The information in this Prospectus is not complete and may be changed. The Trust may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This Prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion

Preliminary Prospectus dated April 3, 2009

PROSPECTUS

[   ],   2009

     
Van Eck Funds

I. MULTI-MANAGER ALTERNATIVES FUND

VAN ECK FUNDS (THE “TRUST”), IS A REGISTERED INVESTMENT COMPANY COMPRISED OF FOUR SEPARATE SERIES. THIS PROSPECTUS PERTAINS TO ONE SERIES OF THE TRUST: MULTI-MANAGER ALTERNATIVES FUND (THE “FUND”). OTHER SERIES (EMERGING MARKETS FUND, GLOBAL HARD ASSETS FUND AND INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS GOLD FUND) ARE OFFERED IN A SEPARATE PROSPECTUS. VAN ECK ASSOCIATES CORPORATION SERVES AS INVESTMENT ADVISER (THE “ADVISER”) TO EACH SERIES OF THE TRUST.

THE FUND OFFERS TWO CLASSES OF SHARES: CLASS A AND CLASS I. THIS PROSPECTUS PROVIDES INVESTORS WITH RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND’S CLASS A SHARES. A SEPARATE PROSPECTUS OFFERS INFORMATION REGARDING THE FUND’S CLASS I SHARES. THE FUND’S SEPARATE SHARE CLASSES HAVE DIFFERENT EXPENSES; AS A RESULT, THEIR INVESTMENT PERFORMANCES WILL DIFFER. INVESTORS SHOULD CONSIDER WHICH CLASS IS BEST SUITED FOR THEIR INVESTMENT NEEDS.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

FUND PERFORMANCE

As the Fund has less than one calendar year of operating history, there is no performance information available at this time.

FUND EXPENSES

This table shows certain expenses you may incur as an investor in the Fund, either directly or indirectly.

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FUND EXPENSES (continued)

The following table 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 redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same, except for the first year which reflects the fee waiver/reimbursement undertaken by the Adviser. The illustration is hypothetical. Although your actual expenses may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

II. ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

III. SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION

HOW TO BUY, SELL, EXCHANGE OR TRANSFER SHARES; HOW TO CHOOSE A CLASS OF SHARES; SALES CHARGES; HOUSEHOLDING; RETIREMENT PLANS; TAXES; DIVIDENDS AND CAPITAL GAINS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND. (SEE THE SAI FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION).

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

THROUGH A BROKER OR AGENT

The applicable sales charge will be the same, whether you buy indirectly through a broker or agent or directly through the transfer agent. Contact your broker or agent for details.

THROUGH THE TRANSFER AGENT, DST SYSTEMS, INC. (DST)

You may buy (purchase), sell (redeem), exchange, or transfer ownership of shares directly through DST by mail or telephone, as stated below.

The Fund’s mailing address at DST is:

Van Eck Global
P.O. Box 218407
Kansas City, MO 64121-8407

For overnight delivery:

Van Eck Global
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 and certain foreign financial institutions that have agreements with Van Eck.

To telephone the Fund at DST, call Van Eck’s Account Assistance at 1-800-544-4653.

PURCHASE BY MAIL

To make an initial purchase, complete the Van Eck Account Application and mail it with your check made payable to Van Eck 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 Van Eck retirement accounts (see “Retirement Plans” for details). For further details, see the application or call Account Assistance.

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SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

TELEPHONE REDEMPTION—PROCEEDS BY CHECK 1-800-345-8506

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 Van Eck sponsored retirement plans.

EXPEDITED REDEMPTION—PROCEEDS BY WIRE 1-800-345-8506

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. This privilege must be established in advance by Application. For further details, see the Application or call Account Assistance.

WRITTEN REDEMPTIONS

Your written redemption (sale) request must include:

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

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

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TELEPHONE EXCHANGE 1-800-345-8506

If your account has the optional Telephone Exchange Privilege, you can exchange between the Fund and shares of other series of Van Eck Funds of the same Class without any additional sales charge. (Shares originally purchased into the money market fund, which paid no sales charge, may pay an initial sales charge the first time they are exchanged into another Class A fund.)

All accounts are eligible except for those registered in street name and certain custodial retirement accounts held by a financial institution other than Van Eck. For further details regarding exchanges, please see the application, “Limits and Restrictions” and “Unauthorized Telephone Requests” below, or call Account Assistance.

WRITTEN EXCHANGES

Written requests for exchange must include:

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

CERTIFICATES

Certificates are not issued for shares of the Fund.

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.

REDEMPTIONS IN KIND

The Fund reserves the right to redeem its shares “in kind.” A description of “in kind” redemptions can be found in the SAI.

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SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

LIMITS AND RESTRICTIONS

Frequent Trading Policy

The Board of Trustees 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 Fund 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 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

38

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, Van Eck, 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. Van Eck, 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

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. The Plan is available to Class A shares only. 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. The Plan is available to Class A shares

39

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

only. For further details and to request an Application, contact Account Assistance.

MINIMUM PURCHASE

An initial purchase of $5,000 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.

ACCOUNT VALUE AND REDEMPTION

If the value of your account falls below $5,000 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.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

significant deviations between a fair value price at which a portfolio security is being carried and the price at which it is purchased or sold. Furthermore, changes in the fair valuation of portfolio securities may be less frequent, and of greater magnitude, than changes in the price of portfolio securities valued by an independent pricing service, or based on market quotations.

2. HOW TO CHOOSE A CLASS OF SHARES

The Fund offers two 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. No money market fund is available for exchange with Class I shares. Class I shares are offered only to eligible institutional investors, as specifically described in a separate prospectus.

You should review information relating to share class expenses with your financial intermediary prior to purchasing shares of the Fund.

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. The initial sales charge varies depending upon the size of your purchase, as set forth below. 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.

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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 Van Eck 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 C of each of the Van Eck Funds may be combined for a reduced sales charge in Class A shares only. (The Money Fund cannot be combined for a reduced sales charge in Class A shares.)

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 Van Eck), of the existence of other accounts in which there are holdings eligible to be aggregated to meet the sales load breakpoints or eligibility minimums.

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

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SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

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.

Combined Purchases

The combined amount 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 in the Fund within a 13 month period 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. For escrow provisions and details, see the application.

Persons Affiliated with Van Eck

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 Van Eck, and other affiliates and agents, may buy without a sales charge.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

Retirement Plans Sponsored by Van Eck:

Traditional IRA

Roth IRA

SEP IRA

Qualified (Pension and Profit Sharing) Plans

6. FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

8. MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

48

INFORMATION ABOUT FUND MANAGEMENT

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The Board of Trustees has conducted an independent investigation to determine if the Adviser or any of its affiliates engaged in improper or wrongful activity that may have caused a loss to one or more of the Van Eck Funds (the “Funds”) in connection with past market timing activities by certain investors in the Funds. The Board and the Adviser are currently working to resolve outstanding issues relating to these matters.

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

Peter Liao
Portfolio Manager/Investment Committee Member

Hao-Hung (Peter) Liao has been employed by the Adviser since the summer of 2004. Mr. Liao attended New York University from 2000 to 2004 where he received a Bachelor of Arts majoring in mathematics and economics. Prior to Mr. Liao’s current role of portfolio manager to certain funds, Mr. Liao served as investment analyst for the Fund where his role included manager review, performance attribution, changes in manager mandates and risk management. In addition to serving as a portfolio manager for the fund, Mr. Liao serves as the portfolio manager of 17 portfolios of the Market Vectors ETF Trust and of the Worldwide Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund, a series of the Van Eck Worldwide Insurance Trust. Mr. Liao does not manage any other accounts of any type for the Adviser.

Michael F. Mazier
Portfolio Manager/Investment Committee Member

Michael F. Mazier has been employed by the Adviser since August 2007. Prior to joining the Adviser, Mr. Mazier served as a bond analyst in the Fixed Income Research department of Morgan Stanley. He was also Vice President at Merrill Lynch Global Research Department, where he covered closed-end funds. Mr. Mazier graduated from Syracuse University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Electrical Engineering; graduated from Villanova University in 1986 with a Master of Science in Computer Engineering; and graduated from Columbia Business School in 1990 with a Master of Business Administration.

Jan F. van Eck
Portfolio Manager/Investment Committee Member

Jan F. van Eck has been the Executive Vice President, Director and Owner of the Advisor since July 1993 (and of its predecessor since January 1985) and Co-Chief Executive Officer since March 2009. He has also held the following positions: Director of Van Eck Securities Corporation since January 1985; Executive Vice President of Van Eck Securities Corporation from June 1991 until September 1998 and additionally Chief Compliance Officer from April 2005 to August 2008; Trustee of Market Vectors ETF Trust (the “ETF Trust”) since May 2006 and President and Chief Executive Officer of the ETF Trust since March 2009; and President and Director of Van Eck Absolute Return Advisers Corporation since May 1997. From December 1995 to February 1998, he managed a joint venture with a leading domestic Chinese brokerage firm. Mr. van Eck has a J.D. from Stanford University and he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College with a major in Economics.

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SUB-ADVISERS

Currently, the Fund has agreements with eight Sub-Advisers.

As noted above, Explorer, a Sub-Adviser to the Fund, will assist the Adviser in determining the appropriate allocation of the Fund’s assets among the Fund’s other Sub-Advisers as well as Underlying Funds, and in the Sub-Adviser selection and monitoring process. Explorer will not directly manage assets of the Fund. Explorer is located at 237 Park Avenue, Suite 900, New York, New York 10017 and as of December 31, 2008, assets under management were approximately $88 million.

In addition, the Adviser has entered into sub-advisory agreements with respect to the Fund with the following Sub-Advisers, one or more of which may be selected from time to time by the Adviser, in consultation with Explorer, to manage a portion of the Fund’s assets.

Clutterbuck Capital Management LLC (“CCM”), 200 Public Square, Suite 2910, Cleveland, Ohio 44113, is a registered investment manager. As of December 31, 2008, assets under management were approximately $70 million.

Columbus Circle Investors (“CCI”), One Station Place, Stamford, Connecticut 06902, is an institutional management firm and general partnership. As of December 31, 2008, assets under management were approximately $11 billion.

Dix Hills Partners, LLC (“Dix Hills”), 50 Jericho Quadrangle, Suite 117, Jericho, New York 11753, has a variety of interest rate anticipation strategies driven from its proprietary forecasting frameworks. As of December 31, 2008 assets under management were approximately $622 million.

Lazard Asset Management LLC (“LAM”), 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10112, is a subsidiary of Lazard Frères & Co., LLC, a global investment bank. As of December 31, 2008, assets under management were approximately $80 billion.

Martingale Asset Management, L.P. (“Martingale”), 222 Berkeley Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116, formed in 1987, is owned by 12 employee-partners and Martingale Asset Management Corporation (which owns more than 25% of the partnership and serves as general partner). As of December 31, 2008, assets under management were approximately $3 billion.

PanAgora Asset Management, Inc. (“PanAgora”), 470 Atlantic Avenue, 8th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, formed in 1989, is owned by key employees, Nippon Life Insurance Company (Japan), and Putnam

51

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

Investments. As of December 31, 2008 assets under management were approximately $13 billion.

Tetra Capital Management LLC (“Tetra”), One International Place, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, formed in January 2003, is a registered investment adviser with the SEC. As of December 31, 2008, assets under management were approximately $33 million.

The Sub-Advisers will be engaged to manage the investments of the Fund according to the Fund’s investment objective, policies and limitations and any investment guidelines established by the Adviser and the Board of Trustees. The Adviser will pay the Sub-Advisers out of the advisory fee paid to the Adviser pursuant to the Advisory Agreement. The Fund is not responsible for the payment of the Sub-Advisory fee.

Sub-Advisers for the Fund are selected by reviewing a wide range of factors in evaluating each Sub-Adviser including, but not limited to, past investment performance during various market conditions, investment strategies and processes used, structures of portfolios and risk management procedures, reputation, experience and training of key personnel, correlation of performance results with other Sub-Advisers, assets under management and number of clients. The Adviser may, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, change Sub-Advisers engaged by the Adviser to conduct the investment programs of the Fund without shareholder approval, pursuant to an exemptive order granted by the SEC. Explorer will assist the Adviser in the Sub-Adviser selection and monitoring process.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the Advisory Agreement and sub-advisory agreements will be available in the Trust’s semi-annual report to shareholders for the period ended June 30, 2009.

SUB-ADVISERS’ PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

CCI

Oliver A. Marti
Managing Director/Portfolio Manager Healthcare
Columbus Circle Investors

Oliver Marti joined Columbus Circle Investors in November 1999 and is one of six managing partners. Prior to this, he was the Senior Healthcare Analyst at Pequot Capital Management. Mr. Marti previously worked as a Healthcare Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Marti started his career on Wall Street as an Analyst in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking

52

Group. He graduated in three years from Brown University Summa Cum Laude with a double major in Economics and Business Management.

Andrew W. Oberwager, MD., CFA
Vice President/Co-Portfolio Manager Healthcare
Columbus Circle Investors

Andrew Oberwager joined Columbus Circle Investors in February 2002. Prior to becoming Vice President/Co-Portfolio Manager, he held the position of Senior Securities Analyst. Dr. Oberwager received his Medical Doctor degree from Harvard Medical School in 2001. He previously worked at The University of Pennsylvania’s Institute For Human Gene Therapy, conducting molecular biology laboratory research. He received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1997. Dr. Oberwager has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and he is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts.

CCM

Robert T. Clutterbuck
Portfolio Manager
Clutterbuck Capital Management LLC (Cleveland)

Robert T. Clutterbuck is the Managing Director and Founder of CCM. Mr. Clutterbuck is the Portfolio Manger for the Fund as well as CF Special Situation Fund I LP and all accounts. Mr. Clutterbuck founded CCM in March of 2006. Prior to starting CCM, he had over 30 years of experience at McDonald Investments Inc. Mr. Clutterbuck specializes in investing in distressed securities and special situation investments. Prior to assuming his roles in the Executive Office of McDonald, Mr. Clutterbuck spent his entire career in fixed income. His focus, both as a trader committing for the firm’s inventory and positions he placed in McDonald’s Long-Term Investment Account, was consistently deep value oriented. Mr. Clutterbuck was Chairman of Key Capital Partners, which provided brokerage, capital markets, insurance, investment banking and asset management expertise to business and private clients nationwide. Mr. Clutterbuck was also Chief Executive Officer of McDonald Investments Inc. and was a Senior Executive Vice President of KeyCorp. Mr. Clutterbuck worked as a summer intern at McDonald & Co. for several years while in college. He joined McDonald & Co. in the Municipal Bond Department in June 1974. In April 1977, he was named a general partner of McDonald & Co., the second youngest partner in the firm’s history. In 1982, he was named head of the Municipal Trading, Underwriting & Sales departments, a post he held until January 1994. In January 1994, Mr. Clutterbuck was named Chief Financial Officer and Executive Managing Director of McDonald & Co. Securities, Inc. and

53

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

Treasurer of McDonald & Co. Investments, Inc. In August 1995, he was named President and Chief Operating Officer of McDonald & Co. Securities, Inc. In October 2000, Mr. Clutterbuck was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Key Capital Partners and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald Investments Inc. In the fall of 2003, Mr. Clutterbuck began managing special situation investments for high net worth individuals and institutions.

In the spring of 2006, Mr. Clutterbuck founded Clutterbuck Funds LLC. Mr. Clutterbuck earned his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1972, where he was in Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in 1974 with an MBA.

Ryan R. Crane
Portfolio Manager
Clutterbuck Capital Management LLC (Cleveland)

Ryan R. Crane has been with CCM since inception. Mr. Crane is a Portfolio Manager for the Fund as well as CF Special Situation Fund I LP and all accounts. Mr. Crane’s focus and responsibilities include identifying unique investment and trading opportunities, research analysis and trading positions in the portfolio. Along with Mr. Clutterbuck, Mr. Crane is in charge of managing the portfolio on a day to day basis and overseeing all current and prospective investments for the Fund and all managed accounts. Prior to joining CCM he worked for McDonald Investments managing individual accounts. Prior to McDonald he worked at Stonehenge Capital where he was responsible for identifying, analyzing and monitoring various private equity and debt investments. Prior to Stonehenge, Mr. Crane worked in the Corporate Finance Group at JP Morgan where he participated in financial restructurings, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity investments. Mr. Crane graduated cum laude from Miami University in Ohio in 1999.

Robert C. Clutterbuck
Portfolio Manager
Clutterbuck Capital Management LLC (Cleveland)

Robert C. Clutterbuck has been with CCM since inception. Mr. Clutterbuck is a Portfolio Manager for the Fund as well as CF Special Situation Fund I LP and all accounts. Mr. Clutterbuck’s focus and responsibilities include identifying unique investment and trading opportunities, research analysis and trading positions in the portfolio. Along with Mr. Crane, Mr. Clutterbuck is in charge of managing the portfolio on a day to day basis and overseeing all current and prospective investments for the Fund and all accounts. Prior to joining CCM he worked for McDonald Investments managing individual accounts. Prior to McDonald he worked in New York with Lazard Freres in

54

the Corporate Finance Group. At Lazard, Mr. Clutterbuck participated in the structuring of debt and equity capital investments, mergers and acquisitions and financial restructurings. Mr. Clutterbuck graduated cum laude from Miami University in Ohio in 2002.

Dix Hills

Joseph Baggett, CFA
Portfolio Manager and Managing Member
Dix Hills Partners, LLC

Joseph Baggett is a founder and Senior Portfolio Manager for Dix Hills Partners, LLC and its affiliate management company, Dix Hills Associates, LLC. Until his departure in January 2003, Mr. Baggett served as Executive Director, Quantitative Investments Group, UBS Global Asset Management in New York. At UBS, Mr. Baggett was senior portfolio manager/research analyst for the quantitatively driven investment strategy group that managed over $6 billion in assets. Mr. Baggett served as Model Developer and Portfolio Manager for Quantitative Fixed Income Strategies and the Quantitative Allocation, LLC (“Q.A.”). Additionally, Mr. Baggett was also a member of the Portfolio Management Team for UBS Tactical Allocation Fund, a $3 billion, fully flexible mutual fund that allocated between stocks (S&P 500), bonds (intermediate-term Treasury notes) and cash on the basis of a quantitatively-driven market valuation model. He has extensive experience in other traditional quantitative disciplines as well, including portfolio optimization, indexation, stock selection models, performance attribution/analysis, risk management and securities and derivatives trading. At UBS, he was also actively involved in marketing these products to institutional and individual prospects. Prior to UBS Asset Management, Mr. Baggett worked as an Economist at PaineWebber, Inc., part of a three-person unit that produced the firm’s U.S. economic growth, inflation and interest rate outlooks. Prior to PaineWebber, Mr. Baggett worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as an Assistant Economist, Domestic Financial Markets Division. Mr. Baggett holds a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University (1989 Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). He also attended the University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business, completing the first year of a two year M.B.A. program with a 4.0 G.P.A (He did not complete his second year as he accepted a position at PaineWebber’s Asset Management division during his summer internship).

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SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

Explorer

Stephen H. Scott
CIO, Founder
Explorer Alternative Management, LLC

Stephen H. Scott, Jr. is responsible for all day-to-day management duties, including performing research, due diligence and asset allocation, selecting underlying trading advisers for the master fund’s managed accounts, monitoring the managed accounts and managing the Investment Manager’s staff. In 1995, Mr. Scott was a founding member of the general partner of the Pinnacle Fund, a multi-manager investment limited partnership. Subsequent to the acquisition of Pinnacle, Mr. Scott formed Highlander Partners LLC in 1998 and served as the managing general partner of The Highlander Fund and The Highlander Opportunity Fund LP. Mr. Scott entered the securities industry with member firm trading partnerships on the American Stock Exchange. In 1992, he joined Merrill Lynch & Co. as a registered investment adviser. Mr. Scott earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration from The University of Florida.

Seth P. Platt
CFO, Founder
Explorer Alternative Management, LLC

Seth Platt oversees the operations and marketing activities of Explorer. Mr. Platt oversees interactions between Explorer and its service providers. Mr. Platt is also responsible for managing external reporting by the administrator. Prior to joining Explorer, Mr. Platt served as Chief Financial Officer, Director of Marketing and Client Services, and Director of Private Equity for Circle T Partners from May 2000 to January 2006. Prior to joining Circle T Partners, Mr. Platt worked from 1999 to April 2000 at MMJ Investments and Ramius Capital Group. Prior to that, Mr. Platt worked for Montgomery Securities in 1997 as an analyst in the investment banking division. Mr. Platt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Emory University in 1997.

LAM

David Cleary, CFA
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager
Lazard Asset Management LLC (New York)

David R. Cleary is a Managing Director of LAM and is currently responsible for the management of the Lazard Capital Allocator Series (“LCAS”). The LCAS is a global tactical asset allocation investment product, which implements portfolio themes primarily through index and index-like investment vehicles, such as ETFs. Mr. Cleary works on asset allocation

56

modeling and total portfolio risk management and sits on the LCAS Investment Advisory Board. Previously, he spent nine years as a Fixed Income Senior Portfolio Manager at Lazard with a focus on risk control, sector allocation and total portfolio management. Mr. Cleary began working in the investment field in 1987. Prior to joining Lazard in 1994, Mr. Cleary worked as a Portfolio Manager with Union Bank of Switzerland and an Assistant Treasurer with IBJ Schroeder, both primarily in fixed income asset management. He has a BS from Cornell University. Mr. Cleary is a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) as well as the CFA Institute.

Christopher Komosa, CFA
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager/Analyst
Lazard Asset Management LLC (New York)

Christopher Komosa is a Senior Vice President of LAM and a Portfolio Manager/Analyst on the LCAS team and a member of the LCAS Investment Advisory Board. He began working in the investment field in 1986. Prior to joining Lazard in 2006, Mr. Komosa held positions as a portfolio manager at Permal Asset Management and Pinnacle International Management. Previously he was a hedge fund manager/analyst at Caxton Associates and Graham Capital. Mr. Komosa has an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia and a BA in Economics from Washington and Lee University. He is a member of the CFA Institute.

Martingale

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

Tetra

Timothy O’Toole, CFA
Managing Member and Portfolio Manager,
Tetra Capital Management LLC

Timothy O’Toole has been Managing Member and Portfolio Manager of Tetra Capital Management, LLC since its inception in 2003. Along with Mr. Wiese, Mr. O’Toole shares the responsibility of managing the portfolios of the private investment funds and other accounts managed by Tetra Capital Management, LLC.

Prior to joining Tetra, Mr. O’Toole was a Founding Principal of High Rock Capital LLC, which managed small and mid-cap equity and long/short hedge fund products. At High Rock, Mr. O’Toole was part of a 3 member investment team that grew assets under management from $30 million to over $2 billion in a four year span. From 1994 to 1997, Mr. O’Toole was an analyst for The Boston Company’s small cap institutional product lines as well as mutual funds under Mellon’s Dreyfus brand. In addition to significant equity research experience, Mr. O’Toole has over a decade of experience as a Mechanical and Electronics Engineer. Between 1983 and 1994, he worked at General Electric, Simmonds Precision Systems, Herley Microwave, and Digital Equipment Inc.

Mr. O’Toole has an MBA from Northeastern University, a Masters in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and two B.S. in Engineering degrees from the University of Vermont. Mr. O’Toole is a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Securities Analysts Society.

William Wiese III, CFA
Managing Member and Portfolio Manager
Tetra Capital Management LLC

William Wiese III joined Tetra Capital Management, LLC as Managing Member and Portfolio Manager in April 2006. Along with Mr. O’Toole, Mr. Wiese shares the responsibility of managing the portfolios of the private investment funds and other accounts managed by Tetra Capital Management, LLC.

Mr. Wiese was a Founding Principal of High Rock Capital LLC, which managed small and mid-cap equity and long/short hedge fund products. At High Rock, Mr. Wiese was part of a 3 member investment team that grew assets under management from $30 million to over $2 billion in a four year span. From 1993-1997, Mr. Wiese was a Vice President at The Boston Company where he was a Portfolio Manager for The Boston Company’s Large Cap Wrap product, which had approximately $400 million in assets.

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He was a member of the Equity Policy Committee for Boston Safe Advisors, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boston Company. In addition, Mr. Wiese was one of two research analysts for The Boston Company’s $1.4 billion Small Cap Value product. Prior to joining The Boston Company’s institutional group, Mr. Wiese was a Portfolio Manager in The Boston Company’s Private Client Group where he managed assets for high net worth individuals. Mr. Wiese started his career at Fidelity Investments in 1984.

Mr. Wiese has a B.A. in Economics from Colby College. Mr. Wiese is a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Securities Analysts Society.

Charles Jobson, CFA
Managing Member
Tetra Capital Management LLC and Delta Partners, LLC

Mr. Jobson has been Managing Member of Tetra Capital Management, LLC since its inception in 2003. In 1999, Mr. Jobson co-founded Delta Partners, LLC, an affiliate of Tetra Capital Management, LLC, where he is Managing Member and Portfolio Manager. Mr. Jobson does not share in the portfolio management responsibilities of Tetra Capital Management, LLC.

Prior to launching Delta Partners, LLC, Mr. Jobson was a Vice President and a member of an eight-person investment committee managing a $3.5 billion U.S. equity portfolio at Baring Asset Management (“Barings”), an international investment firm, from 1994 to 1998. The performance of Barings’ $3.5 billion U.S. equity portfolio was top decile in 1997-1998 and top quartile in 1996 in rankings against other managers. From 1990-1994, Mr. Jobson was an equity analyst with State Street Research & Management, Inc. (“SSRM”) where his responsibilities included analysis of commodity and specialty chemicals, homebuilding, supermarkets/drug stores, and real estate investment trusts (“REITs”).

Mr. Jobson received an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in 1982 and an MBA with a concentration in finance from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University in 1989. Mr. Jobson is a member of the CFA Institute and the Boston Securities Analysts Society.

Please see the Fund’s SAI for additional information about the portfolio manager’s compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and their respective ownership of Shares.

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SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION (continued)

THE TRUST

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

THE DISTRIBUTOR

Van Eck Securities Corporation, 335 Madison Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10017 (the “Distributor”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates Corporation (the “Adviser”), has entered into a Distribution Agreement with the Trust for distributing shares of the Fund. The Distributor generally sells and markets shares of the Fund through intermediaries, such as broker-dealers. The intermediaries selling the Fund’s shares are compensated from sales charges and from 12b-1 fees and/or as shareholder service fees paid directly or indirectly by the Fund.

The Distributor 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 may receive when it 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 shareholder services relating to investments by their customers in the Fund. The fees paid by the Distributor to intermediaries may be calculated based on the gross sales

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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.

The Distributor 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 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 mutual funds pay the same amount to the intermediaries who sell their 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.

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For more detailed information, see the Statement of Additional Information (SAI), which is legally a part of and is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus.
Additional information about the investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. In the Fund’s annual reports, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during its last fiscal year.
<		Call Van Eck at 1.800.826.1115, or visit the Van Eck Web site at www.vaneck.com to request, free of charge, the annual or semi-annual reports, the Statement of Additional Information (SAI), information regarding applicable sales loads, breakpoint discounts, reduced or waived sales charges and eligibility minimums, or other information about the Funds.

<		Information about the Fund (including the SAI) can also be reviewed and copied at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information about the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling 1.202.942.8090.
<		Reports and other information about the Fund 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, or by writing the SEC’s Public Reference Section, Washington, D.C. 20549-0102.

SEC REGISTRATION NUMBER: 811-04297

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