VanEck
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VanEck

VanEck is a global investment management firm headquartered in New York City. The firm is primarily engaged in issuing exchange-traded fund (ETF) products although it also deals with mutual funds and separately managed accounts for institutional investors. It was a pioneer of investing in foreign growth stocks as well as gold investing.

Outside the U.S., the firm has offices in Europe and Asia–Pacific.

In 1955, John van Eck founded Van Eck Global, an investment firm that capitalized on the growing international stock market after the opening of Western Europe to US investors in the wake of the Marshall Plan. His father moved to the US from the Netherlands in the early 20th century as an employee of Shell plc to expand its international business.

In 1968, the firm launched one of the first US gold funds, International Investors Gold Fund and moved most of its portfolio into shares of gold mining companies. During the 1970s and up to the mid-1980s, gold experienced a bull market and the firm experienced significant success. The International Investors Gold Fund received large subscriptions and had more than $1 billion in assets under management (AUM). However, after the mid-1980s, the gold market boom ended and the firm's business slowed down. By February 1998, the International Investors Gold Fund had dwindled to $250 million.

In response to the decline of the gold market, the firm started developing its business of investing into emerging markets of Asia in the 1990s. In 1996, the firm signed a joint venture agreement with Shenyin & Wanguo to tap the fund market of mainland China. However the 1997 Asian financial crisis had turned off demand for emerging market funds. One of its funds, the Van Eck Asia Dynasty Fund had its AUM decline from $46.3 million at the end of 1996 to $11.2 million at the end of 1997.

From 1994 to 1998, the firm's AUM dropped 21% from $1.82 billion to $1.44 billion. The price of metal in 1997 had hit a 12-year low. Only its Global Hard Assets Fund had positive returns of 26% for the three years ended December 1997. As a result, the firm was hit by redemptions and its customer base shrunk.

In 2006, the firm decided to enter the ETF business and launched its first ETF product, Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF. It helped investor bet on gold through the stock market rather than directly. It was compared to SPDR Gold Shares which was launched in November 2004 and although it was not as popular, its AUM rose to $5 billion making it one of the firm's biggest successes. By November 2009, the firm had issued more than 20 ETF products which in total reached an AUM of $9.7 billion.

John van Eck died in 2014. He had two sons, Derek and Jan who both worked at VanEck. Derek who was the firm's chief investment officer died unexpectedly in 2010.

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