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VANECK VECTORSä FALLEN ANGEL HIGH YIELD BOND ETF

 

Ticker: ANGL®
Principal U.S. Listing Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015, as revised on FEBRUARY 1, 2016, MAY 1, 2016 and JUNE 20, 2016

ANGLSUM

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and other information about the Fund online at http://www.vaneck.com/ library/etfs/. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800.826.2333, or by sending an email request to info@vaneck.com. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated September 1, 2015, as supplemented, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.


INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of The BofA Merrill Lynch US Fallen Angel High Yield Index (the “Fallen Angel Index”).

FUND FEES AND EXPENSES

The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”).

 

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

 

 

 

None

 

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

 

 

 

Management Fee

 

 

 

0.40

%

 

Other Expenses

 

 

 

0.06

%

 

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses(a)

 

 

 

0.46

%

 

Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement(a)

 

 

 

-0.11

%

 

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and Expense Reimbursement(a)

 

 

 

0.35

%

 

 

(a)

 

Van Eck Associates Corporation (the “Adviser”) has contractually 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, offering costs, trading expenses, taxes and extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.35% of the Fund’s average daily net assets per year until at least September 1, 2017. During such time, the expense limitation is expected to continue until the Fund’s Board of Trustees acts to discontinue all or a portion of such expense limitation.

EXPENSE EXAMPLE

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. This example does not take into account brokerage commissions that you pay when purchasing or selling Shares of the Fund.

The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% annual return and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions, your costs would be:

 

 

 

YEAR

 

EXPENSES

 

1

 

 

$

 

36

 

3

 

 

$

 

137

 

5

 

 

$

 

247

 

10

 

 

$

 

568

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and may result in higher taxes

 

   

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when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 50% of the average value of its portfolio.

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGIES

The Fund normally invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the Fund’s benchmark index. The Fallen Angel Index is comprised of below investment grade corporate bonds denominated in U.S. dollars that were rated investment grade at the time of issuance. Qualifying securities must be issued in the U.S. domestic market and have a below investment grade rating (based on an average of ratings from Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (“S&P”) and Fitch International Rating Agency (“Fitch”)). Defaulted securities are excluded from the Fallen Angel Index. The Fallen Angel Index is comprised of bonds issued by both U.S. and non-U.S. issuers. The country of risk of qualifying issuers must be a member of the FX Group of Ten, a Western European nation, or a territory of the United States or a Western European nation. The FX Group of Ten includes all Euro members, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. As of June 30, 2015, the Fallen Angel Index included 322 below investment grade bonds of 130 issuers and approximately 18% of the Fallen Angel Index was comprised of Rule 144A securities. The Fund’s 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and may be changed without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate the investment performance of the Fallen Angel Index. Because of the practical difficulties and expense of purchasing all of the securities in the Fallen Angel Index, the Fund does not purchase all of the securities in the Fallen Angel Index. Instead, the Adviser utilizes a “sampling” methodology in seeking to achieve the Fund’s objective. As such, the Fund may purchase a subset of the bonds in the Fallen Angel Index in an effort to hold a portfolio of bonds with generally the same risk and return characteristics of the Fallen Angel Index.

The Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent that the Fallen Angel Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries. As of April 30, 2015, the Fund was concentrated in the financial services sector, and each of the energy, basic materials and telecommunications sectors represented a significant portion of the Fund.

PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND

Investors in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Therefore, you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund, each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an investment in the Fund.

High Yield Securities Risk. Securities rated below investment grade are commonly referred to as high yield securities or “junk bonds.” Junk bonds are often issued by issuers that are restructuring, are smaller or less creditworthy than other issuers, or are more highly indebted than other issuers. Junk bonds are subject to greater risk of loss of income and principal than higher rated securities and are considered speculative. The prices of junk bonds are likely to be more sensitive to adverse economic changes or individual issuer developments than higher rated securities. During an economic downturn or substantial period of rising interest rates, junk bond issuers may experience financial stress that would adversely affect their ability to service their principal and interest payment obligations, to meet their projected business goals or to obtain additional financing. In the event of a default, the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery. The secondary market for securities that are junk bonds may be less liquid than the markets for higher quality securities and, as such, may have an adverse effect on the market prices of and the Fund’s ability to arrive at a fair value for certain securities. The illiquidity of the market also could make it difficult for the Fund to sell certain securities in connection with a rebalancing of the Fallen Angel Index. In addition, periods of economic uncertainty and change may result in an increased volatility of market prices of high yield securities and a corresponding volatility in the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”).

Credit Risk. Bonds are subject to credit risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of a security will be unable and/or unwilling to make timely interest payments and/or repay the principal on its debt or to otherwise honor its obligations. Bonds are subject to varying degrees of credit risk which may be reflected in credit ratings. There is a possibility that the credit rating of a bond may be downgraded after purchase or the perception of an issuer’s credit worthiness may decline, which may adversely affect the value of the security.

Interest Rate Risk. Bonds are also subject to interest rate risk. Interest rate risk refers to fluctuations in the value of a bond resulting from changes in the general level of interest rates. When the general level of interest rates goes up, the prices of most bonds go down. When the general level of interest rates goes down, the prices of most bonds go up. The historically low interest rate environment increases the risk associated with rising interest rates, including the potential for periods of volatility and increased redemptions. The Fund may face a heightened level of interest rate risk, since the U.S. Federal

 

   

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Reserve Board recently ended its quantitative easing program and may begin to raise rates. In addition, bonds with longer durations tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes, usually making them more volatile than bonds with shorter durations.

Restricted Securities Risk. Rule 144A securities are restricted securities. Restricted securities are securities that are not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (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. 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.

Market Risk. The prices of the securities in the Fund are subject to the risks associated with investing in bonds, including general economic conditions and sudden and unpredictable drops in value. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

Call Risk. The Fund may invest in callable bonds. If interest rates fall, it is possible that issuers of callable securities will “call” (or prepay) their bonds before their maturity date. If a call were exercised by the issuer during or following a period of declining interest rates, the Fund is likely to have to replace such called security with a lower yielding security. If that were to happen, it would decrease the Fund’s net investment income.

Risk of Investing in Foreign Securities. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. These additional risks include greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial information, taxation by foreign governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Because certain foreign securities markets may be limited in size, the activity of large traders may have an undue influence on the prices of securities that trade in such markets. The risks of investing in emerging market countries are greater than risks associated with investments in foreign developed countries.

Risk of Investing in the Financial Services Sector. To the extent that the Fund continues to be concentrated in the financial services sector, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance will depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of 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, some companies in the financial services sector perceived as benefitting from government intervention in the past may be subject to future government-imposed restrictions on their businesses or face increased government involvement in their operations. Increased government involvement in the financial services sector, including measures such as taking ownership positions in financial institutions, could result in a dilution of the Fund’s investments in financial institutions. 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.

Risk of Investing in the Energy Sector. To the extent that the energy sector continues to represent a significant portion of the Fund, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance may depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the energy sector. Companies operating in the energy sector are subject to risks including, but not limited to, economic growth, worldwide demand, political instability in the regions that the companies operate, government regulation stipulating rates charged by utilities, interest rate sensitivity, oil price volatility, energy conservation, environmental policies, depletion of resources and the cost of providing the specific utility services. Recently, the price of oil has declined significantly and experienced significant volatility, which has adversely impacted companies operating in the energy sector. In addition, these companies are at risk of civil liability from accidents resulting in injury, loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental damage claims and risk of loss from terrorism and natural disasters.

Risk of Investing in the Basic Materials Sector. To the extent that the basic materials sector continues to represent a significant portion of the Fund, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance may depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the basic materials sector. Companies engaged in the production and distribution of basic materials 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.

Risk of Investing in the Telecommunications Sector. To the extent that the telecommunications sector continues to represent a significant portion of the Fund, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance may depend to a

 

   

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greater extent on, the overall condition of the telecommunications sector. Companies in the telecommunications sector may be affected by industry competition, substantial capital requirements, government regulations and obsolescence of telecommunications products and services due to technological advancement.

Sampling Risk. The Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach will result in its holding a smaller number of securities than are in the Fallen Angel Index. As a result, an adverse development respecting an issuer of securities held by the Fund could result in a greater decline in NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in the Fallen Angel Index. Conversely, a positive development relating to an issuer of securities in the Fallen Angel Index that is not held by the Fund could cause the Fund to underperform the Fallen Angel Index. To the extent the assets in the Fund are smaller, these risks will be greater.

Index Tracking Risk. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the Fallen Angel Index for a number of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the Fallen Angel Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Fallen Angel Index. The Fund also bears the costs and risks associated with buying and selling securities while such costs and risks are not factored into the return of the Fallen Angel Index. The Fund may not be fully invested at times either as a result of cash flows into the Fund or reserves of cash held by the Fund to pay expenses. In addition, the Fund’s use of a representative sampling approach may cause the Fund to not be as well correlated with the return of the Fallen Angel Index as would be the case if the Fund purchased all of the securities in the Fallen Angel Index in the proportions in which they are represented in the Fallen Angel Index. The Fund is expected to value certain of its investments based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its NAV based on fair value prices and the value of the Fallen Angel Index is based on securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e., the value of the Fallen Angel Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to track the Fallen Angel Index may be adversely affected. For tax efficiency purposes, the Fund may sell certain securities, and such sale may cause the Fund to realize a loss and deviate from the performance of the Fallen Angel Index. In light of the factors discussed above, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the return of the Fallen Angel Index.

Replication Management Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any bond fund, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. However, because the Fund is not “actively” managed, unless a specific security is removed from the Fallen Angel Index, the Fund generally would not sell a security because the security’s issuer was in financial trouble. Therefore, the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.

Premium/Discount Risk. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares may result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may sustain losses. Because certain of the Fund’s underlying securities trade in markets that are closed when the NYSE Arca, Inc. (i.e., the exchange that Shares of the Fund trade on) is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current pricing of an underlying security and the closing security’s price (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to the extent the Fallen Angel Index concentrates in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries. To the extent that the Fund’s investments continue to be concentrated in the financial services sector, the Fund will be subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that have a negative effect on that sector will negatively impact the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider variety of sectors or industries.

PERFORMANCE

The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the calendar years shown. The table below the bar chart shows the Fund’s average annual returns (before and after taxes). The bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for the one year and since inception periods compared with the Fund’s benchmark index. All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at www.vaneck.com.

 

   

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Annual Total Returns(%)—Calendar Years

The year-to-date total return as of June 30, 2015 was 5.08%.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Quarter:

 

4.29%

 

1Q ’14

Worst Quarter:

 

-1.56%

 

4Q ’14

Average Annual Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31, 2014

The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Past One Year

 

Since Inception
(4/10/2012)

 

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (return before taxes)

 

 

 

5.27

%

 

 

 

 

8.66

%

 

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (return after taxes on distributions)

 

 

 

2.76

%

 

 

 

 

6.09

%

 

VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares)

 

 

 

3.05

%

 

 

 

 

5.55

%

 

The BofA Merrill Lynch US Fallen Angel High Yield Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

 

 

7.09

%

 

 

 

 

11.15

%

 

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Investment Adviser. Van Eck Associates Corporation.

Portfolio Manager. The following individuals are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio:

 

 

 

 

 

Name

 

Title with Adviser

 

Date Began Managing the Fund

 

Francis G. Rodilosso

 

Portfolio Manager

 

April 2012

Eric Isenberg

 

Portfolio Manager

 

February 2016

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

The Fund issues and redeems Shares at NAV only in a large specified number of Shares, each called a “Creation Unit,” or multiples thereof. A Creation Unit consists of 50,000 Shares.

Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in secondary market transactions through brokers. Shares of the Fund are listed on NYSE Arca and because Shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, Shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than or less than NAV.

TAX INFORMATION

The Fund’s distributions are taxable and will generally be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains.

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

The Adviser and its related companies may pay broker-dealers or other financial intermediaries (such as a bank) for the sale of the Fund Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your broker-dealer or other intermediary or its employees or associated persons to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

 

   

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800.826.2333
vaneck.com

 

(06/16)