Mission & History
“Don’t settle for the conventional. Dare to be different.” CEO Jan van Eck
Providing investors access to opportunities that will strengthen their portfolios is VanEck’s guiding principle. Through forward-looking, intelligently designed active and ETF solutions, we offer value-added exposures to emerging industries, asset classes and markets as well as differentiated approaches to traditional strategies.
We think beyond the financial markets to identify the trends—including economic, technological, political and social—that we believe will fuel investable opportunities. VanEck was one of the first U.S. asset managers to offer investors access to international markets and recognized early the transformative potential of gold investing, emerging markets and ETFs. Today, our firm’s capabilities range from core investment opportunities to more specialized exposures to enhance portfolio diversification.
Access the Opportunities
VanEck is different from other asset managers in three key ways:
- We are privately held, allowing us to focus on our clients’ long-term interests
- Since we were founded in 1955, we have constantly been at the forefront of innovation, giving investors access to new opportunities like gold funds, emerging market funds and ETFs
- Our ETFs are transparent: they acquire the underlying securities (no synthetic replication). Securities are not lent out.
Understanding Our History
VanEck has a long history of empowering Investors with impactful portfolio opportunities. Across all market environments, we believe in putting our clients’ interests first – a core tenant of the VanEck brand.
Since our founding, VanEck has been privately owned and operated by the van Eck family. John van Eck launched the firm in 1955 to bring post-World War II investment opportunities to U.S. investors. In the early 1990s, when his sons, Derek and Jan, joined the Firm, VanEck undertook a series of business initiatives that have since provided substantial growth. Since his brother Derek’s passing in 2010, Jan has managed the firm’s growing global operations and continues to do so today. Learn more about VanEck by reading our corporate profile.
In Europe, VanEck opened the first office in 2008 – focusing on the Index business under the MVIS Brand – followed by the opening of the Swiss office in 2010 to focus on institutional distribution and business development for the alternative and active investment management strategies. Shortly thereafter, the first UCITS eligible active strategy was launched, followed by an alternative investment strategy in 2013. The first UCITS compliant ETF was launched in 2015. In 2018, VanEck acquired the Dutch ETF provider “Think ETF Asset Management B.V.” to broaden the ETF portfolio for the European and international market.
John C. van Eck, CFA
Founder
John van Eck was a well-known pioneer in international and gold investments. He founded International Investors Incorporated in 1955 to provide a convenient investment vehicle for Americans to invest in foreign growth stocks. Predicting that worldwide inflation would lead to gold mines offering better growth prospects than industrial and financial investments, Mr. van Eck moved the bulk of the portfolio into gold-mining shares in 1968 in time to participate in the great gold bull market of the 1970s.
MBA, Harvard University; BA, Williams College
Jan F. van Eck
CEO
Mr. van Eck joined the Firm in 1991 and its Executive Management Team in 1998. He serves as the President, Chief Executive Officer and an owner of Van Eck Associates Corporation. Additionally, he is the President and CEO of Van Eck Securities Corporation. Furthermore, Mr. van Eck is a Trustee, the President and Chief Executive Officer of VanEck ETF Trust, VanEck Funds and VanEck VIP Trust.
Furthering VanEck’s mission to anticipate asset classes and trends, Mr. van Eck has created strategic beta, tactical allocation, emerging markets, and commodity-related investment strategies in mutual fund, ETF, and institutional formats. Mr. van Eck founded the Firm’s ETF business in 2006. One of the world’s largest ETF sponsors, the Firm offers ETFs, branded VanEck®, globally across equity and fixed income asset classes.
Mr. van Eck holds a JD from Stanford University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College with a major in Economics. He has registrations with the National Futures Association and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Mr. van Eck is a Director of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. He routinely appears on CNBC and Bloomberg Television, and was a 2013 Finalist for Institutional Investor's Fund Leader of the Year and a 2019 finalist for ETF.com’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Martijn Rozemuller
CEO - Europe
Martijn Rozemuller is VanEck's CEO of Europe. He started his career as an option trader at the Dutch high frequency trading firm Optiver, where he became partner. Martijn Rozemuller started the Netherlands' first ETF provider Think ETF's in 2009, which was later acquired by VanEck. He is passionate about providing financial education to the general public in order to convince individuals to start investing.