Office address: 666 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Website: vaneck.com
Year established: 1955
Company type: financial services
Employees: 487 (2025)
Expertise: ETFs, mutual funds, gold and precious metals investing, emerging markets, digital assets and crypto, institutional funds, separately managed accounts, model portfolios, international equity, fixed income
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Jan van Eck (CEO), Jonathan Simon (general counsel), Lee Rappaport (CFO), Kristen Capuano (CMO), Adam Phillips (COO, ETFs), Richard Potocki and Greg Krenzer (VanEck heads)
Financing status: privately held, family-owned corporation
VanEck is a family-owned investment manager based in New York City with over 70 years of experience. As of December 2025, the company has more than $181 billion in AUM and employs 487 full-time staff. Van Eck Associates Corporation (VEAC) is the holding company, and its subsidiary Van Eck Securities Corporation (VESC) distributes the firm's funds and ETFs.
John van Eck founded the firm in 1955 to give US investors access to overseas markets after World War II. VanEck launched with an international equity fund when few American asset managers looked abroad. The van Eck family has privately owned and run the business ever since.
VanEck spotted inflation early and created the first US gold equity fund (INIVX) in 1968. The move set it apart when most investors stayed away from gold.
The firm launched its gold miners ETF (GDX) in 2006 as gold assets crossed the $1 billion mark. It then added a junior gold miners ETF in 2009 and opened a gold UCITS fund in Europe by 2012.
The company hit a turning point in the early 1990s when founder John van Eck's sons, Derek and Jan, joined the team. The two led a stretch of business moves that grew VanEck's product range and global reach.
Derek died in 2010, and Jan stepped in as CEO to lead the firm's worldwide operations. VanEck's gold-related assets have since reached $43 billion as of December 31, 2025.
Gold still drives much of the company's identity, but VanEck is branching into new areas. Rising geopolitical risks and a weaker US dollar are pushing advisors toward emerging markets, Bitcoin, and private assets. VanEck now offers tools like its True Sector ETF suite and flexible emerging-market bond ETFs to meet that shift.
VanEck head of ETF product Ed Lopez goes deeper into these shifts in a December 2025 piece with InvestmentNews. The interview covers de-dollarization, EM bonds, and the firm's latest ETF strategies.
VanEck builds its products around long-term market trends, with options from core strategies to specialized themes:
The firm's active strategies rely on bottom-up research by managers with direct sector and regional experience. VanEck also offers more than 240 products globally with a focus on liquidity and transparency.
VanEck says its culture goes beyond a corporate motto, and how the team works matters as much as results. The company backs this up with several commitments:
VanEck says it seeks high-energy staff with strong work ethics. Communication and teamwork also shape how the firm hires:
All of this ties back to what the company calls "conviction over convention" and a "conservatively innovative" approach. It backs bold ideas before they go mainstream and pairs them with long-term discipline.
Jan van Eck is the CEO and president at both VEAC and VESC. Van Eck started at the firm in 1991 and moved into the CEO seat in 2010. He studied economics at Williams College as a Phi Beta Kappa graduate and earned his law degree at Stanford University.
Several senior leaders help van Eck guide the company's day-to-day operations:
This team drives growth by building on VanEck's strengths in core asset classes. The group also works on new investor solutions in developing market areas.
VanEck's David Schassler, head of multi-asset solutions, told InvestmentNews in 2025 that gold prices still have room to rise. It backs that view with its Real Assets ETF (RAAX), which bundles gold, commodities, and real estate in one product. The company sees these asset classes as a growing part of how it serves advisors going forward.
For 2026, VanEck is also making the case for EM bonds. Portfolio manager Eric Fine told InvestmentNews that EM sovereign yields roughly double developed-market returns.
The firm's Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMBX) blends dollar and local currency bonds to capture that opportunity for advisors. The company plans to keep building EM fixed-income tools that match this shifting demand.
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Ed Lopez, Head of Product at VanEck, discusses the factors opening the door to emerging market bonds, alternatives and private markets.
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