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MARKET VECTORS RARE EARTH/STRATEGIC METALS ETF


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

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
MAY 1, 2012, as amended on January 23, 2013

REMXSUM

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 888.MKT.VCTR, or by sending an email request to [email protected]. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated May 1, 2012, as amended on January 23, 2013, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Global Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index (the “Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index”).

FUND FEES AND EXPENSES

This table describes 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

 

 

 

0.50

%

 

Other Expenses(a)

 

 

 

0.09

%

 

 

 

 

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses(b)

 

 

 

0.59

%

 

Fee Waivers and Expense Reimbursement(b)

 

 

 

0.02

%

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

0.57

%

 

 

(a)

 

 

 

“Other Expenses” are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

 

(b)

 

 

 

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 interest expense, offering costs, trading expenses, taxes and extraordinary expenses) from exceeding 0.57% of the Fund’s average daily net assets per year until at least May 1, 2013. 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

 

 

$

 

58

 

3

 

 

$

 

187

 

5

 

 

$

 

327

 

10

 

 

$

 

736

 


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PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Fund will pay transaction costs, such as commissions, when it purchases and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover will cause the Fund to incur additional transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, may affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover was 35% 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 Index is comprised of foreign and domestic equity securities of publicly traded companies primarily engaged in a variety of activities that are related to the producing, refining and recycling of rare earth and strategic metals and minerals. Such companies may include small-, medium- and micro-capitalization companies. Rare earth/strategic metals are industrial metals that are typically mined as by-products or secondary metals in operations focused on precious metals and base metals. Compared to base metals, they have more specialized uses and are often more difficult to extract. Currently, approximately 49 elements in the periodic table are considered rare earth/strategic metals. Rare earth metals (or rare earth elements), a subset of strategic metals, are a collection of chemical elements that are crucial to many of the world’s most advanced technologies, such as cellular phones, high performance batteries, flat screen televisions, green energy technology, and are critical to the future of hybrid and electric cars, high-tech military applications and superconductors and fiber-optic communication systems. The Fund’s 80% investment policy is non-fundamental and requires 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders before it can be changed.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, attempts to approximate the investment performance of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index. The Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance and that of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index before fees and expenses will be 95% or better. A figure of 100% would indicate perfect correlation.

The Fund may also utilize depositary receipts to seek performance that corresponds to the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index.

The Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent that the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries.

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.

Risk of Investing in Rare Earth and Strategic Metals. Rare earth/strategic metals are industrial metals that are typically mined as by-products or secondary metals in operations focused on precious metals and base metals. Compared to base metals, they have more specialized uses and are often more difficult to extract. Currently, approximately 49 elements in the periodic table are considered rare earth/strategic metals. Rare earth metals (or rare earth elements), a subset of strategic metals, are a collection of chemical elements that are crucial to many of the world’s most advanced technologies. The use of strategic metals in modern technology has increased dramatically over the past years. Consequently, the demand for strategic metals has strained the supply, which has the potential to result in a shortage of such materials which could adversely affect the companies in the Fund’s portfolio. Companies involved in the various activities that are related to the producing, refining and recycling of rare earth/strategic metals tend to be small-, medium- and micro-capitalization companies with volatile share prices, are highly dependent on the price of rare earth/strategic metals which may fluctuate substantially over short periods of time and can be significantly affected by events relating to international, national and local political and economic developments, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, commodity prices, and tax and other government regulations. The producing, refining and recycling of rare earth/strategic metals can be capital intensive and, if companies involved in such activities are not managed well, the share prices of such companies could decline even as prices for the underlying rare earth/strategic metals are rising. In addition, companies involved in the various activities that are related to the producing, refining and recycling of rare earth/strategic metals may be at risk for environmental damage claims.

Risk of Regulatory Action and Changes in Governments. The producing, refining and recycling of rare earth/strategic metals may be significantly affected by regulatory action and changes in governments. For example, China, which produces more than 90% of the world’s rare earth supplies, has implemented a reduction in its export quota of rare earth/strategic metals and has considered a complete ban on the export of such metals. Such moves could have a significant adverse effect on industries around the globe and on the values of the businesses in which the Fund expect to invest. Moreover, while it is expected that China will consume most if not all, of the rare earth/strategic metals produced within the country to support its growing economy, China has shown a willingness to flood the market for rare earth/strategic metals as it did in the late 1990s, thereby causing many operations to shut down.


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Risk of Investing in the Mining Industry. Because the Fund invests in stocks and depositary receipts of U.S. and foreign companies that are involved in mining, it is subject to certain risks associated with such companies in the mining industry. Competitive pressures may have a significant effect on the financial condition of such companies. Mining companies are highly dependent on the price of the underlying metal or element. These prices may fluctuate substantially over short periods of time so the Fund’s Share price may be more volatile than other types of investments. In particular, a drop in the price of rare earth/strategic metals would particularly adversely affect the profitability of small- and medium-capitalization mining companies and their ability to secure financing. Furthermore, companies that are only in the exploration stage are typically unable to adopt specific strategies for controlling the impact of such price changes. In addition, many early stage miners operate at a loss and are dependent on securing equity and/or debt financing, which might be more difficult to secure for an early stage mining company than for a more established counterpart.

Risk of Investing in Foreign Issuers. Investments in the securities of non-U.S. 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, higher transactional and custody costs, taxation by foreign governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Because the Fund may invest in securities denominated in foreign currencies and some of the income received by the Fund will generally be in foreign currencies, changes in currency exchange rates may negatively impact the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund may invest in depositary receipts which involve similar risks to those associated with investments in foreign securities.

Risk of Investing in Emerging Market Issuers. Investments in securities of emerging market issuers 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 United States. Market risks may include economies that concentrate in only a few industries, securities issues 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.

Risk of Investing in Depositary Receipts. Depositary receipts in which the Fund may invest are receipts issued by banks or trust companies and entitle the holder to all dividends and capital gains that are paid out on the underlying foreign shares. Investments in depositary receipts may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and (if not included in the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index) may negatively affect the Fund’s ability to replicate the performance of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index.

Risk of Investing in Small- and Medium-Capitalization Companies. Small- and medium-capitalization companies may be more volatile and more likely than large-capitalization companies to have narrower product lines, fewer financial resources, less management depth and experience and less competitive strength. Returns on investments in stocks of small-capitalization and medium-capitalization companies could trail the returns on investments in stocks of large-capitalization companies.

Risk of Investing in Micro-Capitalization Companies. Micro-capitalization companies are subject to substantially greater risks of loss and price fluctuations because their earnings and revenues tend to be less predictable (and some companies may be experiencing significant losses), and their share prices tend to be more volatile and their markets less liquid than companies with larger market capitalizations. The shares of micro-capitalization companies tend to trade less frequently than those of larger, more established companies, which can adversely affect the pricing of these securities and the future ability to sell these securities.

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

Index Tracking Risk. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index for a number of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals 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 Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index. Because the Fund bears the costs and risks associated with buying and selling securities while such costs and risks are not factored into the return of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the return of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index. In addition, the Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities included in the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions they represent of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index, due to legal restrictions or limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries or a lack of liquidity on stock exchanges in which such securities trade. 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 Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index is based on securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets (i.e., the value of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to track the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index may be adversely affected.

Replication Management Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund of equity securities traded on an exchange, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. However, because the Fund is not “actively” managed, unless a


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specific security is removed from the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals 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 other types of mutual 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.

Non-Diversified Risk. The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified” investment company under the 1940 Act. Therefore, the Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a single company. As a result, the gains and losses on a single investment may have a greater impact on the Fund’s NAV and may make the Fund more volatile than more diversified funds. The Fund may be particularly vulnerable to this risk because the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index it seeks to replicate is comprised of securities of a very limited number of companies.

Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to the extent the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index concentrates in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries. Based on the current composition of the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index, it is expected that the Fund’s assets will be concentrated in the mining industry and that the Fund will be subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that have a negative effect on that industry 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.

Risk of Investing in the Materials Sub-Industry. To the extent the Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index includes securities of issuers in the materials sub-industry of the strategic metals industry, the Fund will invest in companies in such sub-industry. Companies in the materials sub-industry of the strategic metals industry 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.

PERFORMANCE

The bar chart that follows shows how the Fund performed for the last calendar year. 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 and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for one year compared with the Fund’s benchmark index and a broad measure of market performance. All returns assume reinvestment of dividends and distributions. The Fund’s past performance (before and after income taxes) is not necessarily indicative of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at vaneck.com/etf.

 

 

 

 

 

Best Quarter:

 

10.18%

 

1Q ’11

Worst Quarter:

 

-39.31%

 

3Q ’11

Average Annual Total Returns for the Periods Ended December 31, 2011

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.


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Past One Year

 

Since Inception
(10/27/2010)

 

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (return before taxes)

 

-32.21%

 

-16.17%

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (return after taxes on distributions)

 

-33.62%

 

-17.65%

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals ETF (return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund Shares)

 

-20.94%

 

-14.55%

Market Vectors Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

-31.70%

 

-16.45%

S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

     2.11%

 

     7.64%

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

Investment Adviser. Van Eck Associates Corporation.

Portfolio Managers. 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

 

Hao-Hung (Peter) Liao

 

Portfolio Manager

 

October 2010

George Cao

 

Portfolio Manager

 

October 2010

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, Inc. (“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.


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