regulation as a CPO. In addition, with respect to each Fund, the Adviser is relying upon a related exclusion from the definition of a "commodity trading advisor" ("CTA") under the CEA and the rules of the CFTC. The terms of the CPO exclusion require a Fund, among other things, to adhere to certain limits on its investments in “commodity interests.” Commodity interests include commodity futures, commodity options and swaps, which in turn include non-deliverable currency forward contracts. Because the Adviser and the Funds intend to comply with the terms of the CPO exclusion, a Fund may, in the future, need to adjust its investment strategies, consistent with its investment objective to limit its investments in these types of instruments. The Funds are not intended as vehicles for trading in the commodity futures, commodity options or swaps markets. The CFTC has neither reviewed nor approved the Adviser's reliance on these exclusions, or the Funds, the Subsidiary, their investment strategies or this prospectus.

INVESTMENTS IN OTHER EQUITY AND FIXED INCOME SECURITIES

The investments of the Funds may include, but not be limited to, common stocks, preferred stocks (either convertible or non-convertible), rights, warrants, direct equity interests in trusts, partnerships, joint ventures and other unincorporated entities or enterprises, convertible debt instruments and special classes of shares available only to foreigners in markets that restrict ownership of certain shares or classes to their own nationals or residents.

INVESTING DEFENSIVELY

Each Fund may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in anticipation of or in an attempt to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions. A Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively.

SECURITIES LENDING

Each Fund may lend its securities as permitted under the 1940 Act, including by participating in securities lending programs managed by broker-dealers or other institutions. Securities lending allows a Fund to retain ownership of the securities loaned and, at the same time, earn additional income. The borrowings must be collateralized in full with cash, U.S. government securities or high-quality letters of credit.

A Fund could experience delays and costs in recovering the securities loaned or in gaining access to the securities lending collateral. If a Fund is not able to recover the securities loaned, the Fund may sell the collateral and purchase a replacement

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION (continued)

investment in the market. The value of the collateral could decrease below the value of the replacement investment by the time the replacement investment is purchased. Cash received as collateral and which is invested is subject to market appreciation and depreciation.

4. OTHER INFORMATION AND POLICIES

BENEFICIARIES OF CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS

VanEck Funds (the “Trust”) enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including, among others, the Funds’ investment adviser, administrator and distributor, who provide services to the Funds. Shareholders of the Funds are not parties to, or intended (or “third-party”) beneficiaries of, any of those contractual arrangements, and those contractual arrangements are not intended to create in any individual shareholder or group of shareholders any right to enforce such contractual arrangements against the service providers or to seek any remedy under such contractual arrangements against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the Trust.

This prospectus provides information concerning the Trust and the Funds that you should consider in determining whether to purchase shares of a Fund. None of this prospectus, the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) or any document filed as an exhibit to the Trust’s registration statement, is intended to, nor does it, give rise to an agreement or contract between the Trust or the Funds and any investor, or give rise to any contract or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person other than any rights conferred explicitly by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.

CHANGING A FUND’S 80% POLICY

A Fund’s policy of investing “at least 80% of its net assets” (which includes net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) may be changed by the Board of Trustees the (“Board”) without a shareholder vote, as long as shareholders are given 60 days notice of the change.

CYBER SECURITY

The Funds and their service providers are susceptible to cyber security risks that include, among other things, theft, unauthorized monitoring, release, misuse, loss, destruction or corruption of confidential and highly restricted data; denial of service attacks; unauthorized access to relevant systems; compromises to networks or devices that the Funds and their service providers use to service the Funds’ operations; and operational disruption or failures in the physical infrastructure or operating systems that support the Funds and their service providers. Cyber attacks against or security breakdowns of the Funds or their service providers may adversely impact the Funds and their shareholders, potentially resulting in, among other things, financial losses; the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business and the Funds to process transactions; the inability to calculate the Funds’ net asset value; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs; and/or additional compliance costs. The Funds may incur additional costs for cyber security risk management and remediation purposes. In addition, cyber security risks may also impact issuers of securities in which the Funds invest, which may cause the Funds’ investments in such issuers to lose value. There can be no assurance that the Funds or their service providers will not suffer losses relating to cyber attacks or other information security breaches in the future.

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS INFORMATION

Generally, it is the Funds’ and Adviser’s policy that no current or potential investor, including any Fund shareholder, shall be provided information about the Funds’ portfolio on a preferential basis in advance of the provision of that information to other investors. A complete description of the Funds’ policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Funds’ portfolio securities is available in the Funds’ SAI.

Portfolio holdings information for the Funds is available to all investors on the VanEck website at vaneck.com. Information regarding the Funds’ top holdings and country and sector weightings, updated as of each month-end, is also located on this website. Generally, this information is posted to the website within 10 business days of the end of the applicable month. This information generally remains available on the website until new information is posted. Each Fund reserves the right to exclude any portion of these portfolio holdings from publication when deemed in the best interest of the Fund, and to discontinue the posting of portfolio holdings information at any time, without prior notice.

PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS

The percentage limitations relating to the composition of a Fund’s portfolio apply at the time the Fund acquires an investment. A subsequent increase or decrease in percentage resulting from a change in the value of portfolio securities or the total or net assets of the Fund will not be considered a violation of the restriction.

III. SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

1. HOW TO BUY, SELL, EXCHANGE OR TRANSFER SHARES

Each of Global Hard Assets Fund and International Investors Fund offers Class A, Class C, Class I and Class Y shares. Emerging Markets Fund offers Class A, Class C, Class I, Class Y and Class Z shares. Information related to how to buy, sell, exchange and transfer shares is discussed below. See the “Minimum Purchase” section for information related to initial and subsequent minimum investment amounts. The minimum investment amounts vary by share class.

Through a Financial Intermediary

Primarily, accounts are opened through a financial intermediary (broker, bank, adviser or agent). Please contact your financial intermediary for details.

Through the Transfer Agent, DST Systems, Inc., an SS&C Company (DST)

You may buy (purchase), sell (redeem), exchange, or transfer ownership of Class A, Class C and Class I shares directly through DST by mail or telephone, as stated below. For Class Y and Z shares, shareholders must open accounts and transact business through a financial intermediary.

The Funds’ mailing address at DST is:

VanEck Funds

P.O. Box 218407

Kansas City, MO 64121-8407

For overnight delivery:

VanEck Funds

210 W. 10th St., 8th Fl.

Kansas City, MO 64105-1802

Non-resident aliens cannot make a direct investment to establish a new account in the Funds, but may invest through their broker or agent.

To telephone the Funds at DST, call VanEck Account Assistance at 800-544-4653.

Purchase by Mail

To make an initial purchase, complete the VanEck Account Application and mail it with your check made payable to VanEck Funds. Subsequent purchases can be made by check with the remittance stub of your account statement. You cannot make a purchase by telephone. We cannot accept third party checks, starter checks, money orders, travelers checks, cashier checks, checks drawn on a foreign bank, or checks not in U.S. dollars. There are separate applications for VanEck retirement accounts (see “Retirement Plans” for details). For further details, see the application or call Account Assistance.

Telephone Redemption-Proceeds by Check 800-345-8506

If your account has the optional Telephone Redemption Privilege, you can redeem up to $50,000 per day. The redemption check must be payable to the registered owner(s) at the address of record (which cannot have been changed within the past 30 days). You automatically get the Telephone Redemption Privilege (for eligible accounts) unless you specifically refuse it on your Account Application, on broker/agent settlement instructions, or by written notice to DST. All accounts are eligible for the privilege except those registered in street, nominee, or corporate name and custodial accounts held by a financial institution, including VanEck sponsored retirement plans.

Expedited Redemption-Proceeds by Wire 800-345-8506

If your account has the optional Expedited Redemption Privilege, you can redeem a minimum of $1,000 or more per day by telephone or written request with the proceeds wired to your designated bank account. The Funds reserve the right to waive the minimum amount. This privilege must be established in advance by Application. For further details, see the Application or call Account Assistance.

Written Redemption

Your written redemption (sale) request must include:


■	Fund and account number.


■	Number of shares or dollar amount to be redeemed, or a request to sell “all shares.”


■	Signatures of all registered account holders, exactly as those names appear on the account registration, including any additional documents concerning authority and related matters in the case of estates, trusts, guardianships, custodianships, partnerships and corporations, as requested by DST.


■	Special instructions, including bank wire information or special payee or address.

A signature guarantee for each account holder will be required if:


■	The redemption is for $50,000 or more.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)


■	The redemption amount is wired.


■	The redemption amount is paid to someone other than the registered owner.


■	The redemption amount is sent to an address other than the address of record.


■	The address of record has been changed within the past 30 days.

Institutions eligible to provide signature guarantees include banks, brokerages, trust companies, and some credit unions.

Telephone Exchange 800-345-8506

If your account has the optional Telephone Exchange Privilege, you can exchange between Funds of the same Class without any additional sales charge. Exchanges of Class C shares are exempt from the Class C contingent deferred redemption charge (CDRC). The new Class C shares received via the exchange will be charged the CDRC applicable to the original Class C shares upon redemption. All accounts are eligible except for omnibus accounts or those registered in street name and certain custodial retirement accounts held by a financial institution other than VanEck. For further details regarding exchanges, please see the application, “Limits and Restrictions” and “Unauthorized Telephone Requests” below, or call Account Assistance.

Written Exchange

Written requests for exchange must include:


■	The fund and account number to be exchanged out of.


■	The fund to be exchanged into.


■	Directions to exchange “all shares” or a specific number of shares or dollar amount.


■	Signatures of all registered account holders, exactly as those names appear on the account registration, including any additional documents concerning authority and related matters in the case of estates, trusts, guardianships, custodianships, partnerships and corporations, as requested by DST.

For further details regarding exchanges, please see the applicable information in “Telephone Exchange.”

Certificates

Certificates are not issued for new or existing shares.

Transfer of Ownership

Requests must be in writing and provide the same information and legal documentation necessary to redeem and establish an account, including the social security or tax identification number of the new owner.

Redemption Liquidity

Each Fund expects to make redemption payments to the shareholder, or shareholder’s financial intermediary, within 1 to 2 business days following the Fund’s receipt of the redemption transaction from the shareholder, or shareholder’s financial intermediary. The financial intermediary acts on behalf of the shareholder and is responsible for transmitting redemption proceeds to the shareholder. Payment of redemption proceeds by a Fund may take longer than the time a Fund typically expects and may take up to 7 days as permitted by the 1940 Act.

Typically, redemption payments of Fund shares will be made in U.S. dollars. Each Fund generally expects to satisfy redemption requests from available cash holdings and sale of portfolio securities. On a less regular basis, a Fund also may draw on a bank line of credit to meet redemption requests. In stressed market conditions or for a particularly large redemption, a Fund also reserves the right to meet redemption requests through a “redemption in kind” as described below.

Redemption in Kind

Each Fund reserves the right to satisfy redemption requests by making payment in securities (known as a redemption in kind). Redemptions in kind are not routinely used by the Funds. A Fund may, however, use redemptions in kind during particularly stressed market conditions or to manage the impact of a large redemption on the Fund. In such case, the Fund may pay all or part of the redemption in securities of equal value as permitted under the 1940 Act, and the rules thereunder. The redeeming shareholder should expect to incur transaction costs upon the disposition of the securities received and will bear any market risks associated with such securities until they are converted into cash. A redemption in kind is treated as a taxable transaction and a sale of the redeemed shares, generally resulting in capital gain or loss to the redeeming shareholder subject to certain loss limitation rules.

Redemptions Initiated by a Fund

Each Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares in the Fund if the Fund’s Board determines that the failure to so redeem may have materially adverse consequences to the shareholders of the Fund. For additional information, please see “Additional Purchase and Redemption Information-Redemptions Initiated by a Fund” in the SAI.

LIMITS AND RESTRICTIONS

Frequent Trading Policy

The Board has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to deter frequent trading in shares of each Fund, commonly referred to as “market timing,” because such activities may be disruptive to the management of each Fund’s portfolio and may increase a Fund’s expenses and negatively impact the Fund’s performance. As such, each Fund may reject a purchase or exchange transaction or restrict an account from investing in the Fund for any reason if the Adviser, in its sole discretion, believes that a shareholder is engaging in market timing activities that may be harmful to the Fund. Each Fund discourages and does not accommodate frequent trading of shares by its shareholders.

Each Fund invests portions of its assets in securities of foreign issuers, and consequently may be subject to an increased risk of frequent trading activities because frequent traders may attempt to take advantage of time zone differences between the foreign markets in which the Fund’s portfolio securities trade and the time as of which the Fund’s net asset value is calculated (“time-zone arbitrage”). Each Fund’s investments in other types of securities may also be susceptible to frequent trading strategies. These investments include securities that are, among other things, thinly traded, traded infrequently, or relatively illiquid, which have the risk that the current market price for the securities may not accurately reflect current market values. Each Fund has adopted fair valuation policies and procedures intended to reduce the Fund’s exposure to potential price arbitrage. However, there is no guarantee that a Fund’s net asset value will immediately reflect changes in market conditions.

Each Fund uses a variety of techniques to monitor and detect abusive trading practices, such as monitoring purchases, redemptions and exchanges that meet certain criteria established by the Fund, and making inquiries with respect to such trades. If a transaction is rejected or an account restricted due to suspected market timing, the investor or his or her financial adviser will be notified.

With respect to trades that occur through omnibus accounts at intermediaries, such as broker-dealers and third party administrators, each Fund requires all such intermediaries to agree to cooperate in identifying and restricting market timers in accordance with the Fund’s policies and will periodically request customer trading activity in the omnibus accounts based on certain criteria established by the Fund. There is no assurance that a Fund will request such information with sufficient frequency to detect or deter excessive trading or that review of such information will be sufficient to detect or deter excessive trading in omnibus accounts effectively.

Although each Fund will use reasonable efforts to prevent market timing activities in the Fund’s shares, there can be no assurances that these efforts will be successful. As some investors may use various strategies to disguise their trading practices, a Fund’s ability to detect frequent trading activities by investors that hold shares through financial intermediaries may be limited by the ability and/or willingness of such intermediaries to monitor for these activities.

For further details, contact Account Assistance.

Unauthorized Telephone Requests

Like most financial organizations, VanEck, the Funds and DST may only be liable for losses resulting from unauthorized transactions if reasonable procedures designed to verify the caller’s identity and authority to act on the account are not followed.

If you do not want to authorize the Telephone Exchange or Redemption privilege on your eligible account, you must refuse it on the Account Application, broker/agent settlement instructions, or by written notice to DST. VanEck, the Funds, and DST reserve the right to reject a telephone redemption, exchange, or other request without prior notice either during or after the call. For further details, contact Account Assistance.

AUTOMATIC SERVICES

Automatic Investment Plan

You may authorize DST to periodically withdraw a specified dollar amount from your bank account and buy shares in your Fund account. For further details and to request an Application, contact Account Assistance.

Automatic Exchange Plan

You may authorize DST to periodically exchange a specified dollar amount for your account from one Fund to another Fund. Class C shares are not eligible. For further details and to request an Application, contact Account Assistance.

Automatic Withdrawal Plan

You may authorize DST to periodically withdraw (redeem) a specified dollar amount from your Fund account and mail a check to you for the proceeds. Your Fund account must be valued at $10,000 or more at the current offering price to establish the Plan. Class C shares are not eligible except for automatic withdrawals for the purpose of retirement account distributions. For further details and to request an Application, contact Account Assistance.

MINIMUM PURCHASE

Each class can set its own transaction minimums and may vary with respect to expenses for distribution, administration and shareholder services.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

For Class A, Class C and Class Y shares, an initial purchase of $1,000 and subsequent purchases of $100 or more are required for non-retirement accounts. There are no purchase minimums for any retirement or pension plan account, for any account using the Automatic Investment Plan, or for any other periodic purchase program. Minimums may be waived for initial and subsequent purchases through “wrap fee” and similar programs offered without a sales charge by certain financial institutions and third-party recordkeepers and/or administrators.

For Class I shares, an initial purchase by an eligible investor of $1 million is required. The minimum initial investment requirement may be waived or aggregated among investors, in the Adviser’s discretion, for investors in certain fee-based, wrap or other no-load investment programs, and for an eligible Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan with plan assets of $3 million or more, sponsored by financial intermediaries that have entered into a Class I agreement with VanEck, as well as for other categories of investors. An “Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan” includes (a) an employer sponsored pension or profit sharing plan that qualifies (a “Qualified Plan”) under section 401(a) of the Code, including Code section 401(k), money purchase pension, profit sharing and defined benefit plans; (b) an ERISA-covered 403(b) plan; and (c) certain non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements that operate in a similar manner to a Qualified Plan, such as 457 plans and executive deferred compensation arrangements, but not including employer-sponsored IRAs. In addition, members of the Boards of Trustees of VanEck Funds and VanEck VIP Trust and each officer, director and employee of VanEck may purchase Class I shares without being subject to the $1 million minimum initial investment requirement. There are no minimum investment requirements for subsequent purchases to existing accounts. To be eligible to purchase Class I shares, you must also qualify as specified in “How to Choose a Class of Shares.”

Class Z shares have no initial and subsequent purchase minimums, although financial intermediaries may impose their own minimums. To be eligible to purchase Class Z shares, you must also qualify as specified in “How to Choose a Class of Shares” below.

ACCOUNT VALUE AND REDEMPTION

If the value of your account falls below $1,000 for Class A, Class C and Class Y shares and below $500,000 for Class I shares after the initial purchase, each Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares after 30 days notice to you. This does not apply to accounts exempt from purchase minimums as described above.

HOW THE FUND SHARES ARE PRICED

Each Fund buys or sells its shares at its net asset value, or NAV, per share next determined after receipt of a purchase or redemption plus any applicable sales charge. Each Fund calculates its NAV per share class every day the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open, as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE, which is normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

You may enter a buy or sell order when the NYSE is closed for weekends or holidays. If that happens, your price will be the NAV calculated as of the close of the next regular trading session of the NYSE. Each Fund may invest in certain securities which are listed on foreign exchanges that trade on weekends or other days when the Funds do not price their shares. As a result, the NAV of each Fund’s shares may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or redeem shares.

The Funds’ Pricing Committee, whose members are selected by the senior management of the Adviser and reported to the Board, is responsible for recommending fair value procedures to the Board and for administering the process used to arrive at fair value prices.

Factors that may cause a Fund’s Pricing Committee to fair value a security include, but are not limited to: (1) market quotations are not readily available because a portfolio security is not traded in a public market, trading in the security has been suspended, or the principal market in which the security trades is closed, (2) trading in a portfolio security is limited or suspended and not resumed prior to the time at which the Fund calculates its NAV, (3) the market for the relevant security is thin, or the price for the security is “stale” because its price has not changed for five consecutive business days, (4) the Adviser determines that a market quotation is not reliable, for example, because price movements are highly volatile and cannot be verified by a reliable alternative pricing source, or (5) a significant event affecting the value of a portfolio security is determined to have occurred between the time of the market quotation provided for a portfolio security and the time at which the Fund calculates its NAV.

In determining the fair value of securities, the Pricing Committee will consider, among other factors, the fundamental analytical data relating to the security, the nature and duration of any restrictions on the disposition of the security, and the forces influencing the market in which the security is traded.

Foreign equity securities in which the Funds invest may be traded in markets that close before the time that each Fund calculates its NAV. Foreign equity securities are normally priced based upon the market quotation of such securities as of the close of their respective principal markets, as adjusted to reflect the Adviser’s determination of the impact of events, such as a significant movement in the U.S. markets occurring subsequent to the close of such markets but prior to the time at which the Fund calculates its NAV. In such cases, the Pricing Committee may apply a fair valuation formula to those foreign equity securities based on the Committee’s determination of the effect of the U.S. significant event with respect to each local market.

Certain of the Funds’ portfolio securities are valued by an independent pricing service approved by the Board. The independent pricing service may utilize an automated system incorporating a model based on multiple parameters, including a security’s local closing price (in the case of foreign securities), relevant general and sector indices, currency fluctuations, and trading in depositary receipts and futures, if applicable, and/or research evaluations by its staff, in determining what it believes is the fair valuation of the portfolio securities valued by such independent pricing service.

Furthermore, changes in the fair valuation of portfolio securities or other assets may be less frequent, and of greater magnitude, than changes in the price of portfolio securities or other assets valued by an independent pricing service, or based on market quotations.

2. HOW TO CHOOSE A CLASS OF SHARES

The Funds offer four classes of shares (five with respect to Emerging Markets Fund) with different sales charges and 12b-1 fee schedules, designed to provide you with different purchase options according to your investment needs. Class A and Class C shares are offered to the general public and differ in terms of sales charges and ongoing expenses. Class C shares automatically convert to Class A shares eight years after each individual purchase. Class I shares are offered to eligible investors primarily through certain financial intermediaries that have entered into a Class I Agreement with VanEck. The Funds reserve the right to accept direct investments by eligible investors. Class Y shares are offered only to investors through “wrap fee” and similar programs offered without a sales charge by certain financial intermediaries and third-party recordkeepers and/or administrators that have entered into a Class Y agreement with VanEck. Class Z shares are only offered through financial intermediaries that have entered into a Class Z Agreement with VanEck and that make Class Z shares available to their and/or their clients’ programs or plans (e.g., retirement plans). For Class Z shares, investors in programs or plans offered by financial intermediaries may be charged fees or commissions by those financial intermediaries. For additional information, please contact your financial intermediary.

Financial intermediaries making Fund shares available to their clients determine which share class(es) to make available. Your financial intermediary may receive different compensation for selling one class of shares than for selling another class, which may depend on, among other things, the type of investor account and the policies, procedures and practices adopted by your financial intermediary. You should review these arrangements with your financial intermediary.


■	CLASS A Shares are offered at net asset value plus an initial sales charge at time of purchase of up to 5.75% of the public offering price. The initial sales charge is reduced for purchases of $25,000 or more. For further information regarding sales charges, breakpoints and other discounts, please see below. The 12b-1 fee is 0.25% annually.


■	CLASS C Shares are offered at net asset value with no initial sales charge, but are subject to a contingent deferred redemption charge (“CDRC”) of 1.00% on all redemptions during the first 12 months after purchase. The CDRC may be waived under certain circumstances; please see “Telephone Exchange” and below. The 12b-1 fee is 1.00% annually.

■

CLASS I Shares are offered with no sales charges on purchases, no CDRC, and no 12b-1 fee. To be eligible to purchase Class I (Institutional) shares, you must be an eligible investor that is making or has made a minimum initial investment of at least $1 million (which may be reduced or waived under certain circumstances) in Class I shares of a Fund. Eligible investors in Class I shares include corporations, foundations, family offices and other institutional organizations; high net worth individuals; persons purchasing through certain financial intermediaries or a bank, trust company or similar institution investing for its own account or for the account of a client when such institution has entered into a Class I agreement with VanEck and makes Class I shares available to the client’s program or plan.

■

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

that qualifies (a “Qualified Plan”) under section 401(a) of the Code, including Code section 401(k), money purchase pension, profit sharing and defined benefit plans; (b) an ERISA-covered 403(b) plan; and (c) certain non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements that operate in a similar manner to a Qualified Plan, such as 457 plans and executive deferred compensation arrangements, but not including employer-sponsored IRAs.

■

CLASS Z Shares are only offered through financial intermediaries that have entered into a Class Z agreement with VanEck and that make Class Z shares available to their and/ or their clients’ programs or plans. Such financial intermediaries may trade and hold Class Z shares on behalf of other financial intermediaries (including third-party retirement plan recordkeepers). Financial intermediaries determine which of their and/or their clients’ programs or plans may use Class Z shares, and may establish certain minimum investment amounts and/or other criteria. Investors in plans or programs offered by financial intermediaries may be charged fees or commissions by those financial intermediaries. For additional information, please contact your financial intermediary.

Financial intermediaries may offer their clients more than one class of shares of a Fund. Shareholders who own shares of one class of a Fund and who are eligible to invest in another class of the same Fund may be eligible to convert their shares from one class to the other. Shareholders no longer participating in a fee-based program may be subject to conversion of their current class of shares by their financial intermediary to another class of shares of the Fund having expenses that may be higher than the expenses of their current class of shares. The timing and implementation of such conversions are at the discretion of the shareholder’s financial intermediary. For additional information, please contact your financial intermediary or see “Class Conversions” in the SAI. Investors should consider carefully a Fund’s share class expenses and applicable sales charges and fees plus any separate transaction and other fees charged by such intermediaries in connection with investing in each available share class before selecting a share class. It is the responsibility of the financial intermediary and the investor to choose the proper share class and notify DST or VanEck of that share class at the time of each purchase. More information regarding share class eligibility is available in the “How to Buy, Sell, Exchange, or Transfer Shares” section of the prospectus and in “Purchase of Shares” in the SAI.

3. SALES CHARGES

Unless you are eligible for a waiver, the public offering price you pay when you buy Class A shares of the Fund is the net asset value (NAV) of the shares plus an initial sales charge. A sales charge means that a portion of your initial investment goes toward the sales charge and is not invested. The initial sales charge varies depending upon the size of your purchase, as set forth below, and a percentage is paid to the financial intermediary who sells your Class A shares. No sales charge is imposed where Class A or Class C shares are issued to you pursuant to the automatic investment of income dividends or capital gains distribution. It is the responsibility of the financial intermediary to ensure that the investor obtains the proper “breakpoint” discount. Class C, Class I and Class Y do not have an initial sales charge. Class A does charge a contingent deferred sales charge and Class C does charge a contingent deferred redemption charge as set forth below. For Class Z shares, investors in programs or plans offered by financial intermediaries may be charged fees or commissions by those financial intermediaries. For additional information, please contact your financial intermediary.

Different intermediaries may impose different sales charges (including potential reductions in or waivers of sales charges) other than those listed below. Such intermediary-specific sales charge variations are described in Appendix A to this prospectus, entitled "Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers." Appendix A is incorporated herein by reference (is legally a part of this prospectus). Such intermediary-specific sales charge discounts and waivers may not be available to purchasers whose accounts are not held at and traded by their intermediary.

In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Fund or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge discounts or waivers.




Class A Shares Sales Charges
	Sales Charge as a Percentage of
Dollar Amount of Purchase	Offering Price	Net Amount Invested	Percentage to Brokers or Agents¹
Less than $25,000	5.75%	6.10%	5.00%
$25,000 to less than $50,000	5.00%	5.30%	4.25%
$50,000 to less than $100,000	4.50%	4.70%	3.90%
$100,000 to less than $250,000	3.00%	3.10%	2.60%
$250,000 to less than $500,000	2.50%	2.60%	2.20%
$500,000 to less than $1,000,000	2.00%	2.00%	1.75%
$1,000,000 and over	None²


¹	Brokers or Agents who receive substantially all of the sales charge for shares they sell may be deemed to be statutory underwriters.

The Distributor may pay a Finder’s Fee of 1.00% to eligible brokers and agents on qualified commissionable shares purchased at or above the $1 million breakpoint level. Such shares may be subject to a 1.00% contingent deferred sales charge if redeemed within one year from the date of purchase. For additional information, see “Contingent Deferred Sales Charge for Class A Shares” below or contact the Distributor or your financial intermediary.




	Class C Shares Sales Charges
	Year Since Purchase	Contingent Deferred Redemption Charge (CDRC)†
	First	1.00% of the lesser of NAV or purchase price
	Second and thereafter	None

Class C Broker/Agent Compensation: 1.00% (0.75 of 1.00% distribution fee and 0.25 of 1.00% service fee) of the amount purchased at time of investment.

† Shares will be redeemed in the following order: (1) shares not subject to the CDRC (dividend reinvestment, etc.), (2) first in, first out.

CONTINGENT DEFERRED SALES CHARGE FOR CLASS A SHARES

Class A shares purchased at or above the $1 million breakpoint in accordance with the sales load schedule identified above (referred to as “commissionable” shares) that are redeemed within one year of purchase will be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) in the amount of 1.00% of the lesser of the current value of the shares redeemed or the original purchase price of such shares. The CDSC will be paid to the Distributor as reimbursement for any Finder’s Fee previously paid by the Distributor to an eligible broker or agent at the time the commissionable shares were purchased and may be waived by the Distributor if the original purchase did not result in the payment of a Finder’s Fee. For purposes of calculating the CDSC, shares will be redeemed in the following order: (1) first shares that are not subject to the CDSC (e.g., dividend reinvestment shares and other non-commissionable shares) and (2) then other shares on a first in, first out basis. A CDSC will not be charged in connection with an exchange of Class A shares into Class A shares of another VanEck Fund; however, the shares received upon an exchange will be subject to the CDSC if they are subsequently redeemed within one year of the date of the original purchase (subject to the same terms and conditions described above). For further details regarding eligibility for the $1 million breakpoint, please see Section 3. “Sales Charges-Reduced or Waived Sales Charges” below.

REDUCED OR WAIVED SALES CHARGES

You may qualify for a reduced or waived sales charge as stated below, or under other appropriate circumstances. You (or your broker or agent) must notify DST or VanEck at the time of each purchase or redemption whenever a reduced or waived sales charge is applicable. The term “purchase” refers to a single purchase by an individual (including spouse and children under age 21), corporation, partnership, trustee, or other fiduciary for a single trust, estate, or fiduciary account. For further details, see the SAI. The value of shares owned by an individual in Class A and Class C of each of the VanEck Funds may be combined for a reduced sales charge in Class A shares only.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

which there are holdings eligible to be aggregated to meet the sales load breakpoints or eligibility minimums and of any facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge discounts or waivers.

The Funds make available information regarding applicable sales loads, breakpoint discounts, reduced or waived sales charges and eligibility minimums, on their website at vaneck.com, free of charge.

FOR CLASS A SHARES

Right of Accumulation

When you buy shares, the amount you purchase will be combined with the value, at current offering price, of any existing Fund shares you own. This total will determine the sales charge level for which you qualify.

Your purchases eligible for Right of Accumulation reduced sales charge (i.e. breakpoint discount) include Class A shares purchased for individual accounts registered in the name of:


■	You, individually;


■	Your “family member,” defined as your spouse (by marriage or by common law marriage/civil union as recognized by applicable state or federal law) and your children/step-children if under the age of 21;


■	You, when you own shares jointly with another individual(s) who is a non-family member;


■	You or a family member acting as the trustee, custodian, or other acting fiduciary title for a single trust, estate, or fiduciary account;


■	Your sole ownership business or the sole ownership business of a family member on which you or a family member are the authorized signer;


■	Trust Grantor (a trust established by you or a family member who is acting as the grantor of the trust);


■	Trust Beneficiary (a trust established by you or a family member who is the beneficial owner of the trust);


■	A single corporation or partnership.

Combined Purchases

The combined amounts of your multiple purchases in the Funds on a single day determines the sales charge level for which you qualify.

Letter of Intent

If you plan to make purchases of the Fund that are eligible for a right of accumulation discount, as described above, within a 13 month period in Class A shares that total an amount equal to a reduced sales charge level, you can establish a Letter of Intent (LOI) for that amount. Under the LOI, your initial and subsequent purchases during that period receive the sales charge level applicable to that total amount. The amount of a purchase not originally made pursuant to the LOI may be included under a backdated LOI executed within 90 days of such purchase (“accumulation credit”) to fulfill the LOI. For LOIs, out of an initial purchase (or subsequent purchases if necessary), 5% of the specified dollar amount of an LOI will be held in escrow by DST in a shareholder’s account until the shareholder’s total purchases of the Funds pursuant to the LOI plus a shareholder’s accumulation credit (if any) equal the amount specified in the Letter. For further details, see the Application and the SAI.

Persons Affiliated with VanEck

Trustees, officers, and full-time employees (and their families) of the Funds, Adviser or Distributor may buy without a sales charge. Also, employees (and their spouses and children under age 21) of a brokerage firm or bank that has a selling agreement with VanEck, and other affiliates and agents, may buy without a sales charge.

Load-waived Programs Through Financial Intermediaries

Financial intermediaries may offer shares without a sales charge if they: (i) are compensated by their clients on a fee-only basis, including but not limited to Investment Advisors, Financial Planners, and Bank Trust Departments; or (ii) have entered into an agreement with VanEck to offer Class A shares at net asset value through a no-load network or platform, or through a self-directed investment brokerage account program that may or may not charge a transaction fee to its clients.

Institutional Retirement Programs

Certain financial institutions and third-party recordkeepers and/or administrators who have agreements with VanEck to offer Class A shares at net asset value may buy shares without a sales charge for their accounts on behalf of investors in retirement plans and deferred compensation plans.

Reinstatement Privilege

You have the right, once a year, to reinvest (“buy back”) proceeds of a redemption from Class A shares of a Fund into that Fund or Class A shares of another fund of the VanEck Funds within 60 days without a sales charge. If you invest into the same Fund within 30 days before or after you redeem your shares at a loss, the “wash sale” rules apply to disallow for tax purposes a loss realized upon redemption.

FOR CLASS C SHARES

Death or Disability

The CDRC may be waived upon (1) death or (2) disability as defined by the Code.

Certain Retirement Distributions

The CDRC may be waived for lump sum or other distributions from IRA, Qualified (Pension and Profit Sharing) Plans, and 403(b) accounts following retirement or at age 72. It is also waived for distributions from qualified pension or profit sharing plans after employment termination after age 55. In addition, it is waived for shares redeemed as a tax-free return of an excess contribution.

Automatic Conversion Feature

After eight years, Class C shares of each of the Funds will convert automatically to Class A shares of the respective Fund with no initial sales charge. The eight-year period runs from the last day of the month in which the shares were purchased, or in the case of Class C shares acquired through an exchange, from the last day of the month in which the original Class C shares were purchased. Class C shares held for eight years are converted to Class A shares on the fifth calendar day of the month following their eight-year anniversary (or the next business day thereafter if the fifth is a non- business day).

FOR CLASS I, CLASS Y AND CLASS Z SHARES

No initial sales charge, or CDRC fee is imposed on Class I, Class Y or Class Z shares. Class I, Class Y and Class Z are no-load share classes.

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION (12b-1 PLAN)

Each of the Funds has adopted a Plan of Distribution pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Act that allows the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of its shares. Of the amounts expended under the plan for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 for all VanEck Funds, approximately 93% was paid to Brokers and Agents who sold shares or serviced accounts of Fund shareholders. The remaining 7% was retained by the Distributor to pay expenses such as printing and mailing prospectuses and sales material. Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets on an on- going basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. Class I, Class Y and Class Z shares do not have 12b-1 fees. For a complete description of the Plan of Distribution, please see “Plan of Distribution (12b-1 Plan)” in the SAI.




VanEck Funds Annual 12b-1 Schedule	Fee to Fund	Payment to Dealer
Emerging Markets Fund-A	0.25%	0.25	%
Emerging Markets Fund-C	1.00%	1.00	%	*
Global Hard Assets Fund-A	0.25%	0.25	%
Global Hard Assets Fund-C	1.00%	1.00	%	*
International Investors Gold Fund-A	0.25%	0.25	%
International Investors Gold Fund-C	1.00%	1.00	%	*


*	Class C payment to brokers or agents begins to accrue after the 12th month following the purchase trade date. Each purchase must age that long or there is no payment. Shares purchased due to the automatic reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions do not age and begin accruing 12b-1 fees immediately.

4. HOUSEHOLDING OF REPORTS AND PROSPECTUSES

If more than one member of your household is a shareholder of any of the funds in the VanEck Funds, regulations allow us, subject to certain requirements, to deliver single copies of your shareholder reports, prospectuses and prospectus supplements to a shared address for multiple shareholders. For example, a husband and wife with separate accounts in the same fund who have the same shared address generally receive two separate envelopes containing the same report or prospectus. Under the system, known as “householding,” only one envelope containing one copy of the same report or prospectus will be mailed to the shared address for the household. You may benefit from this system in two ways, a reduction in mail you receive and a reduction in fund expenses due to lower fund printing and mailing costs. However, if you prefer to continue to receive separate shareholder reports and prospectuses for each shareholder living in your household now or at any time in the future, please call Account Assistance at 800-544-4653.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

5. RETIREMENT PLANS

Fund shares may be invested in tax-advantaged retirement plans sponsored by VanEck or other financial organizations. Retirement plans sponsored by VanEck use UMB Bank n.a. as custodian and must receive investments directly by check or wire using the appropriate VanEck retirement plan application. Confirmed trades through a broker or agent cannot be accepted. To obtain applications and helpful information on VanEck retirement plans, contact your broker or agent or Account Assistance.

Retirement Plans Sponsored by VanEck:

Traditional IRA

Roth IRA

SEP IRA

6. FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

TAXATION OF DIVIDENDS AND CAPITAL GAINS DISTRIBUTIONS YOU RECEIVE

Each Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company under the Code. As a regulated investment company, the Fund generally pays no federal income tax on the income and gains it distributes to you.

For tax-reportable accounts, dividends and capital gains distributions are normally taxable even if they are reinvested. Fund distributions of short-term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income. Fund distributions of long-term capital gains are taxed at long-term capital gain rates no matter how long you have owned your fund shares. Certain income dividends are treated as qualified dividend income, taxable at long-term capital gain rates provided certain holding period requirements are met. Tax laws and regulations are subject to change.

At the time you purchase your Fund shares, the Fund’s NAV may reflect undistributed income, undistributed capital gains, or net unrealized appreciation in the value of portfolio securities held by the Fund. For taxable investors, a subsequent distribution to you of such amounts, although constituting a return of your investment, would be taxable. Buying shares in the Fund just before it declares an income dividend or capital gains distribution is sometimes known as “buying a dividend.”

TAXATION OF SHARES YOU SELL

For tax-reportable accounts, when you redeem your shares you may incur a capital gain or loss on the proceeds. The amount of gain or loss, if any, is the difference between the amount you paid for your shares (including reinvested dividends and capital gains distributions) and the amount you receive from your redemption. Be sure to keep your regular statements; they contain the information necessary to calculate the capital gain or loss. An exchange of shares from one Fund to another will be treated as a sale and purchase of Fund shares. It is therefore a taxable event.

COST BASIS REPORTING

As required by law, for shares purchased on and after January 1, 2012 in accounts eligible for IRS Tax Form 1099-B tax reporting by VanEck Funds for which tax basis information is available (“covered shares”), the VanEck Funds will provide cost basis information to you and the IRS for shares using the IRS Tax Form 1099-B. Generally, cost basis is the dollar amount paid to purchase shares, including purchases of shares made by reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions, adjusted for various items, such as sales charges and transaction fees, wash sales, and returns of capital.

The cost basis of your shares will be calculated using the Fund’s default cost basis method of Average Cost, and the Fund will deplete your oldest shares first, unless you instruct the Fund to use a different cost basis method. You may elect the cost basis method that best fits your specific tax situation using VanEck’s Cost Basis Election Form. It is important that any such election be received in writing from you by the VanEck Funds before you redeem any covered shares since the cost basis in effect at the time of redemption, as required by law, will be reported to you and the IRS. Particularly, any election or revocation of the Average Cost method must be received in writing by the VanEck Funds before you redeem covered shares. The VanEck Funds will process any of your future redemptions by depleting your oldest shares first (FIFO). If you elect a cost basis method other than Average Cost, the method you chose will not be utilized until shares held prior to January 1, 2012 are liquidated. Cost basis reporting for non-covered shares will be calculated and reported separately from covered shares. You should carefully review the cost basis information provided by the Fund and make any additional cost basis, holding period, or other adjustments that are required when reporting these amounts on your federal, state, and local income tax returns. For tax advice specific to your situation, please contact your tax advisor and visit the IRS website at IRS.gov. The VanEck Funds cannot and do not provide any advice, including tax advice.

To obtain VanEck’s Cost Basis Election Form and to learn more about the cost basis elections offered by the VanEck Funds, please go to our website at vaneck.com or call VanEck Account Services at 800-544-4653.

BACKUP WITHHOLDING

By law, if you do not provide the Fund with your proper taxpayer identification number and certain required certifications, you may be subject to backup withholding on any distributions of income, capital gains, or proceeds from the sale of your shares. The Fund also must withhold if the IRS instructs it to do so. When withholding is required, the amount will be 24% of any distributions or proceeds paid.

STATE AND LOCAL TAXES

Fund distributions and gains from the sale or exchange of your Fund shares generally are subject to state and local taxes.

NON-RESIDENT ALIENS

Dividends and short-term capital gains, if any, paid to non-resident aliens generally are subject to the maximum withholding tax (or lower tax treaty rates for certain countries). The IRS considers these dividends U.S. source income. Exemptions from U.S. withholding tax are provided for certain capital gain dividends paid by the Fund from net long-term capital gains, interest-related dividends paid by the Fund from its qualified net interest income from U.S. sources and short- term capital gain dividends, if such amounts are reported by the Fund. However, notwithstanding such exemptions from U.S. withholding at the source, any such dividends and distributions of income and capital gains will be subject to backup withholding at a rate of 24% if you fail to properly certify that you are not a U.S. person.

As part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, (“FATCA”), the Funds are required to withhold a 30% federal tax on income dividends paid by the Fund to (i) foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”), including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain nonfinancial foreign entities (“NFFEs”), unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. After December 31, 2018, FATCA withholding also would have applied to certain capital gain distributions, return of capital distributions and the proceeds arising from the sale of Fund shares; however, based on proposed regulations issued by the IRS, which can be relied on currently, such withholding is no longer required unless final regulations provide otherwise (which is not expected). To avoid possible withholding, FFIs, other than FFIs subject to special treatment under certain intergovernmental agreements, will need to enter into agreements with the IRS which state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, account numbers and balances, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of U.S. account holders and comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts as well as agree to withhold tax on certain types of withholdable payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to applicable foreign account holders who fail to provide the required information to the IRS, or similar account information and required documentation to a local revenue authority, should an applicable intergovernmental agreement be implemented. NFFEs will need to provide certain information regarding each substantial U.S. owner or certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership, unless certain exceptions apply, or agree to provide certain information to the IRS.

The Funds may be subject to the FATCA withholding obligation, and also will be required to perform due diligence reviews to classify foreign entity investors for FATCA purposes. Investors are required to agree to provide information necessary to allow the Funds to comply with the FATCA rules. If the Funds are required to withhold amounts from payments pursuant to FATCA, investors will receive distributions that are reduced by such withholding amounts.

Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you should consult your tax professional about federal, state, local, or foreign tax consequences before making an investment in the Fund.

7. DIVIDENDS AND CAPITAL GAINS DISTRIBUTIONS

Each Fund makes distributions of all of its net investment income to shareholders as dividends annually. Each Fund makes distributions of any net capital gains, at least annually, in December. See your tax adviser for details. Occasionally, a dividend and/or capital gain distribution may be made outside of the normal schedule.




Dividends and Capital Gains Distributions Schedule
Fund	Dividends	Distribution of Short-Term and Long-Term Capital Gains
Emerging Markets Fund	December	December
Global Hard Assets Fund	December	December
International Investors Gold Fund	December	December

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

Dividends and Capital Gains Distributions Reinvestment Plan

Dividends and/or distributions are automatically reinvested into your account without a sales charge, unless you elect a cash payment. You may elect cash payment either on your original Account Application, or by calling Account Assistance at 800-544-4653.

Divmove

You can have your cash dividends from a Class A Fund automatically invested in Class A shares of another VanEck Fund. Cash dividends are invested on the payable date, without a sales charge. For details and an Application, call Account Assistance.

8. MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND MANAGEMENT

INVESTMENT ADVISER

Van Eck Associates Corporation (the “Adviser”), 666 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10017, is the Adviser to the Fund. The Adviser has been an investment adviser since 1955 and also acts as adviser or sub-adviser to other mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, other pooled investment vehicles and separate accounts.

Jan F. van Eck and members of his family own 100% of the voting stock of the Adviser. As of December 31, 2019, the Adviser’s assets under management were approximately $54.7 billion.

Fees paid to the Adviser: Emerging Markets Fund pays the Adviser a monthly fee at the annual rate of 0.75% of average daily net assets of the Fund. Global Hard Assets Fund pays the Adviser a monthly fee at the annual rate of 1.00% of the first $2.5 billion of average daily net assets of the Fund and 0.90% of average daily net assets in excess of $2.5 billion, which includes the fees paid for accounting and administrative services. International Investors Gold Fund pays the Adviser a monthly fee at the annual rate of 0.75% of the first $500 million of average daily net assets of the Fund, 0.65% of the next $250 million of average daily net assets and 0.50% of average daily net assets in excess of $750 million. The Adviser also performs accounting and administrative services for Emerging Markets Fund and International Investors Gold Fund. For these services, Emerging Markets Fund pays the Adviser a monthly fee at the annual rate of 0.25% of average daily net assets and International Investors Gold Fund pays the Adviser a monthly fee at the annual rate of 0.25% of the first $750 million of average daily net assets and 0.20% of average daily net assets in excess of $750 million. For purposes of calculating these fees for the International Investors Gold Fund, the net assets of the Fund include the value of the Fund’s interest in the Subsidiary. The Subsidiary does not pay the Adviser a fee for managing the Subsidiary’s portfolio.

The Adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or pay expenses for Emerging Markets Fund to the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of Emerging Markets 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 1.60% for Class A, 2.50% for Class C, 1.00% for Class I, 1.10% for Class Y, and 0.90% for Class Z of Emerging Markets Fund’s average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2021. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to continue until the Board acts to discontinue all or a portion of such expense limitation.

The Adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or pay expenses for Global Hard Assets Fund to the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of Global Hard Assets 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 1.38% for Class A, 2.20% for Class C, 0.95% for Class I, and 1.13% for Class Y of Global Hard Assets Fund’s average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2021. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to continue until the Board acts to discontinue all or a portion of such expense limitation.

The Adviser has agreed to waive fees and/or pay expenses for International Investors Gold Fund to the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of International Investors Gold 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 International Investors Gold Fund’s average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2021. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to continue until the Board acts to discontinue all or a portion of such expense limitation.

The Adviser also has agreed to waive fees and/or pay expenses for each Fund to the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of a Fund’s Class Y shares from exceeding the operating expenses of the Fund’s Class A shares.

For each Fund’s most recent fiscal year, the advisory fee paid to the Adviser was as follows:




	VanEck Funds	As a % of average daily net assets
	Emerging Markets Fund	0.75%
	Global Hard Assets Fund	1.00%
	International Investors Gold Fund	0.73%

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Funds’ advisory agreements is available in each Fund’s semi-annual report to shareholders for the period ended June 30, 2019.

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

EMERGING MARKETS FUND

Portfolio Managers.

David A. Semple, Portfolio Manager of the Fund, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund.

David A. Semple. Mr. Semple is Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He has been with the Adviser since 1998 and is currently the portfolio manager of various funds advised by the Adviser. Mr. Semple is responsible for asset allocation and stock selection in global emerging markets.

Angus Shillington. Mr. Shillington is Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined the Adviser in 2009 and currently serves on the investment team for various funds advised by the Adviser. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Shillington was the Head of International Equity at ABN Amro from 2006 to 2008 and Managing Director at BNP Paribas from 2001 to 2006.

GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND

Portfolio Managers.

Shawn Reynolds, Portfolio Manager of the Fund, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund.

Shawn Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds is Portfolio Manager of the Fund and is primarily responsible for company research and portfolio construction. He has been with the Adviser since 2005 and has over 30 years of experience in the international and financial markets. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Reynolds was an analyst covering U.S. oil and gas exploration and production companies at Petrie Parkman & Co. He has also served as an analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.

Charles T. Cameron. Mr. Cameron is Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund and is primarily responsible for macroeconomic strategy and trading oversight. He has been with the Adviser since 1995 and has over 35 years of experience in the international and financial markets. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Cameron was a trader in both the Eurobond and emerging market debt for Standard Chartered.

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND

Portfolio Managers.

Joseph M. Foster, Portfolio Manager of the Fund, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund.

Joseph M. Foster. Mr. Foster is Portfolio Manager of the Fund and a senior precious metals analyst. He has been with the Adviser since 1996 and is currently the portfolio manager for various funds advised by the Adviser. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Foster was a Senior Geologist at Pinson Mining Company where he managed the on-site geology department and conceived and implemented a comprehensive exploration program. Prior to this role, Mr. Foster held other positions in exploration geology at Pinson Mining Company and Lacana Gold, Inc.

Imaru Casanova. Ms. Casanova is Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund and a senior precious metals analyst. She joined the Adviser in 2011 and currently serves on the investment team for various funds advised by the Adviser. Prior to joining the Adviser, Ms. Casanova was a senior equity research analyst at McNicoll Lewis & Vlak responsible for establishing their metals and mining research department.

The SAI provides additional information about the above Portfolio Managers, their compensation, other accounts they manage, and their securities ownership in the Funds.

THE TRUST

For more information on the Trust, the Trustees and the Officers of the Trust, see “General Information,” “Description of the Trust” and “Trustees and Officers” in the SAI.

THE DISTRIBUTOR

Van Eck Securities Corporation, 666 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 (the “Distributor”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Adviser, has entered into a Distribution Agreement with the Trust for distributing shares of the Funds.

The Distributor generally sells and markets shares of the Funds through intermediaries, such as broker-dealers. The intermediaries may be compensated by the Funds for providing various services.

In addition, the Distributor or the Adviser may pay certain intermediaries, out of its own resources and not as an expense of the Funds, additional cash or non-cash compensation as an incentive to intermediaries to promote and sell shares of the Funds and other mutual funds distributed by the Distributor. These payments are commonly known as “revenue sharing”. The benefits that the Distributor or the Adviser may receive when each of them makes these payments include, among other things, placing the Funds on the intermediary’s sales system and/or preferred or recommended fund list, offering the Funds through the intermediary’s advisory or other specialized programs, and/or access (in some cases on a preferential basis over other

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

competitors) to individual members of the intermediary’s sales force. Such payments may also be used to compensate intermediaries for a variety of administrative and shareholders services relating to investments by their customers in the Funds.

The fees paid by the Distributor or the Adviser to intermediaries may be calculated based on the gross sales price of shares sold by an intermediary, the net asset value of shares held by the customers of the intermediary, or otherwise. These fees may, but are not normally expected to, exceed in the aggregate 0.50% of the average net assets of the funds attributable to a particular intermediary on an annual basis.

The Distributor or the Adviser may also provide intermediaries with additional cash and non-cash compensation, which may include financial assistance to intermediaries in connection with conferences, sales or training programs for their employees, seminars for the public and advertising campaigns, technical and systems support, attendance at sales meetings and reimbursement of ticket charges. In some instances, these incentives may be made available only to intermediaries whose representatives have sold or may sell a significant number of shares.

Intermediaries may receive different payments, based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, reputation in the industry, sales and asset retention rates, target markets, and customer relationships and quality of service. No one factor is determinative of the type or amount of additional compensation to be provided. Financial intermediaries that sell the Funds’ shares may also act as a broker or dealer in connection with execution of transactions for the Funds’ portfolios. The Funds and the Adviser have adopted procedures to ensure that the sales of the Funds’ shares by an intermediary will not affect the selection of brokers for execution of portfolio transactions.

Not all intermediaries are paid the same to sell mutual funds. Differences in compensation to intermediaries may create a financial interest for an intermediary to sell shares of a particular mutual fund, or the mutual funds of a particular family of mutual funds. Before purchasing shares of any Funds, you should ask your intermediary or its representative about the compensation in connection with the purchase of such shares, including any revenue sharing payments it receives from the Distributor.

IV. FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights tables that follow are intended to help you understand each Fund’s financial performance for the past five years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). This information has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Funds’ financial statements are included in the Funds’ annual report, which is available upon request.

EMERGING MARKETS FUND

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class A
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	14.14			$	18.44			$	12.33			$	12.40			$	14.24
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income	0.31			(b)	0.03			(b)	—			(b)(c)	0.04				0.02
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	3.86				(4.33		)		6.13				(0.09		)		(1.86		)
Total from investment operations	4.17				(4.30		)		6.13				(0.05		)		(1.84		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.28		)		—			(c)	(0.02		)		(0.02		)		—			(c)
Net asset value, end of year	$	18.03			$	14.14			$	18.44			$	12.33			$	12.40
Total return (a)	29.52			%	(23.30		)	%	49.70			%	(0.43		)	%	(12.91		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$137,985				$117,928				$195,080				$116,083				$141,901
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.53			%	1.50			%	1.47			%	1.53			%	1.46			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.53			%	1.50			%	1.47			%	1.53			%	1.46			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.53			%	1.50			%	1.47			%	1.53			%	1.46			%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average
net assets	1.86			%	0.17			%	(0.01		)	%	0.25			%	0.20			%
Portfolio turnover rate	24			%	39			%	36			%	51			%	38			%



	Class C
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	12.60			$	16.55			$	11.14			$	11.30			$	13.08
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income (loss)	0.16			(b)	(0.09		)	(b)	(0.12		)	(b)	(0.06		)		(0.07		)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	3.43				(3.86		)		5.53				(0.08		)		(1.71		)
Total from investment operations	3.59				(3.95		)		5.41				(0.14		)		(1.78		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.17		)		—				—				(0.02		)		—			(c)
Net asset value, end of year	$	16.02			$	12.60			$	16.55			$	11.14			$	11.30
Total return (a)	28.51			%	(23.87		)	%	48.56			%	(1.27		)	%	(13.60		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$36,542				$29,916				$38,736				$22,238				$27,438
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	2.32			%	2.27			%	2.28			%	2.32			%	2.26			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	2.32			%	2.27			%	2.28			%	2.32			%	2.26			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	2.32			%	2.27			%	2.28			%	2.32			%	2.26			%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net
assets	1.12			%	(0.57		)	%	(0.85		)	%	(0.52		)	%	(0.59		)	%
Portfolio turnover rate	24			%	39			%	36			%	51			%	38			%

(a)

Total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of year, reinvestment of any dividends and distributions at net asset value on the dividend/distributions payment date and a redemption at the net asset value on the last day of the year. The return does not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund dividends/distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.


(b)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.


(c)	Amount represents less than $0.005 per share

EMERGING MARKETS FUND

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class I
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	14.90			$	19.46			$	13.00			$	13.01			$	14.86
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income	0.43			(b)	0.12			(b)	0.07			(b)	0.07				0.06
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	4.05				(4.58		)		6.48				(0.06		)		(1.91		)
Total from investment operations	4.48				(4.46		)		6.55				0.01				(1.85		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.37		)		(0.10		)		(0.09		)		(0.02		)		—			(c)
Net asset value, end of year	$	19.01			$	14.90			$	19.46			$	13.00			$	13.01
Total return (a)	30.11			%	(22.88		)	%	50.40			%	0.05			%	(12.44		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$804,200				$575,466				$773,952				$488,066				$274,309
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.16			%	1.14			%	1.15			%	1.16			%	1.14			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net investment income to average net
assets	2.46			%	0.68			%	0.45			%	0.76			%	0.64			%
Portfolio turnover rate	24			%	39			%	36			%	51			%	38			%



	Class Y
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	14.33			$	18.73			$	12.51			$	12.53			$	14.33
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income	0.39			(b)	0.10			(b)	0.05			(b)	0.06				0.06
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	3.92				(4.41		)		6.24				(0.06		)		(1.86		)
Total from investment operations	4.31				(4.31		)		6.29				(0.00		)		(1.80		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.36		)		(0.09		)		(0.07		)		(0.02		)		—			(c)
Net asset value, end of year	$	18.28			$	14.33			$	18.73			$	12.51			$	12.53
Total return (a)	30.07			%	(23.03		)	%	50.32			%	(0.03		)	%	(12.55		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$1,287,338				$907,032				$1,007,275				$463,494				$259,517
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.18			%	1.16			%	1.15			%	1.21			%	1.23			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%
Ratio of net investment income to average net
assets	2.32			%	0.59			%	0.32			%	0.65			%	0.58			%
Portfolio turnover rate	24			%	39			%	36			%	51			%	38			%

(a)


(b)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.


(c)	Amount represents less than $0.005 per share

EMERGING MARKETS FUND

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each period:



	Class Z
	September 16, 2019 (a) through December 31,
	2019
Net asset value, beginning of period	$	18.08
Income from investment operations:
Net investment (loss)	(0.02		)	(b)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	1.34
Total from investment operations	1.32
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.37		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	19.03
Total return (c)	7.29			%(d)
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$5,508
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.31			%(e)
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	0.90			%(e)
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	0.90			%(e)
Ratio of net investment loss to average net
assets	(0.27		)	%(e)
Portfolio turnover rate	24			%(d)


(a)	Commencement of operations


(b)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.

(c)

Total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value at the beginning of period, reinvestment of any dividends and distributions at net asset value on the dividend/distributions payment date and a redemption at the net asset value on the last day of the period. The return does not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund dividends/distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.


(d)	Not annualized


(e)	Annualized

GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class A
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	25.66			$	36.32			$	36.87			$	25.76			$	38.89
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income (loss)	0.17			(b)	(0.05		)	(b)	(0.17		)	(b)	(0.20		)		0.05			(b)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	2.81				(10.61		)		(0.38		)		11.32				(13.05		)
Total from investment operations	2.98				(10.66		)		(0.55		)		11.12				(13.00		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.25		)		—				—				(0.01		)		(0.13		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	28.39			$	25.66			$	36.32			$	36.87			$	25.76
Total return (a)	11.64			%	(29.35		)	%	(1.49		)	%	43.17			%	(33.42		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$118,029				$194,180				$349,066				$418,616				$321,875
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.60			%	1.59			%	1.53			%	1.50			%	1.36			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.38			%	1.38			%	1.38			%	1.38			%	1.36			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.38			%	1.38			%	1.38			%	1.38			%	1.36			%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average
net assets	0.63			%	(0.15		)	%	(0.50		)	%	(0.56		)	%	0.14			%
Portfolio turnover rate	33			%	16			%	17			%	36			%	26			%



	Class C
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	21.93			$	31.28			$	32.00			$	22.53			$	34.32
Income from investment operations:
Net investment loss	(0.05		)	(b)	(0.29		)	(b)	(0.39		)	(b)	(0.42		)		(0.21		)	(b)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	2.39				(9.06		)		(0.33		)		9.90				(11.45		)
Total from investment operations	2.34				(9.35		)		(0.72		)		9.48				(11.66		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	—				—				—				(0.01		)		(0.13		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	24.27			$	21.93			$	31.28			$	32.00			$	22.53
Total return (a)	10.67			%	(29.89		)	%	(2.25		)	%	42.08			%	(33.96		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$12,698				$24,454				$53,893				$94,488				$88,945
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	2.44			%	2.32			%	2.19			%	2.15			%	2.16			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	2.20			%	2.20			%	2.19			%	2.15			%	2.16			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	2.20			%	2.20			%	2.19			%	2.15			%	2.16			%
Ratio of net investment loss to average net
assets	(0.19		)	%	(0.98		)	%	(1.33		)	%	(1.30		)	%	(0.67		)	%
Portfolio turnover rate	33			%	16			%	17			%	36			%	26			%

(a)


(b)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.

GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class I
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	26.94			$	38.10			$	38.51			$	26.80			$	40.31
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income (loss)	0.30			(b)	0.10			(b)	(0.03		)	(b)	(0.06		)		0.18			(b)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	2.94				(11.17		)		(0.38		)		11.78				(13.56		)
Total from investment operations	3.24				(11.07		)		(0.41		)		11.72				(13.38		)
Less dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.44		)		(0.08		)		—				(0.01		)		(0.13		)
Return of capital	—				(0.01		)		—				—				—
Total dividends and distributions	(0.44		)		(0.09		)		—				(0.01		)		(0.13		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	29.74			$	26.94			$	38.10			$	38.51			$	26.80
Total return (a)	12.06			%	(29.04		)	%	(1.06		)	%	43.73			%	(33.18		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$459,786				$944,775				$1,563,581				$1,629,778				$1,307,353
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.09			%	1.06			%	1.06			%	1.05			%	1.04			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	0.95			%	0.95			%	0.97			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	0.95			%	0.95			%	0.97			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average
net assets	1.05			%	0.29			%	(0.08		)	%	(0.17		)	%	0.50			%
Portfolio turnover rate	33			%	16			%	17			%	36			%	26			%



	Class Y
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	26.19			$	37.01			$	37.47			$	26.11			$	39.33
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income (loss)	0.24			(b)	0.04			(b)	(0.08		)	(b)	(0.10		)		0.13			(b)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	2.87				(10.84		)		(0.38		)		11.47				(13.22		)
Total from investment operations	3.11				(10.80		)		(0.46		)		11.37				(13.09		)
Less dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.37		)		(0.02		)		—				(0.01		)		(0.13		)
Return of capital	—				—			(c)	—				—				—
Total dividends and distributions	(0.37		)		(0.02		)		—				(0.01		)		(0.13		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	28.93			$	26.19			$	37.01			$	37.47			$	26.11
Total return (a)	11.88			%	(29.17		)	%	(1.23		)	%	43.55			%	(33.27		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$114,639				$167,032				$270,760				$312,113				$228,335
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.24			%	1.20			%	1.16			%	1.19			%	1.15			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.13			%	1.13			%	1.13			%	1.13			%	1.13			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.13			%	1.13			%	1.13			%	1.13			%	1.13			%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average
net assets	0.85			%	0.11			%	(0.25		)	%	(0.30		)	%	0.37			%
Portfolio turnover rate	33			%	16			%	17			%	36			%	26			%

(a)


(b)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.


(c)	Amount represents less than $0.005 per share.

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class A
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	7.65			$	9.38			$	8.62			$	6.03			$	8.00
Income from investment operations:
Net investment loss (a)	(0.06		)		(0.04		)		(0.09		)		(0.09		)		(0.04		)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	2.94				(1.47		)		1.20				3.23				(1.93		)
Total from investment operations	2.88				(1.51		)		1.11				3.14				(1.97		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.37		)		(0.22		)		(0.35		)		(0.55		)		—
Net asset value, end of year	$	10.16			$	7.65			$	9.38			$	8.62			$	6.03
Total return (b)	38.03			%	(15.99		)	%	13.03			%	53.12			%	(24.63		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$276,743				$200,402				$285,679				$285,208				$204,987
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.49			%	1.47			%	1.43			%	1.35			%	1.43			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.45			%	1.45			%	1.43			%	1.35			%	1.43			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.45			%	1.45			%	1.43			%	1.35			%	1.43			%
Ratio of net investment loss to average net
assets	(0.63		)	%	(0.51		)	%	(0.93		)	%	(0.89		)	%	(0.54		)	%
Portfolio turnover rate	21			%	35			%	32			%	28			%	45			%



	Class C
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	6.64			$	8.25			$	7.61			$	5.41			$	7.24
Income from investment operations:
Net investment loss (a)	(0.11		)		(0.09		)		(0.14		)		(0.15		)		(0.09		)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	2.55				(1.30		)		1.06				2.90				(1.74		)
Total from investment operations	2.44				(1.39		)		0.92				2.75				(1.83		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.31		)		(0.22		)		(0.28		)		(0.55		)		—
Net asset value, end of year	$	8.77			$	6.64			$	8.25			$	7.61			$	5.41
Total return (b)	37.12			%	(16.73		)	%	12.24			%	52.00			%	(25.28		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$38,264				$31,889				$47,452				$50,632				$32,556
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	2.31			%	2.27			%	2.21			%	2.10			%	2.22			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	2.20			%	2.20			%	2.20			%	2.10			%	2.20			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	2.20			%	2.20			%	2.20			%	2.10			%	2.20			%
Ratio of net investment loss to average net
assets	(1.36		)	%	(1.25		)	%	(1.70		)	%	(1.65		)	%	(1.31		)	%
Portfolio turnover rate	21			%	35			%	32			%	28			%	45			%


(a)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.

(b)

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class I
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	9.93			$	12.05			$	10.97			$	7.54			$	9.95
Income from investment operations:
Net investment loss (a)	(0.02		)		(0.01		)		(0.06		)		(0.06		)		(0.01		)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	3.82				(1.89		)		1.54				4.04				(2.40		)
Total from investment operations	3.80				(1.90		)		1.48				3.98				(2.41		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.41		)		(0.22		)		(0.40		)		(0.55		)		—
Net asset value, end of year	$	13.32			$	9.93			$	12.05			$	10.97			$	7.54
Total return (b)	38.61			%	(15.69		)	%	13.56			%	53.63			%	(24.22		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$235,796				$243,901				$284,621				$183,511				$191,444
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.09			%	1.06			%	1.04			%	1.01			%	1.07			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net investment loss to average net
assets	(0.16		)	%	(0.06		)	%	(0.51		)	%	(0.52		)	%	(0.13		)	%
Portfolio turnover rate	21			%	35			%	32			%	28			%	45			%



	Class Y
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	7.82			$	9.55			$	8.78			$	6.12			$	8.08
Income from investment operations:
Net investment loss (a)	(0.03		)		(0.01		)		(0.06		)		(0.07		)		(0.02		)
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	3.01				(1.50		)		1.22				3.28				(1.94		)
Total from investment operations	2.98				(1.51		)		1.16				3.21				(1.96		)
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.40		)		(0.22		)		(0.39		)		(0.55		)		—
Net asset value, end of year	$	10.40			$	7.82			$	9.55			$	8.78			$	6.12
Total return (b)	38.52			%	(15.71		)	%	13.29			%	53.49			%	(24.26		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$175,573				$106,064				$96,390				$75,361				$28,084
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	1.17			%	1.18			%	1.16			%	1.11			%	1.21			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%	1.10			%
Ratio of net investment loss to average net
assets	(0.29		)	%	(0.17		)	%	(0.60		)	%	(0.66		)	%	(0.21		)	%
Portfolio turnover rate	21			%	35			%	32			%	28			%	45			%


(a)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.

(b)

APPENDIX A

VANECK FUNDS

APPENDIX A: INTERMEDIARY SALES CHARGE DISCOUNTS AND WAIVERS

Dated May 1, 2020

EMERGING MARKETS FUND

CLASS A: GBFAX / CLASS C: EMRCX / CLASS I: EMRIX / CLASS Y: EMRYX / CLASS Z: EMRZX

GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND

CLASS A: GHAAX / CLASS C: GHACX / CLASS I: GHAIX / CLASS Y: GHAYX

INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND

CLASS A: INIVX / CLASS C: IIGCX / CLASS I: INIIX / CLASS Y: INIYX

This Appendix A is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the prospectus dated May 1, 2020 (the “Prospectus”) for VanEck Funds (the “Trust”), relating to each of Emerging Markets Fund, Global Hard Assets Fund and International Investors Gold Fund (each, a “Fund” and together, the “Funds”), as it may be revised from time to time. A copy of the Prospectus for the Trust, relating to the Funds, may be obtained without charge by visiting the VanEck website at vaneck.com, by calling toll free 800.826.1115 or by writing to the Trust or Van Eck Securities Corporation, the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”). The information disclosed in this Appendix A is part of, and incorporated in, the Prospectus. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. For the avoidance of doubt, for purposes of this Appendix A, references to a CDSC below also include the contingent deferred redemption charge (“CDRC”) as defined in the Prospectus.

Specific intermediaries may have different policies and procedures regarding the availability of front-end sales load waivers or contingent deferred sales charge (“CDSC”) waivers, which are discussed below. In addition, please see the section of the Prospectus entitled “Shareholder Information-Sales Charges” for more information on sales charges and waivers available for different classes. In all instances, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to notify the Funds or the purchaser’s financial intermediary at the time of purchase of any facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge discounts or waivers.

A. Shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Merrill Lynch platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in these Funds’ Prospectus or SAI.

Front-end Sales Load Waivers on Class A Shares available at Merrill Lynch

Employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans, provided that the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan

Shares purchased by a 529 Plan (does not include 529 Plan units or 529-specific share classes or equivalents)

Shares purchased through a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program

Shares exchanged due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliate investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers

Shares purchased by third party investment advisors on behalf of their advisory clients through Merrill Lynch’s platform

Shares of funds purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform (if applicable)

Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the fund family)

Shares exchanged from Class C (i.e. level-load) shares of the same fund pursuant to Merrill
Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers

Employees and registered representatives of Merrill Lynch or its affiliates and their family members

Directors or Trustees of the Fund, and employees of the Fund’s investment adviser or any of its affiliates, as described in this prospectus

Eligible shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill Lynch’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for reinstatement

APPENDIX A (continued)

CDSC Waivers on A, B and C Shares available at Merrill Lynch

Death or disability of the shareholder

Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund's prospectus

Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account

Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code

Shares sold to pay Merrill Lynch fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Merrill Lynch

Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement

Shares held in retirement brokerage accounts, that are exchanged for a lower cost share class due to transfer to certain fee based accounts or platforms (applicable to A and C shares only)

Shares received through an exchange due to the holdings moving from a Merrill Lynch affiliated investment advisory program to a Merrill Lynch brokerage (non-advisory) account pursuant to Merrill Lynch’s policies relating to sales load discounts and waivers

Front-end load Discounts Available at Merrill Lynch:
Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation & Letters of Intent

Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.

Rights of Accumulation (ROA) which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts as described in the Fund's prospectus will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts (including 529 program holdings, where applicable) within the purchaser’s household at Merrill Lynch. Eligible fund family assets not held at Merrill Lynch may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets

Letters of Intent (LOI) which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within a fund family, through Merrill Lynch, over a 13-month period of time (if applicable)

B.Shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Morgan Stanley Wealth Management transactional brokerage account will be eligible only for the following front-end sales charge waivers with respect to Class A shares, which may differ from and may be more limited than those disclosed elsewhere in these Funds’ Prospectus or SAI.

Front-end Sales Charge Waivers on Class A Shares available at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Employer-sponsored retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans). For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans

Morgan Stanley employee and employee-related accounts according to Morgan Stanley’s account linking rules

Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund

Shares purchased through a Morgan Stanley self-directed brokerage account

Class C (i.e., level-load) shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s share class conversion program

Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (i) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (ii) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (iii) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge.

C.Shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Raymond James platform or account will be eligible only for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred, or back-end, sales charge waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in these Funds’ Prospectus or SAI.

Front-end sales load waivers on Class A shares available at Raymond James

Shares purchased in an investment advisory program.

Shares purchased within the same fund family through a systematic reinvestment of capital gains and dividend distributions.

Employees and registered representatives of Raymond James or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Raymond James.

Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (known as Rights of Reinstatement).

A shareholder in the Fund’s Class C shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares (or the appropriate share class) of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to a CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Raymond James.

CDSC Waivers on Classes A, B and C shares available at Raymond James

Death or disability of the shareholder.

Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s prospectus.

Return of excess contributions from an IRA Account.

Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations as described in the fund’s prospectus.

Shares sold to pay Raymond James fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Raymond James.

Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.

Front-end load discounts available at Raymond James: breakpoints, and/or rights of accumulation, and letters of intent

Breakpoints as described in this prospectus.

Rights of accumulation which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Raymond James. Eligible fund family assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of rights of accumulation calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.

Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within a fund family, over a 13-month time period. Eligible fund family assets not held at Raymond James may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.

D. Shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Janney Montgomery Scott LLC (“Janney”) brokerage account will be eligible for the following load waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and contingent deferred sales charge ("CDSC"), or back-end sales charge, waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in these Funds' Prospectus or SAI.

Front-end sales charge* waivers on Class A shares available at Janney

Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund (but not any other fund within the fund family).

Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Janney or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Janney.

Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions within the same fund family, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within ninety (90) days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales load (i.e., right of reinstatement).

Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.

Class C shares that are no longer subject to a contingent deferred sales charge and are converted to Class A shares of the same fund pursuant to Janney’s policies and procedures.

CDSC waivers on Class A and C shares available at Janney

Shares sold upon the death or disability of the shareholder.

Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the fund’s Prospectus.

Shares purchased in connection with a return of excess contributions from an IRA account.

Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and other retirement accounts if the redemption is taken in or after the year the shareholder reaches qualified age based on applicable IRS regulations.

Shares sold to pay Janney fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Janney.

Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.

Shares exchanged into the same share class of a different fund.

APPENDIX A (continued)

Front-end sales charge* discounts available at Janney: breakpoints, rights of accumulation, and/or letters of intent

Breakpoints as described in the fund’s Prospectus.

Rights of accumulation (“ROA”), which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts, will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of fund family assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Janney. Eligible fund family assets not held at Janney may be included in the ROA calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.

Letters of intent which allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases within a fund family, over a 13-month time period. Eligible fund family assets not held at Janney Montgomery Scott may be included in the calculation of letters of intent only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.

*Also referred to as an "initial sales charge."

E. Effective June 15, 2020, shareholders purchasing Fund shares through a Baird platform or account will only be eligible for the following sales charge waivers (front-end sales charge waivers and CDSC waivers) and discounts, which may differ from those disclosed elsewhere in these Funds' Prospectus or the SAI.

Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A shares Available at Baird

Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund.

Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliate and their family members as designated by Baird.

Shares purchased from the proceeds of redemptions from another VanEck Fund, provided (1) the repurchase occurs within 90 days following the redemption, (2) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account, and (3) the redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement).

A shareholder in the Fund's Class C Shares will have their shares converted at net asset value to Class A shares of the Fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird.

Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs.

CDSC Waivers on Class A and C shares Available at Baird

Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder.

Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s Prospectus.

Shares bought due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA Account.

Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching age based on applicable Internal Revenue Service regulations as described in the Fund’s prospectus.

Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird.

Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement.

Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations

Breakpoints as described in this Prospectus.

Rights of accumulations which entitle shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of VanEck Fund assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible VanEck Fund assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets.

Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of VanEck Fund shares through Baird, over a 13-month period of time.

For more detailed information, see the SAI, which is legally a part of and is incorporated by reference into this prospectus. The SAI includes information regarding, among other things: the Fund and its investment policies and risks; management of the Fund, investment advisory and other services, the Board of Trustees, and tax matters related to the Fund.

Additional information about the investments is available in the Funds’ annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Funds’ annual reports, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected each Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.


▪	Call VanEck at 800.826.1115, or visit the VanEck website at vaneck.com to request, free of charge, the annual or semi-annual reports, the SAI, information regarding applicable sales loads, breakpoint discounts, reduced or waived sales charges and eligibility minimums, or other information about the Funds.


▪	Reports and other information about the Funds are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at

http://www.sec.gov. In addition, copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov.


▪	For more information about the different sales load variations imposed by financial intermediaries, see Appendix A, “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers,” which is incorporated herein by reference and is legally a part of this prospectus.




Transfer Agent: DST Systems Inc., an SS&C Company P.O. Box 218407 Kansas City, Missouri 64121-8407 SEC Registration Number: 811-04297	800.826.2333 vaneck.com
VEFPRO	800.826.2333 vaneck.com



		PROSPECTUS
		MAY 1, 2020

VanEck Funds

Emerging Markets Bond Fund

(formerly, Unconstrained Emerging Markets Bond Fund)

Class A: EMBAX / Class I: EMBUX / Class Y: EMBYX

800.826.2333 vaneck.com



TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Summary Information	1
Emerging Markets Bond Fund (Class A, I, Y)	1
II. Investment Objective, Strategies, Policies, Risks and Other Information	7
1. Investment Objective	7
2. Additional Information about Principal Investment Strategies and Risks	7
3. Additional Investment Strategies	11
4. Other Information and Policies	12
III. Shareholder Information	14
1. How to Buy, Sell, Exchange or Transfer Shares	14
2. How to Choose a Class of Shares	18
3. Sales Charges	19
4. Householding of Reports and Prospectuses	21
5. Retirement Plans	21
6. Federal Income Taxes	21
7. Dividends and Capital Gains Distributions	23
8. Management of the Fund and Service Providers	24
IV. Financial Highlights	27
Appendix A: Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers	30

EMERGING MARKETS BOND FUND (CLASS A, I, Y)

I. SUMMARY INFORMATION

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Emerging Markets Bond Fund seeks total return, consisting of income and capital appreciation.

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 Information—Sales Charges” section of this prospectus, in the “Availability of Discounts” section of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) and, with respect to purchases of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to this prospectus, entitled “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers.”

Shareholder Fees

(fees paid directly from your investment)




	Class A	Class I	Class Y
Maximum Sales Charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%	0.00%	0.00%
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of the net asset value or purchase price)	0.00%¹	0.00%	0.00%

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




	Class A	Class I	Class Y
Management Fees	0.80%	0.80%	0.80%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	0.25%	0.00%	0.00%
Other Expenses	1.64%	1.38%	1.80%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	2.69%	2.18%	2.60%
Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements²	-1.43%	-1.22%	-1.58%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waivers and/or Expense Reimbursements	1.26%	0.96%	1.02%


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.

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 1.25% for Class A, 0.95% for Class I, and 1.00% for Class Y of the Fund’s average daily net assets per year until May 1, 2021. 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




	Share Status	1 Year		3 Years		5 Years		10 Years
Class A	Sold or Held		$696		$1,234		$1,798		$3,324
Class I	Sold or Held		$98		$564		$1,058		$2,418
Class Y	Sold or Held		$104		$658		$1,238		$2,816

EMERGING MARKETS BOND FUND (CLASS A, I, Y) (continued)

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

Under normal conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in emerging market debt securities. An instrument will qualify as an emerging market debt security if it is either (i) issued by an emerging market government, quasi-government or corporate entity (regardless of the currency in which it is denominated) or (ii) denominated in the currency of an emerging market country (regardless of the location of the issuer). The Fund may also invest in non-emerging market debt securities. There is no limit on the amount the Fund may invest in one country or in securities denominated in one currency. The Fund may also invest in debt securities rated below investment grade (“junk bonds”). 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 may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities.

The Fund invests in debt issued in emerging market and developed market currencies by governments and government-owned, controlled, or related entities (and their agencies and subdivisions), and by corporations. The Fund may invest in corporate bonds, debentures, notes, commercial paper, time deposits, and certificates of deposit, as well as debt obligations, which may have a call on a common stock or commodity by means of a conversion privilege or attached warrants.

The Fund may also invest in emerging market or developed market currencies. The Fund may use derivative instruments denominated in any currency to enhance return, hedge (or protect) the value of its assets against adverse movements in commodity prices, currency exchange rates, interest rates and movements in the securities markets, manage certain investment risks and/or as a substitute for the purchase or sale of securities, currencies or commodities. The Fund may also use derivative instruments to implement “cross-hedging” strategies, which involve the use of one currency to hedge against the decline in the value of another currency, or to hedge the value of a currency that is embedded in the value of another currency (for example, the value of the Euro that may be embedded in the Polish zloty). The Fund expects to use forward currency contracts; futures on securities, indices, currencies, commodities, swaps and other investments; options; and interest rate swaps, cross-currency swaps, total return swaps and credit default swaps. The Fund may also invest in credit-linked notes. Credit-linked notes are typically issued by a limited purpose trust or other vehicle that, in turn, invests in a derivative or basket of derivatives instruments, such as credit default swaps, interest rate swaps and/or other securities, in order to provide exposure to certain high yield, sovereign debt, emerging markets, or other fixed income markets. The notional value of a cash-settled forward currency contract or other derivative instrument on an emerging market currency (or a currency that is embedded in an emerging market currency) or security (including any security that is a reference security for a credit default swap) will be treated as an emerging market debt security for purposes of complying with the Fund’s policy of investing at least 80% of its net assets in emerging market debt securities.

The Adviser has broad discretion to identify countries that it considers to qualify as emerging markets. The Adviser selects emerging market countries and currencies that the Fund will invest in based on the Adviser’s evaluation of economic fundamentals, legal structure, political developments and other specific factors the Adviser believes to be relevant. The Fund’s investment strategy normalizes countries’ economic fundamentals and compares them to the valuations of the relevant asset prices, particularly the relevant currency’s valuation, the relevant currency’s interest rate, and the relevant hard-currency security’s credit spread. The Fund may invest in instruments whose return is based on the return of an emerging market security such as a derivative instrument, rather than investing directly in emerging market securities.

The Fund’s holdings may include issues denominated in currencies of emerging countries, investment companies (like country funds) that invest in emerging countries, American Depositary Receipts, and similar types of investments, representing emerging market securities. The Fund may purchase securities of any maturity or duration. Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixed income security that is used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates. Similarly, a fund with a longer average portfolio duration will be more sensitive to changes in interest rates than a fund with a shorter average portfolio duration. By way of example, the price of a bond fund with an average duration of five years would be expected to fall approximately 5% if interest rates rose by one percentage point.

The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities issued by other investment companies (each an “Underlying Fund”), including exchange-traded funds (“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 exposure to, certain market sectors, or when direct investments in certain countries are not permitted or available. The Fund may also invest in restricted securities, including Rule 144A securities.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

Below Investment Grade Securities. Below investment grade securities (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”) are more speculative than higher-rated securities. These securities have a much greater risk of default and may be more volatile than higher-rated securities of similar maturity. These securities may be less liquid and more difficult to value than higher-rated securities.

Credit. Credit risk is the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a debt security or the counterparty to an over-the-counter contract (including many derivatives) will be unable or unwilling to make timely principal, interest or settlement payments or otherwise honor its obligations. The Fund invests in debt securities that are subject to varying degrees of risk that the issuers of the securities will have their credit ratings downgraded or will default, potentially reducing the value of the securities.

Credit-Linked Notes. As the buyer of a credit-linked note, the Fund assumes the risk of default by the issuer and the underlying reference asset or entity. If the underlying investment defaults, the payments and principal received by the Fund will be reduced or eliminated. Also, in the event the issuer defaults or there is a credit event that relates to the reference asset, the recovery rate generally is less than the Fund’s initial investment, and the Fund may lose money.

Currency Management Strategies. Currency management strategies, including the use of forward currency contracts and other derivatives, may substantially change the Fund’s exposure to currencies and currency exchange rates and could result in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Adviser anticipates.

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. Debt securities with longer durations have higher risk and volatility.

Hedging. Losses or gains generated by a derivative or other instrument or practice used by the Fund for hedging purposes (including for hedging interest rate risk and credit risk) should be substantially offset by gains or losses on the hedged investment. However, the Fund is exposed to the risk that changes in the value of a hedging instrument will not match those of the investment being hedged.

Latin American Issuers. Investments in securities of Latin American issuers involve special considerations not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers located in the United States. The economies of certain Latin American countries have, at times, experienced high interest rates, economic volatility, inflation, currency devaluations and high unemployment rates. In addition, commodities (such as oil, gas and minerals) represent a significant percentage of the region’s exports and many economies in this region are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. Adverse economic events in one country may have a significant adverse effect on other countries of this region. Most Latin American countries have

EMERGING MARKETS BOND FUND (CLASS A, I, Y) (continued)

experienced, at one time or another, severe and persistent levels of inflation, including, in some cases, hyperinflation. This has, in turn, led to high interest rates, extreme measures by governments to keep inflation in check, and a generally debilitating effect on economic growth.

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, sudden and unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments might affect companies world-wide. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

Portfolio Turnover. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities and thus may experience a high portfolio turnover rate. This may result in significant taxable capital gains as a result of the frequent trading of the Fund’s portfolio securities and the Fund will incur transaction costs in connection with buying and selling the securities, which may lower the Fund’s return.

Restricted Securities Risk. The Fund may hold securities that are restricted as to resale under the U.S. Federal securities laws, such as securities in certain privately held companies. Such securities may be highly illiquid and their values may experience significant volatility. Restricted securities may be difficult to value.

Sovereign Bonds. Investments in sovereign bonds involve special risks not present in corporate bonds. The governmental authority that controls the repayment of the bonds may be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal on its bonds or to otherwise honor its obligations. If an issuer of sovereign bonds defaults on payments of principal and/or interest, the Fund may have limited recourse against the issuer.

PERFORMANCE

The following chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual total returns compare with those of a broad measure of market performance and one or more other performance measures. For instance, the 50% J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index Global Diversified Index/50% J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Global Diversified Index, shown in the table, is a blended, unmanaged index created by the Adviser. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund’s Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be lower than those shown. Additionally, large purchases and/or redemptions of shares of a class, relative to the amount of assets represented by the class, may cause the annual returns for each class to differ. Updated performance information for the Fund is available on the VanEck website at vaneck.com.

Class A: Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31



Best Quarter:	+5.85%	1Q '19
Worst Quarter:	-11.07%	2Q '13




Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/19	1 Year	5 Years	Life of Class
Class A Shares (7/9/12)
Before Taxes	6.05%	0.33%	1.23%
After Taxes on Distributions¹	3.34%	-1.05%	-0.26%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	3.60%	-0.37%	0.29%
Class I Shares (7/9/12)
Before Taxes	13.09%	1.86%	2.33%
Class Y Shares (7/9/12)
Before Taxes	13.05%	1.78%	2.27%
50% J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index Global Diversified Index/50%	14.31%	4.57%	3.30%
J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Global
Diversified Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
J.P. Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Global	13.47%	2.78%	1.02%
Diversified Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index Global Diversified Index	15.04%	6.24%	5.51%
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Investment Adviser. Van Eck Associates Corporation

Portfolio Managers.

Eric Fine has been Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2012. David Austerweil has been Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund since 2014.

EMERGING MARKETS BOND FUND (CLASS A, I, Y) (continued)

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

In general, shares of the Fund may be purchased or redeemed on any business day, primarily through financial representatives such as brokers or advisers, or directly by eligible investors through the Fund’s transfer agent. Purchase minimums for Classes A and Y shares are $1,000 for an initial purchase and $100 for a subsequent purchase, with no purchase minimums for any purchase through a retirement or pension plan account, for any “wrap fee” account and similar programs offered without a sales charge by certain financial institutions and third-party recordkeepers and/or administrators, and for any account using the Automatic Investment Plan, or for any other periodic purchase program. Purchase minimums for Class I shares are $1 million for an initial purchase and no minimum for a subsequent purchase; the initial minimum may be reduced or waived at the Adviser’s discretion.

TAX INFORMATION

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

II. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION

This section states the Fund’s investment objective and describes certain strategies and policies that the Fund may utilize in pursuit of its investment objective. This section also provides additional information about the principal risks associated with investing in the Fund.

1. INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Emerging Markets Bond Fund seeks total return, consisting of income and capital appreciation.

The Fund’s investment objective is non-fundamental and may be changed by the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) without shareholder approval. To the extent practicable, the Fund will provide shareholders with 60 days’ prior written notice before changing its investment objective.

2. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES AND RISKS

Below Investment Grade Securities Risk. Below investment grade securities (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”) are more speculative than higher-rated securities. These securities have a much greater risk of default (or in the case of bonds currently in default, of not returning principal) and may be more volatile than higher-rated securities of similar maturity. The value of these securities can be affected by overall economic conditions, interest rates, and the creditworthiness of the individual issuers. Additionally, these securities may be less liquid and more difficult to value than higher-rated securities.

Credit Risk. Credit risk is the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a debt security or the counterparty to an over-the-counter contract (including many derivatives) will be unable or unwilling to make timely principal, interest or settlement payments or otherwise honor its obligations. The Fund invests in debt securities that are subject to varying degrees of risk that the issuers of the securities will have their credit ratings downgraded or will default, potentially reducing the value of the securities.

Credit-Linked Notes Risk. As the buyer of a credit-linked note, the Fund assumes the risk of default by the issuer and the underlying reference asset or entity. If the underlying investment defaults, the payments and principal received by the Fund will be reduced or eliminated. Also, in the event the issuer defaults or there is a credit event that relates to the reference asset, the recovery rate generally is less than the Fund’s initial investment, and the Fund may lose money.

Currency Management Strategies Risk. The strategy that is generally used in an attempt to reduce the risk and impact of adverse currency movements to protect the value of, or seek to mitigate the currency exposure associated with, an investment (including, for example, mitigating the exposure to the Euro that may be embedded in the Polish zloty).

Currency management strategies, including the use of forward currency contracts and cross-hedging, may substantially change the Fund’s exposure to currency exchange rates and could result in losses to the Fund if currencies do not perform as the Adviser expects. In addition, currency management strategies, to the extent that such strategies reduce the Fund’s exposure to currency risks, may also reduce the Fund’s ability to benefit from favorable changes in currency exchange rates. There is no assurance that the Adviser’s use of currency management strategies will benefit the Fund or that they will be, or can be, used at appropriate times. Furthermore, there may not be a perfect correlation between the amount of exposure to a particular currency and the amount of securities in the portfolio denominated in that currency or exposed to that currency. Currency markets are generally less regulated than securities markets. Derivatives transactions, especially forward currency contracts, currency-related futures contracts and swap agreements, may involve significant amounts of currency management strategies risk. A fund, like the Fund, that may utilize these types of instruments to a significant extent will be especially subject to currency management strategies risk.

Debt Securities Risk. Debt securities may include bonds and other forms of debentures or obligations. When an issuer sells debt securities, it sells them for a certain price, and for a certain term. Over the term of the security, the issuer promises to pay the buyer a certain rate of interest, then to repay the principal at maturity. Debt securities are also bought and sold in the “secondary market”—that is, they are traded by people other than their original issuers.

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. Various factors could affect the issuer’s ability to make timely interest or principal payments, including changes in the issuer’s financial condition or in general economic conditions. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a debt security resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates rise, the value of debt securities will tend to fall, and if interest rates fall, the values of debt securities will tend to rise. Debt securities with longer durations have higher risk and volatility. Changes in government policies, such as raising the federal funds rate and/or further tapering “quantitative easing” measures, may increase interest rates which are currently at or near historic lows. These policy changes, along with changing market conditions, may lead to periods of heightened volatility in the debt securities market, reduced liquidity for certain Fund investments and an increase in Fund redemptions. Interest rate changes and their impact on the Fund and its share price can be sudden and unpredictable. Changes in the value of a debt security usually will not affect the amount of income the Fund receives from it but may affect the value of the Fund’s shares.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION (continued)

nature of any replacement rate, the potential effect of a transition away from LIBOR and certain other Reference Rates could, among other negative consequently adversely impact the pricing, liquidity, value of, return on and trading for a broad array of financial products, including any Reference Rate-linked securities, loans and derivatives in which the Fund may invest; require extensive negotiations of and/or amendments to agreements and other documentation governing Reference Rate-linked investments products; lead to disputes, litigation or other actions with counterparties or portfolio companies regarding the interpretation and enforceability of “fallback” provisions that provide for an alternative reference rate in the event of Reference Rate unavailability; or cause the Fund to incur additional costs in relation to any of the above factors.

Derivatives Risk. The term “derivatives” covers a broad range of financial instruments, including swap agreements, options, warrants, futures contracts, currency forwards and structured notes, whose values are derived, at least in part, from the value of one or more indicators, such as a security, asset, index or reference rate.

The use of derivatives 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, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives. Derivative strategies often involve leverage, which may exaggerate a loss, potentially causing the Fund to lose more money than it originally committed to initial margin, and more money than it would have lost had it invested in the underlying security. The values of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in unusual market conditions, and may result in increased volatility, among other consequences. There may be imperfect correlation between changes in the market value of a derivative and the value of its underlying reference asset, or in the case of hedging, in the value of the portfolio investment being hedged, and this may be exaggerated in times of market stress or volatility. Many derivatives require the Fund to post margin or collateral or otherwise maintain liquid assets in a manner that satisfies contractual undertakings and regulatory requirements. In order to satisfy margin or other requirements, the Fund may need to sell securities from its portfolio or exit positions at a time when it may be disadvantageous to do so. All of this could, in turn, affect the Fund's ability to fully execute its investment strategies and/or achieve its investment objective. The use of derivatives may increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders because changes in government regulation of derivatives could affect the character, timing and amount of the Fund’s taxable income or gains. Additionally, the Fund’s use of derivatives may be limited by the requirements for taxation of the Fund as a regulated investment company. Other risks arise from the Fund’s potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund’s derivative positions at times when the Fund might wish to terminate or sell such positions. Over-the-counter instruments (investments not traded on an exchange) may be illiquid, and transactions in derivatives traded in the over-the-counter market are subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the Fund's counterparty in a transaction may be unwilling, or unable, to perform its obligations under the transaction. The use of derivatives also involves the risk of mispricing or improper valuation and that changes in the value of the derivative may not correlate perfectly with the underlying security, asset, index or reference rate. Derivatives may be subject to changing government regulation that could impact the Fund's ability to use certain derivatives and their cost.

calculating the fund’s asset coverage ratio. Reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions would not be

included in the calculation of whether the fund is a limited derivatives user, but for the fund subject to the VaR testing, reverse

repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions would be included for purposes of such testing. Any new requirements,

if adopted, may increase the cost of the fund’s investments and cost of doing business, which could adversely affect investors.

Leverage Risk. To the extent that the Fund borrows money or utilizes certain derivatives, it may be leveraged. Leveraging generally exaggerates the effect on NAV of any increase or decrease in the market value of the Fund’s portfolio securities. To manage the risk associated with leveraging, the Fund may segregate liquid assets, or otherwise “cover” its derivatives position in a manner consistent with the Investment Company Act of 1940 Act, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and the rules and SEC interpretations thereunder. The Fund may modify its asset segregation policies at any time to comply with any changes in the SEC’s positions regarding asset segregation.

Emerging Market Securities Risk. Securities (i) issued by an emerging market government, quasi-government or corporate entity (regardless of the currency in which it is denominated) or (ii) denominated in the currency of an emerging market country (regardless of the location of the issuer).

Emerging market securities typically present even greater exposure to the risks described under “Foreign Securities Risk” 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. Political risks may include unstable governments, nationalization, restrictions on foreign ownership, laws that prevent investors from getting their money out of a country and legal systems that do not protect property rights as well as the laws of the U.S. These restrictions and/or controls may at times limit or prevent foreign investment in securities of issuers located or operating in emerging market countries. Market risks may include economies that concentrate in only a few industries, securities issued that are held by only a few investors, limited trading capacity in local exchanges and the possibility that markets or issues may be manipulated by foreign nationals who have inside information. These factors, among others, make investing in issuers located or operating in emerging market countries significantly riskier than investing in issuers located or operating in more developed countries, and any one of them could cause a decline in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Foreign Currency Risk. 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.

The Fund’s shares are priced (purchased and redeemed) in U.S. dollars and the distributions paid by the Fund are paid in U.S. dollars. However, a substantial portion of the Fund’s assets may be denominated in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies and income received by the Fund from many of its investments may be paid in foreign currencies. Foreign currencies may decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar and adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments in foreign currencies, securities denominated in foreign currencies, derivatives that provide exposure to foreign currencies, and the Fund’s income available for distribution. The value of foreign currencies, securities denominated in foreign currencies or derivatives that provide exposure to foreign currencies may be adversely affected by currency exchange rates, currency exchange control regulations, foreign withholding taxes, restrictions or prohibitions on the repatriation of foreign currencies, changes in supply and demand in the currency exchange markets, actual or perceived changes in interest rates, intervention (or the failure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign governments, central banks, or supranational agencies such as the International Monetary Fund, and currency controls or other political and economic developments in the U.S. or abroad. The local emerging market currencies in which the Fund may be invested from time to time may experience substantially greater volatility against the U.S. dollar than the major convertible currencies of developed countries.

The Adviser, may, but is not required to, attempt to mitigate (or “hedge”) the risks associated with currency exposure or fluctuations by entering into forward, futures, options, swap or other contracts to purchase or sell the currency of denomination of any investment held by the Fund or which poses a risk to the Fund and any other currencies held by the Fund. Such contracts may not be available on favorable terms or in all of the currencies in which the Fund may invest from time to time.

In the case of hedging positions, currency risk includes the risk that the currency to which the Fund has obtained exposure declines in value relative to the foreign currency being hedged. In such event, the Fund may realize a loss on the hedging instrument at the same time the Fund is realizing a loss on the currency being hedged. There is no assurance that any such hedging strategies will be available or will be used by the Fund or, if used, that they will be successful.

The Fund may use derivatives to acquire positions in currencies whose value the Adviser expects to correlate with the value of currencies the Fund owns, currencies the Adviser wants the Fund to own, or currencies the Fund is exposed to indirectly or directly through its investments. If the exchange rates of the currencies involved do not move as expected, the Fund could lose money on its holdings of a particular currency and also lose money on the derivative. The Fund may also take overweighted or underweighted currency positions and/or alter the currency exposure of the securities in which it has invested. As a result, its currency exposure may differ (in some cases significantly) from the currency exposure of its security investments.

Foreign Securities Risk. Securities issued by a foreign government, quasi-government or corporate entity, traded in foreign currencies or issued by companies with most of their business interests in foreign countries.

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, including the takeover of property without adequate compensation or imposition of prohibitive taxation, or political, economic or social instability. The Fund invests in securities of issuers located in countries whose economies are heavily dependent upon trading with key partners. Any reduction in this trading may have an adverse impact on the Fund’s investments. 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. Foreign companies may become subject to sanctions imposed by the United States, another country or an international organization, which could result in the immediate freeze of the foreign companies’ assets or securities. The imposition of such sanctions could impair the market value of the securities of such foreign companies and limit the Fund’s ability to buy, sell, receive or deliver the securities. The Fund may invest indirectly in foreign securities through depositary receipts, such as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which involve risks similar to those associated with direct investments in such securities.

Hedging Risk. Hedging is a strategy in which a derivative or other instrument or practice is used to offset the risks associated with other Fund holdings or the risk associated with the Fund temporarily not being fully invested because of significant cash in-flows.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION (continued)

Losses generated by a derivative or other instrument or practice used by the Fund for hedging purposes (including for hedging interest rate risk and credit risk) should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment. However, although hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. In addition, the Fund is exposed to the risk that changes in the value of a hedging instrument will not match those of the investment being hedged. The Adviser may not be able to predict correctly the direction of securities prices, interest rates and other economic factors, which could cause the Fund’s hedges to lose value. There can be no assurance that the Fund’s hedging transactions will be effective.

Risks of Investing in Other Investment Companies. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities issued by other investment companies (excluding money market funds), including open end and closed end funds and ETFs, subject to the limitations under the 1940 Act. The Fund’s investments in money market funds are not subject to this limitation.

The Fund’s 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 company’s fees and expenses, which are in addition to the Fund’s own fees and expenses. Shares of closed-end funds and ETFs may trade at prices that reflect a premium above or a discount below the investment company’s net asset value, which may be substantial in the case of closed-end funds. If investment company securities are purchased at a premium to net asset value, the premium may not exist when those securities are sold and the Fund could incur a loss.

Risks of Investing in Latin American Issuers. As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in securities of Latin American issuers. Investments in securities of Latin American issuers involve special considerations not typically associated with investments in securities of issuers located in the United States. The economies of certain Latin American countries have, at times, experienced high interest rates, economic volatility, inflation, currency devaluations and high unemployment rates. In addition, commodities (such as oil, gas and minerals) represent a significant percentage of the region’s exports and many economies in this region are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. Adverse economic events in one country may have a significant adverse effect on other countries of this region. Most Latin American countries have experienced, at one time or another, severe and persistent levels of inflation, including, in some cases, hyperinflation. This has, in turn, led to high interest rates, extreme measures by governments to keep inflation in check, and a generally debilitating effect on economic growth. Although inflation in many Latin American countries has lessened, there is no guarantee it will remain at lower levels. The political history of certain Latin American countries has been characterized by political uncertainty, intervention by the military in civilian and economic spheres, and political corruption. Such events could reverse favorable trends toward market and economic reform, privatization, and removal of trade barriers, and could result in significant disruption in securities markets in the region. The economies of Latin American countries are generally considered emerging markets and can be significantly affected by currency devaluations. Certain Latin American countries may also have managed currencies which are maintained at artificial levels relative to the U.S. dollar rather than at levels determined by the market. This type of system can lead to sudden and large adjustments in the currency which, in turn, can have a disruptive and negative effect on foreign investors. Certain Latin American countries also restrict the free conversion of their currency into foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar. There is no significant foreign exchange market for many Latin American currencies and it would, as a result, be difficult for the Fund to engage in foreign currency transactions designed to protect the value of the Fund’s interests in securities denominated in such currencies. Finally, a number of Latin American countries are among the largest debtors of developing countries. There have been moratoria on, and a rescheduling of, repayment with respect to these debts. Such events can restrict the flexibility of these debtor nations in the international markets and result in the imposition of onerous conditions on their economies.

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, sudden and unpredictable drops in value, exchange trading suspensions and closures and public health risks. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) adversely interrupt the global economy; in these and other circumstances, such events or developments might affect companies world-wide. Overall securities values could decline generally or could underperform other investments. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

Non-Diversification Risk. A non-diversified fund may invest a larger portion of its assets in a single issuer than a “diversified” fund. A “diversified” fund is required by the 1940 Act, generally, with respect to 75% of the value of its total assets, to invest not more than 5% of such assets in the securities of a single issuer, and not to hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of a single issuer. 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.

communication errors, errors of the Fund’s service providers, counterparties or other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or system failures.

Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities and thus may experience a high portfolio turnover rate. A high portfolio turnover rate may result in significant taxable capital gains as a result of the frequent trading of the Fund’s portfolio securities and the Fund will incur transaction costs in connection with buying and selling the securities, which may lower the Fund’s return.

Restricted Securities Risk. Regulation S and Rule 144A securities are restricted securities. Restricted securities are securities that are not registered under the Securities Act. They may be less liquid and more difficult to value than other investments because such securities may not be readily marketable. The Fund may not be able to sell a restricted security promptly or at a reasonable time or price. Although there may be a substantial institutional market for these securities, it is not possible to predict exactly how the market for such securities will develop or whether it will continue to exist. A restricted security that was liquid at the time of purchase may subsequently become illiquid and its value may decline as a result. Restricted securities that are deemed illiquid will count towards the Fund’s limitation on illiquid securities. In addition, transaction costs may be higher for restricted securities than for more liquid securities. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering restricted securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration.

Sovereign Bonds Risk. As of December 31, 2019, the Fund invested a significant portion of its assets in bonds issued by governmental authorities. Investments in sovereign bonds involve special risks not present in corporate bonds. The governmental authority that controls the repayment of the bonds may be unable or unwilling to make interest payments and/or repay the principal on its bonds or to otherwise honor its obligations. If an issuer of sovereign bonds defaults on payments of principal and/or interest, the Fund may have limited recourse against the issuer. During periods of economic uncertainty, the market prices of sovereign bonds, and the Fund’s net asset value, may be more volatile than prices of corporate bonds, which may result in losses. In the past, certain governments of emerging market countries have declared themselves unable to meet their financial obligations on a timely basis, which has resulted in losses for holders of sovereign bonds.

3. ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

ADDITIONAL REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS

With respect to the Fund, the Adviser has claimed an exclusion from the definition of a "commodity pool operator" ("CPO") under the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936 ("CEA") and the rules of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") and, therefore, is not subject to CFTC registration or regulation as a CPO. In addition, with respect to the Fund, the Adviser is relying upon a related exclusion from the definition of a "commodity trading advisor" ("CTA") under the CEA and the rules of the CFTC. The terms of the CPO exclusion require the Fund, among other things, to adhere to certain limits on its investments in “commodity interests.” Commodity interests include commodity futures, commodity options and swaps, which in turn include non-deliverable currency forward contracts. Because the Adviser and the Fund intend to comply with the terms of the CPO exclusion, the Fund may, in the future, need to adjust its investment strategies, consistent with its investment objective to limit its investments in these types of instruments. The Fund is not intended as a vehicle for trading in the commodity futures, commodity options or swaps markets. The CFTC has neither reviewed nor approved the Adviser's reliance on these exclusions, or the Fund, its investment strategies or this prospectus.

INVESTING DEFENSIVELY

The Fund may take temporary defensive positions that are inconsistent with the Fund’s principal investment strategies in anticipation of or in an attempt to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions. The Fund may not achieve its investment objective while it is investing defensively.

SECURITIES LENDING

The Fund may lend its securities as permitted under the 1940 Act, including by participating in securities lending programs managed by broker-dealers or other institutions. Securities lending allows the Fund to retain ownership of the securities loaned and, at the same time, earn additional income. The borrowings must be collateralized in full with cash, U.S. government securities or high-quality letters of credit.

The Fund could experience delays and costs in recovering the securities loaned or in gaining access to the securities lending collateral. If the Fund is not able to recover the securities loaned, the Fund may sell the collateral and purchase a replacement investment in the market. The value of the collateral could decrease below the value of the replacement investment by the time the replacement investment is purchased. Cash received as collateral and which is invested is subject to market appreciation and depreciation.

INVESTING IN CHINESE BONDS

The Fund may invest in Renminbi (“RMB”)-denominated bonds issued in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) by Chinese credit, government and quasi-governmental issuers (“RMB Bonds”). RMB Bonds are available on the China interbank bond market (“CIBM”) to eligible foreign investors through the CIBM Direct Access Program and through the “Mutual Bond Market Access

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, RISKS AND OTHER INFORMATION (continued)

between Mainland China and Hong Kong” (“Bond Connect”) program. The Fund’s investments in bonds through either program will be subject to a number of additional risks and restrictions that may affect the Fund’s investments and returns.

The Bond Connect program and the CIBM Direct Access Program are relatively new. Laws, rules, regulations, policies, notices, circulars or guidelines relating to the programs as published or applied by the relevant authorities of the PRC are untested and are subject to change from time to time. There can be no assurance that the Bond Connect program and/or the CIBM Direct Access Program will not be restricted, suspended or abolished.

Under the prevailing PRC regulations, eligible foreign investors who wish to participate in the Bond Connect program may do so through an offshore custody agent, registration agent or other third parties (as the case may be), who would be responsible for making the relevant filings and account opening with the relevant authorities. The Fund is therefore subject to the risk of default or errors on the part of such agents.

Under the prevailing PRC regulations, eligible foreign institutional investors who wish to invest directly in CIBM through the CIBM Direct Access Program may do so through an onshore settlement agent, who would be responsible for making the relevant filings and account opening with the relevant authorities. The Fund is therefore subject to the risk of default or errors on the part of such agent.

Trading through the Bond Connect program is performed through newly developed trading platforms and operational systems. There is no assurance that such systems will function properly (in particular, under extreme market conditions) or will continue to be adapted to changes and developments in the market. In addition, where the Fund invests in the CIBM through the Bond Connect program, it may be subject to risks of delays inherent in the order placing and/or settlement.

Investing in RMB Bonds involves additional risks, including, but not limited to, the fact that the economy of China differs, often unfavorably, from the U.S. economy, as it relates to, among other things, currency revaluation, structure, general development, government involvement, wealth distribution, rate of inflation, growth rate, allocation of resources and capital reinvestment.

The RMB is currently not a freely convertible currency. The Chinese government places strict regulation on the RMB and sets the value of the RMB to levels dependent on the value of the U.S. dollar. The Chinese government’s imposition of restrictions on the repatriation of RMB out of mainland China may limit the depth of the offshore RMB market and reduce the liquidity of the Fund’s investments.

4. OTHER INFORMATION AND POLICIES

BENEFICIARIES OF CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS

VanEck Funds (the “Trust”) enters into contractual arrangements with various parties, including, among others, the Fund’s investment adviser, administrator and distributor, who provide services to the Fund. Shareholders of the Fund are not parties to, or intended (or “third-party”) beneficiaries of, any of those contractual arrangements, and those contractual arrangements are not intended to create in any individual shareholder or group of shareholders any right to enforce such contractual arrangements against the service providers or to seek any remedy under such contractual arrangements against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the Trust.

This prospectus provides information concerning the Trust and the Fund that you should consider in determining whether to purchase shares of the Fund. None of this prospectus, the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) or any document filed as an exhibit to the Trust’s registration statement, is intended to, nor does it, give rise to an agreement or contract between the Trust or the Fund and any investor, or give rise to any contract or other rights in any individual shareholder, group of shareholders or other person other than any rights conferred explicitly by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.

CHANGING THE FUND’S 80% POLICY

The Fund’s policy of investing “at least 80% of its net assets” (which includes net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes) may be changed by the Board without a shareholder vote, as long as shareholders are given 60 days notice of the change.

CYBER SECURITY

The Fund and its service providers are susceptible to cyber security risks that include, among other things, theft, unauthorized monitoring, release, misuse, loss, destruction or corruption of confidential and highly restricted data; denial of service attacks; unauthorized access to relevant systems; compromises to networks or devices that the Fund and its service providers use to service the Fund’s operations; and operational disruption or failures in the physical infrastructure or operating systems that support the Fund and its service providers. Cyber attacks against or security breakdowns of the Fund or its service providers may adversely impact the Fund and its shareholders, potentially resulting in, among other things, financial losses; the inability of Fund shareholders to transact business and the Fund to process transactions; the inability to calculate the Fund’s net asset value; violations of applicable privacy and other laws; regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs; and/or additional compliance costs. The Fund may incur additional costs for cyber security risk management and remediation purposes. In addition, cyber security risks may also impact issuers of securities in which the Fund invests, which

may cause the Fund’s investments in such issuers to lose value. There can be no assurance that the Fund or its service providers will not suffer losses relating to cyber attacks or other information security breaches in the future.

PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS INFORMATION

Generally, it is the Fund’s and the Adviser’s policy that no current or potential investor, including any Fund shareholder, shall be provided information about the Fund’s portfolio on a preferential basis in advance of the provision of that information to other investors. A complete description of the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the Fund’s SAI.

Portfolio holdings information for the Fund is available to all investors on the VanEck website at vaneck.com. Information regarding the Fund’s top holdings and country and sector weightings, updated as of each month-end, is also located on this website. Generally, this information is posted to the website within 10 business days of the end of the applicable month. This information generally remains available on the website until new information is posted. The Fund reserves the right to exclude any portion of these portfolio holdings from publication when deemed in the best interest of the Fund, and to discontinue the posting of portfolio holdings information at any time, without prior notice.

PORTFOLIO INVESTMENTS

The percentage limitations relating to the composition of the Fund’s portfolio apply at the time the Fund acquires an investment. A subsequent increase or decrease in percentage resulting from a change in the value of portfolio securities or the total or net assets of the Fund will not be considered a violation of the restriction.

III. SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

1. HOW TO BUY, SELL, EXCHANGE OR TRANSFER SHARES

The Fund offers Class A, Class I and Class Y shares. Information related to how to buy, sell, exchange and transfer shares is discussed below. See the “Minimum Purchase” section for information related to initial and subsequent minimum investment amounts. The minimum investment amounts vary by share class.

Through a Financial Intermediary

Primarily, accounts are opened through a financial intermediary (broker, bank, adviser or agent). Please contact your financial intermediary for details.

Through the Transfer Agent, DST Systems, Inc., an SS&C Company (DST)

You may buy (purchase), sell (redeem), exchange, or transfer ownership of Class A and Class I shares directly through DST by mail or telephone, as stated below. For Class Y shares, shareholders must open accounts and transact business through a financial intermediary.

The Fund’s mailing address at DST is:

VanEck Funds

P.O. Box 218407

Kansas City, MO 64121-8407

For overnight delivery:

VanEck Funds

210 W. 10th St., 8th Fl.

Kansas City, MO 64105-1802

Non-resident aliens cannot make a direct investment to establish a new account in the Fund, but may invest through their broker or agent.

To telephone the Fund at DST, call VanEck Account Assistance at 800-544-4653.

Purchase by Mail

Telephone Redemption-Proceeds by Check 800-345-8506

Expedited Redemption—Proceeds by Wire 800-345-8506

If your account has the optional Expedited Redemption Privilege, you can redeem a minimum of $1,000 or more per day by telephone or written request with the proceeds wired to your designated bank account. The Fund reserves the right to waive the minimum amount. This privilege must be established in advance by Application. For further details, see the Application or call Account Assistance.

Written Redemption

Your written redemption (sale) request must include:


■	Fund and account number.


■	Number of shares or dollar amount to be redeemed, or a request to sell “all shares.”


■	Signatures of all registered account holders, exactly as those names appear on the account registration, including any additional documents concerning authority and related matters in the case of estates, trusts, guardianships, custodianships, partnerships and corporations, as requested by DST.


■	Special instructions, including bank wire information or special payee or address.

A signature guarantee for each account holder will be required if:


■	The redemption is for $50,000 or more.


■	The redemption amount is wired.


■	The redemption amount is paid to someone other than the registered owner.


■	The redemption amount is sent to an address other than the address of record.


■	The address of record has been changed within the past 30 days.

Institutions eligible to provide signature guarantees include banks, brokerages, trust companies, and some credit unions.

Telephone Exchange 800-345-8506

If your account has the optional Telephone Exchange Privilege, you can exchange between VanEck Funds of the same Class without any additional sales charge. All accounts are eligible except for omnibus accounts or those registered in street name and certain custodial retirement accounts held by a financial institution other than VanEck. For further details regarding exchanges, please see the application, “Limits and Restrictions” and “Unauthorized Telephone Requests” below, or call Account Assistance.

Written Exchange

Written requests for exchange must include:


■	The fund and account number to be exchanged out of.


■	The fund to be exchanged into.


■	Directions to exchange “all shares” or a specific number of shares or dollar amount.


■	Signatures of all registered account holders, exactly as those names appear on the account registration, including any additional documents concerning authority and related matters in the case of estates, trusts, guardianships, custodianships, partnerships and corporations, as requested by DST.

For further details regarding exchanges, please see the applicable information in “Telephone Exchange.”

Certificates

Certificates are not issued for new or existing shares.

Transfer of Ownership

Redemption Liquidity

The Fund expects to make redemption payments to the shareholder, or shareholder’s financial intermediary, within 1 to 2 business days following the Fund’s receipt of the redemption transaction from the shareholder, or shareholder’s financial intermediary. The financial intermediary acts on behalf of the shareholder and is responsible for transmitting redemption proceeds to the shareholder. Payment of redemption proceeds by the Fund may take longer than the time the Fund typically expects and may take up to 7 days as permitted by the 1940 Act.

Typically, redemption payments of Fund shares will be made in U.S. dollars. The Fund generally expects to satisfy redemption requests from available cash holdings and sale of portfolio securities. On a less regular basis, the Fund also may draw on a bank line of credit to meet redemption requests. In stressed market conditions or for a particularly large redemption, the Fund also reserves the right to meet redemption requests through a “redemption in kind” as described below.

Redemption in Kind

The Fund reserves the right to satisfy redemption requests by making payment in securities (known as a redemption in kind). Redemptions in kind are not routinely used by the Fund. The Fund may, however, use redemptions in kind during particularly stressed market conditions or to manage the impact of a large redemption on the Fund. In such case, the Fund may pay all or part of the redemption in securities of equal value as permitted under the 1940 Act, and the rules thereunder. The redeeming shareholder should expect to incur transaction costs upon the disposition of the securities received and will bear any market risks associated with such securities until they are converted into cash. A redemption in kind is treated as a taxable transaction and a sale of the redeemed shares, generally resulting in capital gain or loss to the redeeming shareholder subject to certain loss limitation rules.

Redemptions Initiated by the Fund

The Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares in the Fund if the Fund’s Board determines that the failure to so redeem may have materially adverse consequences to the shareholders of the Fund. For additional information, please see “Additional Purchase and Redemption Information - Redemptions Initiated by the Fund” in the SAI.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

LIMITS AND RESTRICTIONS

Frequent Trading Policy

The Board has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to deter frequent trading in shares of the Fund, commonly referred to as “market timing,” because such activities may be disruptive to the management of the Fund’s portfolio and may increase the Fund’s expenses and negatively impact the Fund’s performance. As such, the Fund may reject a purchase or exchange transaction or restrict an account from investing in the Fund for any reason if the Adviser, in its sole discretion, believes that a shareholder is engaging in market timing activities that may be harmful to the Fund. The Fund discourages and does not accommodate frequent trading of shares by its shareholders.

The Fund invests portions of its assets in securities of foreign issuers, and consequently may be subject to an increased risk of frequent trading activities because frequent traders may attempt to take advantage of time zone differences between the foreign markets in which the Fund’s portfolio securities trade and the time as of which the Fund’s net asset value is calculated (“time-zone arbitrage”). The Fund’s investments in other types of securities may also be susceptible to frequent trading strategies. These investments include securities that are, among other things, thinly traded, traded infrequently, or relatively illiquid, which have the risk that the current market price for the securities may not accurately reflect current market values. The Fund has adopted fair valuation policies and procedures intended to reduce the Fund’s exposure to potential price arbitrage. However, there is no guarantee that the Fund’s net asset value will immediately reflect changes in market conditions.

The Fund uses a variety of techniques to monitor and detect abusive trading practices, such as monitoring purchases, redemptions and exchanges that meet certain criteria established by the Fund, and making inquiries with respect to such trades. If a transaction is rejected or an account restricted due to suspected market timing, the investor or his or her financial adviser will be notified.

With respect to trades that occur through omnibus accounts at intermediaries, such as broker-dealers and third party administrators, the Fund requires all such intermediaries to agree to cooperate in identifying and restricting market timers in accordance with the Fund’s policies and will periodically request customer trading activity in the omnibus accounts based on certain criteria established by the Fund. There is no assurance that the Fund will request such information with sufficient frequency to detect or deter excessive trading or that review of such information will be sufficient to detect or deter excessive trading in omnibus accounts effectively.

Although the Fund will use reasonable efforts to prevent market timing activities in the Fund’s shares, there can be no assurances that these efforts will be successful. As some investors may use various strategies to disguise their trading practices, the Fund’s ability to detect frequent trading activities by investors that hold shares through financial intermediaries may be limited by the ability and/or willingness of such intermediaries to monitor for these activities.

For further details, contact Account Assistance.

Unauthorized Telephone Requests

Like most financial organizations, VanEck, the Fund and DST may only be liable for losses resulting from unauthorized transactions if reasonable procedures designed to verify the caller’s identity and authority to act on the account are not followed.

If you do not want to authorize the Telephone Exchange or Redemption privilege on your eligible account, you must refuse it on the Account Application, broker/agent settlement instructions, or by written notice to DST. VanEck, the Fund, and DST reserve the right to reject a telephone redemption, exchange, or other request without prior notice either during or after the call. For further details, contact Account Assistance.

AUTOMATIC SERVICES

Automatic Investment Plan

Automatic Exchange Plan

You may authorize DST to periodically exchange a specified dollar amount for your account from one Fund to another Fund. For further details and to request an Application, contact Account Assistance.

Automatic Withdrawal Plan

You may authorize DST to periodically withdraw (redeem) a specified dollar amount from your Fund account and mail a check to you for the proceeds. Your Fund account must be valued at $10,000 or more at the current offering price to establish the Plan. For further details and to request an Application, contact Account Assistance.

MINIMUM PURCHASE

Each class can set its own transaction minimums and may vary with respect to expenses for distribution, administration and shareholder services.

For Class A and Class Y shares, an initial purchase of $1,000 and subsequent purchases of $100 or more are required for non-retirement accounts. There are no purchase minimums for any retirement or pension plan account, for any account using the Automatic Investment Plan, or for any other periodic purchase program. Minimums may be waived for initial and subsequent purchases through “wrap fee” and similar programs offered without a sales charge by certain financial institutions and third-party recordkeepers and/or administrators.

For Class I shares, an initial purchase by an eligible investor of $1 million is required. The minimum initial investment requirement may be waived or aggregated among investors, in the Adviser’s discretion, for investors in certain fee-based, wrap or other no-load investment programs, and for an eligible Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan with plan assets of $3 million or more, sponsored by financial intermediaries that have entered into a Class I agreement with VanEck, as well as for other categories of investors. An “Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan” includes (a) an employer sponsored pension or profit sharing plan that qualifies (a “Qualified Plan”) under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), including Code section 401(k), money purchase pension, profit sharing and defined benefit plans; (b) an ERISA-covered 403(b) plan; and (c) certain non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements that operate in a similar manner to a Qualified Plan, such as 457 plans and executive deferred compensation arrangements, but not including employer-sponsored IRAs. In addition, members of the Boards of Trustees of VanEck Funds and VanEck VIP Trust and each officer, director and employee of VanEck may purchase Class I shares without being subject to the $1 million minimum initial investment requirement. There are no minimum investment requirements for subsequent purchases to existing accounts. To be eligible to purchase Class I shares, you must also qualify as specified in “How to Choose a Class of Shares.”

ACCOUNT VALUE AND REDEMPTION

If the value of your account falls below $1,000 for Class A and Class Y shares and below $500,000 for Class I shares after the initial purchase, the Fund reserves the right to redeem your shares after 30 days notice to you. This does not apply to accounts exempt from purchase minimums as described above.

HOW THE FUND SHARES ARE PRICED

The Fund buys or sells its shares at its net asset value, or NAV, per share next determined after receipt of a purchase or redemption plus any applicable sales charge. The Fund calculates its NAV per share class every day the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open, as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE, which is normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

You may enter a buy or sell order when the NYSE is closed for weekends or holidays. If that happens, your price will be the NAV calculated as of the close of the next regular trading session of the NYSE. The Fund may invest in certain securities which are listed on foreign exchanges that trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not price its shares. As a result, the NAV of the Fund’s shares may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or redeem shares.

The Fund’s investments are generally valued based on market quotations which may be based on quotes obtained from a quotation reporting system, established market makers, broker dealers or by an independent pricing service. Short-term debt investments having a maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, which approximates the fair value of the security. Assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted into U.S. dollars at the current market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by one or more sources. When market quotations are not readily available for a portfolio security or other asset, or, in the opinion of the Adviser, are deemed unreliable, the Fund will use the security’s or asset’s “fair value” as determined in good faith in accordance with the Fund’s Fair Value Pricing Policies and Procedures, which have been approved by the Board. As a general principle, the current fair value of a security or other asset is the amount which the Fund might reasonably expect to receive for the security or asset upon its current sale. The Fund’s Pricing Committee, whose members are selected by the senior management of the Adviser and reported to the Board, is responsible for recommending fair value procedures to the Board and for administering the process used to arrive at fair value prices.

Factors that may cause the Fund’s Pricing Committee to fair value a security include, but are not limited to: (1) market quotations are not readily available because a portfolio security is not traded in a public market, trading in the security has been suspended, or the principal market in which the security trades is closed, (2) trading in a portfolio security is limited or suspended and not resumed prior to the time at which the Fund calculates its NAV, (3) the market for the relevant security is thin, or the price for the security is “stale” because its price has not changed for five consecutive business days, (4) the Adviser determines that a market quotation is not reliable, for example, because price movements are highly volatile and cannot be verified by a reliable alternative pricing source, or (5) a significant event affecting the value of a portfolio security is determined to have occurred between the time of the market quotation provided for a portfolio security and the time at which the Fund calculates its NAV.

Foreign equity securities in which the Fund invests may be traded in markets that close before the time that the Fund calculates its NAV. Foreign equity securities are normally priced based upon the market quotation of such securities as of the close of their respective principal markets, as adjusted to reflect the Adviser’s determination of the impact of events, such as a significant movement in the U.S. markets occurring subsequent to the close of such markets but prior to the time at which the Fund

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

calculates its NAV. In such cases, the Pricing Committee may apply a fair valuation formula to those foreign equity securities based on the Committee’s determination of the effect of the U.S. significant event with respect to each local market.

Certain of the Fund’s portfolio securities are valued by an independent pricing service approved by the Board. The independent pricing service may utilize an automated system incorporating a model based on multiple parameters, including a security’s local closing price (in the case of foreign securities), relevant general and sector indices, currency fluctuations, and trading in depositary receipts and futures, if applicable, and/or research evaluations by its staff, in determining what it believes is the fair valuation of the portfolio securities valued by such independent pricing service.

There can be no assurance that the Fund could purchase or sell a portfolio security or other asset at the price used to calculate the Fund’s NAV. Because of the inherent uncertainty in fair valuations, and the various factors considered in determining value pursuant to the Fund’s fair value procedures, there can be material differences between a fair value price at which a portfolio security or other asset is being carried and the price at which it is purchased or sold. Furthermore, changes in the fair valuation of portfolio securities or other assets may be less frequent, and of greater magnitude, than changes in the price of portfolio securities or other assets valued by an independent pricing service, or based on market quotations.

2. HOW TO CHOOSE A CLASS OF SHARES

The Fund offers three classes of shares with different sales charges and 12b-1 fee schedules, designed to provide you with different purchase options according to your investment needs. Class A shares are offered to the general public and differ in terms of sales charges and ongoing expenses. Class I shares are offered to eligible investors primarily through certain financial intermediaries that have entered into a Class I Agreement with VanEck. The Fund reserves the right to accept direct investments by eligible investors. Class Y shares are offered only to investors through “wrap fee” and similar programs offered without a sales charge by certain financial intermediaries and third-party recordkeepers and/or administrators that have entered into a Class Y agreement with VanEck.


■	CLASS A Shares are offered at net asset value plus an initial sales charge at time of purchase of up to 5.75% of the public offering price. The initial sales charge is reduced for purchases of $25,000 or more. For further information regarding sales charges, breakpoints and other discounts, please see below. The 12b-1 fee is 0.25% annually.

■

CLASS I Shares are offered with no sales charges on purchases, no contingent deferred redemption charge (“CDRC”), and no 12b-1 fee. To be eligible to purchase Class I (Institutional) shares, you must be an eligible investor that is making or has made a minimum initial investment of at least $1 million (which may be reduced or waived under certain circumstances) in Class I shares of the Fund. Eligible investors in Class I shares include corporations, foundations, family offices and other institutional organizations; high net worth individuals; persons purchasing through certain financial intermediaries or a bank, trust company or similar institution investing for its own account or for the account of a client when such institution has entered into a Class I agreement with VanEck and makes Class I shares available to the client’s program or plan.

■

CLASS Y Shares are offered with no sales charges on purchases, no CDRC, and no 12b-1 fee. To be eligible to purchase Class Y shares, you must be an eligible investor in a “wrap-fee” or other fee-based program, including an Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan, offered through a financial intermediary that has entered into a Class Y Agreement with VanEck, and makes Class Y shares available to that program or plan. An “Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan” includes (a) an employer sponsored pension or profit sharing plan that qualifies (a “Qualified Plan”) under section 401(a) of the Code, including Code section 401(k), money purchase pension, profit sharing and defined benefit plans; (b) an ERISA-covered 403(b) plan; and (c) certain non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements that operate in a similar manner to a Qualified Plan, such as 457 plans and executive deferred compensation arrangements, but not including employer-sponsored IRAs.

Financial intermediaries may offer their clients more than one class of shares of the Fund. Shareholders who own shares of one class of the Fund and who are eligible to invest in another class of the same Fund may be eligible to convert their shares from one class to the other. Shareholders no longer participating in a fee-based program may be subject to conversion of their current class of shares by their financial intermediary to another class of shares of the Fund having expenses that may be higher than the expenses of their current class of shares. The timing and implementation of such conversions are at the discretion of the shareholder’s financial intermediary. For additional information, please contact your financial intermediary or see “Class Conversions” in the SAI. Investors should consider carefully a Fund’s share class expenses and applicable sales charges and fees plus any separate transaction and other fees charged by such intermediaries in connection with investing in each available share class before selecting a share class. It is the responsibility of the financial intermediary and the investor to choose the proper share class and notify DST or VanEck of that share class at the time of each purchase. More information regarding share class eligibility is available in the “How to Buy, Sell, Exchange, or Transfer Shares” section of the prospectus and in “Purchase of Shares” in the SAI.

3. SALES CHARGES

Unless you are eligible for a waiver, the public offering price you pay when you buy Class A shares of the Fund is the net asset value (NAV) of the shares plus an initial sales charge. A sales charge means that a portion of your initial investment goes toward the sales charge and is not invested. The initial sales charge varies depending upon the size of your purchase, as set forth below, and a percentage is paid to the financial intermediary who sells your Class A shares. No sales charge is imposed where Class A shares are issued to you pursuant to the automatic investment of income dividends or capital gains distribution. It is the responsibility of the financial intermediary to ensure that the investor obtains the proper “breakpoint” discount. Class I and Class Y do not have an initial sales charge. Class A does charge a contingent deferred sales charge as set forth below.

Different intermediaries may impose different sales charges (including potential reductions in or waivers of sales charges) other than those listed below. Such intermediary-specific sales charge variations are described in Appendix A to this prospectus, entitled “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers.” Appendix A is incorporated herein by reference (is legally a part of this prospectus). Such intermediary-specific sales charge discounts and waivers may not be available to purchasers whose accounts are not held at and traded by their intermediary.




Class A Shares Sales Charges
	Sales Charge as a Percentage of
Dollar Amount of Purchase	Offering Price	Net Amount Invested	Percentage to Brokers or Agents¹
Less than $25,000	5.75%	6.10%	5.00%
$25,000 to less than $50,000	5.00%	5.30%	4.25%
$50,000 to less than $100,000	4.50%	4.70%	3.90%
$100,000 to less than $250,000	3.00%	3.10%	2.60%
$250,000 to less than $500,000	2.50%	2.60%	2.20%
$500,000 to less than $1,000,000	2.00%	2.00%	1.75%
$1,000,000 and over	None²


¹	Brokers or Agents who receive substantially all of the sales charge for shares they sell may be deemed to be statutory underwriters.

CONTINGENT DEFERRED SALES CHARGE FOR CLASS A SHARES

REDUCED OR WAIVED SALES CHARGES

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

In order to obtain a reduced sales charge (i.e., breakpoint discount) or to meet an eligibility minimum, it will be necessary at the time of purchase for you to inform your broker or agent (or DST or VanEck, as applicable), of the existence of other accounts in which there are holdings eligible to be aggregated to meet the sales load breakpoints or eligibility minimums and of any facts qualifying the purchaser for sales charge discounts or waivers.

The Fund makes available information regarding applicable sales loads, breakpoint discounts, reduced or waived sales charges and eligibility minimums, on their website at vaneck.com, free of charge.

FOR CLASS A SHARES

Right of Accumulation

Your purchases eligible for Right of Accumulation reduced sales charge (i.e. breakpoint discount) include Class A shares purchased for individual accounts registered in the name of:


■	You, individually;


■	Your “family member,” defined as your spouse (by marriage or by common law marriage/civil union as recognized by applicable state or federal law) and your children/step-children if under the age of 21;


■	You, when you own shares jointly with another individual(s) who is a non-family member;


■	You or a family member acting as the trustee, custodian, or other acting fiduciary title for a single trust, estate, or fiduciary account;


■	Your sole ownership business or the sole ownership business of a family member on which you or a family member are the authorized signer;


■	Trust Grantor (a trust established by you or a family member who is acting as the grantor of the trust);


■	Trust Beneficiary (a trust established by you or a family member who is the beneficial owner of the trust);


■	A single corporation or partnership.

Combined Purchases

The combined amounts of your multiple purchases in the Fund on a single day determines the sales charge level for which you qualify.

Letter of Intent

If you plan to make purchases of the Fund that are eligible for a right of accumulation discount, as described above, within a 13 month period in Class A shares that total an amount equal to a reduced sales charge level, you can establish a Letter of Intent (LOI) for that amount. Under the LOI, your initial and subsequent purchases during that period receive the sales charge level applicable to that total amount. The amount of a purchase not originally made pursuant to the LOI may be included under a backdated LOI executed within 90 days of such purchase (“accumulation credit”) to fulfill the LOI. For LOIs, out of an initial purchase (or subsequent purchases if necessary), 5% of the specified dollar amount of an LOI will be held in escrow by DST in a shareholder’s account until the shareholder’s total purchases of the Fund pursuant to the LOI plus a shareholder’s accumulation credit (if any) equal the amount specified in the Letter. For further details, see the Application and the SAI.

Persons Affiliated with VanEck

Trustees, officers, and full-time employees (and their families) of the Fund, Adviser or Distributor may buy without a sales charge. Also, employees (and their spouses and children under age 21) of a brokerage firm or bank that has a selling agreement with VanEck, and other affiliates and agents, may buy without a sales charge.

Load-waived Programs Through Financial Intermediaries

Institutional Retirement Programs

Reinstatement Privilege

within 30 days before or after you redeem your shares at a loss, the “wash sale” rules apply to disallow for tax purposes a loss realized upon redemption.

FOR CLASS I AND CLASS Y SHARES

No initial sales charge, or CDRC fee is imposed on Class I or Class Y shares. Class I and Class Y are no-load share classes.

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION (12b-1 PLAN)

The Fund has adopted a Plan of Distribution pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Act that allows the Fund to pay distribution fees for the sale and distribution of its shares. Of the amounts expended under the plan for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 for all VanEck Funds, approximately 93% was paid to Brokers and Agents who sold shares or serviced accounts of Fund shareholders. The remaining 7% was retained by the Distributor to pay expenses such as printing and mailing prospectuses and sales material. Because these fees are paid out of the Fund’s assets on an on- going basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. Class I and Class Y shares do not have 12b-1 fees. For a complete description of the Plan of Distribution, please see “Plan of Distribution (12b-1 Plan)” in the SAI.




VanEck Funds Annual 12b-1 Schedule	Fee to Fund	Payment to Dealer
Emerging Markets Bond Fund-A	0.25%	0.25%

4. HOUSEHOLDING OF REPORTS AND PROSPECTUSES

5. RETIREMENT PLANS

Retirement Plans Sponsored by VanEck:

Traditional IRA

Roth IRA

SEP IRA

6. FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

TAXATION OF DIVIDENDS AND CAPITAL GAINS DISTRIBUTIONS YOU RECEIVE

The Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company under the Code. As a regulated investment company, the Fund generally pays no federal income tax on the income and gains it distributes to you.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

TAXATION OF SHARES YOU SELL

COST BASIS REPORTING

BACKUP WITHHOLDING

STATE AND LOCAL TAXES

Fund distributions and gains from the sale or exchange of your Fund shares generally are subject to state and local taxes.

NON-RESIDENT ALIENS

As part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, (“FATCA”), the Fund is required to withhold a 30% federal tax on income dividends paid by the Fund to (i) foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”), including non-U.S. investment funds, unless they agree to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. account holders and (ii) certain nonfinancial foreign entities (“NFFEs”), unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. After December 31, 2018, FATCA withholding also would have applied to certain capital gain distributions, return of capital distributions and the proceeds arising from the sale of Fund shares; however, based on proposed regulations issued by the IRS, which can be relied on currently, such withholding is no longer required unless final regulations provide otherwise (which is not expected). To avoid possible withholding, FFIs, other than FFIs subject to special treatment under certain intergovernmental agreements, will need to enter into agreements with the IRS which state that they will provide the IRS information, including the names, account numbers and balances, addresses and taxpayer identification numbers of U.S. account holders and comply with due diligence procedures with respect to the identification of U.S. accounts as well as agree to withhold tax on certain types of withholdable payments made to non-compliant foreign financial institutions or to applicable foreign account holders who fail to provide the required information to the IRS, or similar account information and required documentation to a local revenue authority, should an applicable intergovernmental agreement be implemented. NFFEs will need to provide certain information regarding each substantial U.S.

owner or certifications of no substantial U.S. ownership, unless certain exceptions apply, or agree to provide certain information to the IRS.

The Fund may be subject to the FATCA withholding obligation, and also will be required to perform due diligence reviews to classify foreign entity investors for FATCA purposes. Investors are required to agree to provide information necessary to allow the Fund to comply with the FATCA rules. If the Fund is required to withhold amounts from payments pursuant to FATCA, investors will receive distributions that are reduced by such withholding amounts.

Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you should consult your tax professional about federal, state, local, or foreign tax consequences before making an investment in the Fund.

7. DIVIDENDS AND CAPITAL GAINS DISTRIBUTIONS

The Fund makes distributions of all of its net investment income to shareholders as dividends monthly. The Fund makes distributions of any net capital gains at least annually, in December. See your tax adviser for details. Occasionally, a dividend and/or capital gain distribution may be made outside of the normal schedule.




Dividends and Capital Gains Distribution Schedule
Fund	Dividends	Distribution of Short-Term and Long-Term Capital Gains
Emerging Markets Bond Fund	Monthly	December

Dividends and Capital Gains Distributions Reinvestment Plan

Divmove

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

8. MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND AND SERVICE PROVIDERS

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND MANAGEMENT

INVESTMENT ADVISER

Jan F. van Eck and members of his family own 100% of the voting stock of the Adviser. As of December 31, 2019, the Adviser’s assets under management were approximately $54.7 billion.

Fees paid to the Adviser: Pursuant to the advisory agreement between the Adviser and the Trust (the “Advisory Agreement”), the Fund pays the Adviser a monthly fee at the annual rate of: (i) 0.80% of the first $1.5 billion of average daily net assets of the Fund and (ii) 0.75% of average daily net assets in excess of $1.5 billion. This includes the fee paid to the Adviser for accounting and administrative services.

The Adviser also has agreed to waive fees and/or pay expenses for the Fund to the extent necessary to prevent the operating expenses of the Fund’s Class Y shares from exceeding the operating expenses of the Fund’s Class A shares.

For the Fund’s most recent fiscal year, the advisory fee paid to the Adviser was as follows:




	VanEck Funds	As a % of average daily net assets
	Emerging Markets Bond Fund	0.80%

The Adviser may hire and terminate sub-advisers in accordance with the terms of an exemptive order obtained by the Fund and the Adviser from the SEC under which the Adviser is permitted, subject to supervision and approval of the Board, to enter into and materially amend sub-advisory agreements without seeking shareholder approval. The Adviser will furnish shareholders of the Fund with information regarding a new sub-adviser within 90 days of the hiring of the new sub-adviser. Currently, the Adviser has not hired a sub-adviser to assist with the portfolio management of the Fund.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s approval of the Advisory Agreement is available in the Fund’s semi- annual report to shareholders for the period ended June 30, 2019.

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

Eric Fine, Portfolio Manager of the Fund, is primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund.

Eric Fine. Mr. Fine is Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He has been with the Adviser since 2009. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Fine conducted business in emerging markets for over 20 years, including 14 years at Morgan Stanley where he ran the Global Emerging Markets Research Group and founded and managed the Emerging Markets Proprietary Trading Group. Mr. Fine also started and led Morgan Stanley’s Europe/Middle East/Africa Strategy and Economics Research Group and helped start the firm’s emerging markets business in London.

David Austerweil. Mr. Austerweil is Deputy Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He has been with the Adviser since 2012 and has over 10 years’ experience in the financial markets. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Austerweil served as vice president at ING Financial Services working on the emerging market credit trading and structuring desk.

The SAI provides additional information about the above Portfolio Managers, their compensation, other accounts they manage, and their securities ownership in the Fund.

THE TRUST

For more information on the VanEck Funds (the “Trust”), the Trustees and the Officers of the Trust, see “General Information,” “Description of the Trust” and “Trustees and Officers” in the SAI.

THE DISTRIBUTOR

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

The Distributor generally sells and markets shares of the Fund through intermediaries, such as broker-dealers. The intermediaries may be compensated by the Fund for providing various services.

In addition, the Distributor or the Adviser may pay certain intermediaries, out of its own resources and not as an expense of the Fund, additional cash or non-cash compensation as an incentive to intermediaries to promote and sell shares of the Fund and other mutual funds distributed by the Distributor. These payments are commonly known as “revenue sharing”. The benefits that the Distributor or the Adviser may receive when each of them makes these payments include, among other things, placing the Fund on the intermediary’s sales system and/or preferred or recommended fund list, offering the Fund through the intermediary’s advisory or other specialized programs, and/or access (in some cases on a preferential basis over other competitors) to individual members of the intermediary’s sales force. Such payments may also be used to compensate intermediaries for a variety of administrative and shareholders services relating to investments by their customers in the Fund.

The fees paid by the Distributor or the Adviser to intermediaries may be calculated based on the gross sales price of shares sold by an intermediary, the net asset value of shares held by the customers of the intermediary, or otherwise. These fees may, but are not normally expected to, exceed in the aggregate 0.50% of the average net assets of the Fund attributable to a particular intermediary on an annual basis.

Intermediaries may receive different payments, based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, reputation in the industry, sales and asset retention rates, target markets, and customer relationships and quality of service. No one factor is determinative of the type or amount of additional compensation to be provided. Financial intermediaries that sell the Fund’s shares may also act as a broker or dealer in connection with execution of transactions for the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund and the Adviser have adopted procedures to ensure that the sales of the Fund’s shares by an intermediary will not affect the selection of brokers for execution of portfolio transactions.

Not all intermediaries are paid the same to sell mutual funds. Differences in compensation to intermediaries may create a financial interest for an intermediary to sell shares of a particular mutual fund, or the mutual funds of a particular family of mutual funds. Before purchasing shares of the Fund, you should ask your intermediary or its representative about the compensation in connection with the purchase of such shares, including any revenue sharing payments it receives from the Distributor.

IV. FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights tables that follow are intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five years. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). This information has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, the Trust’s independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements are included in the Fund’s annual report, which is available upon request.

EMERGING MARKETS BOND FUND

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class A
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	6.15			$	7.00			$	6.77			$	6.64			$	8.18
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income	0.47			(b)	0.38			(b)	0.49			(b)	0.25				0.45
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	0.28				(0.81		)		0.29				0.15				(1.53		)
Total from investment operations	0.75				(0.43		)		0.78				0.40				(1.08		)
Less dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.40		)		—				(0.55		)		(0.16		)		—
Return of capital	(0.06		)		(0.42		)		—				(0.11		)		(0.46		)
Total dividends and distributions	(0.46		)		(0.42		)		(0.55		)		(0.27		)		(0.46		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	6.44			$	6.15			$	7.00			$	6.77			$	6.64
Total return (a)	12.61			%	(6.39		)	%	11.68			%	6.06			%	(13.60		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$4,860				$4,793				$5,821				$8,657				$11,763
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	2.69			%	2.05			%	1.71			%	1.68			%	1.44			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.26			%	1.26			%	1.26			%	1.25			%	1.25			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.25			%	1.25			%	1.25			%	1.25			%	1.25			%
Ratio of net investment income to average
net assets	7.37			%	5.78			%	7.02			%	3.70			%	5.63			%
Portfolio turnover rate	302			%	269			%	568			%	546			%	605			%

(a)


(b)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.

EMERGING MARKETS BOND FUND

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

For a share outstanding throughout each year:



	Class I
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	6.25			$	7.13			$	6.87			$	6.71			$	8.23
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income	0.53			(b)	0.40			(b)	0.51			(b)	0.31				0.47
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	0.27				(0.83		)		0.30				0.12				(1.53		)
Total from investment operations	0.80				(0.43		)		0.81				0.43				(1.06		)
Less dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.45		)		—				(0.55		)		(0.16		)		—
Return of capital	(0.07		)		(0.45		)		—				(0.11		)		(0.46		)
Total dividends and distributions	(0.52		)		(0.45		)		(0.55		)		(0.27		)		(0.46		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	6.53			$	6.25			$	7.13			$	6.87			$	6.71
Total return (a)	13.09			%	(6.21		)	%	11.96			%	6.45			%	(13.27		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$18,092				$9,902				$28,261				$82,960				$130,494
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	2.18			%	1.33			%	1.06			%	0.96			%	0.94			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	0.96			%	0.96			%	0.96			%	0.95			%	0.94			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	0.95			%	0.95			%	0.95			%	0.95			%	0.94			%
Ratio of net investment income to average
net assets	8.27			%	5.91			%	7.08			%	4.37			%	6.27			%
Portfolio turnover rate	302			%	269			%	568			%	546			%	605			%



	Class Y
	Year Ended December 31,
	2019				2018				2017				2016				2015
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	6.23			$	7.10			$	6.84			$	6.69			$	8.22
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income	0.47			(b)	0.39			(b)	0.51			(b)	0.29				0.48
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on
investments	0.32				(0.82		)		0.30				0.13				(1.55		)
Total from investment operations	0.79				(0.43		)		0.81				0.42				(1.07		)
Less dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income	(0.46		)		—				(0.55		)		(0.16		)		—
Return of capital	(0.07		)		(0.44		)		—				(0.11		)		(0.46		)
Total dividends and distributions	(0.53		)		(0.44		)		(0.55		)		(0.27		)		(0.46		)
Net asset value, end of year	$	6.49			$	6.23			$	7.10			$	6.84			$	6.69
Total return (a)	13.05			%	(6.30		)	%	12.01			%	6.32			%	(13.41		)	%
Ratios/Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$2,993				$4,924				$12,008				$22,970				$22,505
Ratio of gross expenses to average net assets	2.60			%	1.65			%	1.30			%	1.19			%	1.07			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets	1.02			%	1.01			%	1.01			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets,
excluding interest expense	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%	1.00			%
Ratio of net investment income to average
net assets	7.34			%	5.83			%	7.15			%	4.12			%	6.08			%
Portfolio turnover rate	302			%	269			%	568			%	546			%	605			%

(a)


(b)	Calculated based upon average shares outstanding.

APPENDIX A

VANECK FUNDS

APPENDIX A: INTERMEDIARY SALES CHARGE DISCOUNTS AND WAIVERS

Dated May 1, 2020

EMERGING MARKETS BOND FUND

CLASS A: EMBAX / CLASS I: EMBUX / CLASS Y: EMBYX

This Appendix A is not a prospectus. It should be read in conjunction with the prospectus dated May 1, 2020 (the “Prospectus”) for VanEck Funds (the “Trust”), relating to Emerging Markets Bond Fund (the “Fund”), as it may be revised from time to time. A copy of the Prospectus for the Trust, relating to the Fund, may be obtained without charge by visiting the VanEck website at vaneck.com, by calling toll free 800.826.1115 or by writing to the Trust or Van Eck Securities Corporation, the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”). The information disclosed in this Appendix A is part of, and incorporated in, the Prospectus. Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. For the avoidance of doubt, for purposes of this Appendix A, references to a CDSC below also include the contingent deferred redemption charge (“CDRC”) as defined in the Prospectus.