Van Eck launches first global hard-assets ETF

Van Eck Associates Corp. today launched the first global-hard-assets exchange traded fund — Market Vectors-RVE Hard Assets Producers (HAP). The ETF seeks to replicate the price and yield performance of the Roger-Van Eck Hard Assets Producers Index, a global benchmark for commodities equities. The index covered 321 companies in 40 countries and six sectors as of Aug. 31. The index is “pure-play” in its focus, including only those companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue from the applicable commodity sector, according to a statement from New York-based Van Eck. The sole exception is water, where constituents must generate at least 25% of their revenue from that industry. “The Market Vectors-RVE Hard Assets Producers ETF is the first to provide comprehensive exposure to the dynamics of the global-commodities business in a single fund,” Jan van Eck, principal of Van Eck, said in a statement. “We think investors will find it attractive as a way to participate in this huge and growing segment of the market.”