Market Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat Research ETF (NYSE Arca: MOAT), launched on April 24, 2012, has surpassed $100 million in assets under management and distributed no capital gains in 2012, it was announced today.

The Fund seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Morningstar® Wide Moat Focus IndexSM (MWMFTR). Brandon Rakszawski, Product Manager for Market Vectors ETFs, noted Morningstar's unique approach to constructing its index as an attractive feature to investors. "MOAT's underlying index provides access to the proprietary research of Morningstar's equity analyst team and is based on their economic moat ratings and valuation model." He added, "The ETF structure has proven beneficial to this valuation-driven index methodology. Despite turnover of roughly six to seven stocks at each quarterly rebalance since its launch in April, MOAT did not distribute capital gains in 2012."

Morningstar's wide-moat analysis, which the index is based on, seeks to identify companies that possess one or more sustainable competitive advantages and are expected to have high returns on invested capital relative to their cost of capital. As part of this analysis, Morningstar's equity research team looks for sustainable competitive advantages, or wide economic moats such as intangible assets, cost advantages, switching costs, network effects and efficient scale. Morningstar's proprietary valuation process then identifies the 20 most attractively priced wide-moat companies at the time of each quarterly rebalance.

MOAT was the fifth most successful U.S.-listed equity ETF launched in 2012 as measured by assets under management, according to Morningstar data. The Fund attracted over $115 million in less than nine months of operation. As of December 31, 2012, MOAT held Berkshire Hathaway, Oracle, Bank of New York Mellon, Intel and other well-known, high-quality companies. Additionally, from its inception through December 31, 2012, MOAT has outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 5.13% and the Morningstar US OE Large Blend Category average1 by 5.91%, based on its net asset value.

     

Performance History (%) as of December 31, 2012

  

Expense Ratio (%)*

      1 Month   3 Month   6 Month   Life   Gross Net
MOAT Share Price   2.08   3.55   11.45   10.90   0.57 0.49
NAV   1.99   3.65   11.57   10.80  
MWMFTR Index   2.02   3.76   11.83   11.15   - -
S&P 500 Index   0.91   -0.38   5.95   5.67   - -
US OE Large Blend Cat Avg.1   1.14   0.43   6.52   4.89   - -
         
*Expenses are capped contractually until 5/1/2013. Cap excludes certain expenses, such as interest.
 

Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Performance information for the Fund reflects temporary waivers of expenses and/or fees. Had the Fund incurred all expenses, investment returns would have been reduced. Investment return and value of the shares of the Fund will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance may be lower or higher than performance data quoted. Fund returns reflect dividends and capital gains distributions. Net asset value (NAV) per share is calculated by subtracting total liabilities from the total assets, then dividing by the number of shares outstanding. Share price is the last price at which shares were traded on the Fund's primary listing exchange. Fund shares may trade at, above or below NAV. Performance current to the most recent month end is available by calling 888.MKT.VCTR or by visiting vaneck.com/etf.

Index returns assume reinvestment of all income and do not reflect any management fees or brokerage expenses associated with Fund returns. Returns for actual Fund investors may differ from what is shown because of differences in timing, the amount invested and fees and expenses. You cannot invest directly in an Index.

About Market Vectors ETFs

Market Vectors exchange-traded products have been offered since 2006 and span many asset classes, including equities, fixed income (municipal and international bonds) and currency markets. The Market Vectors family currently totals $27.9 billion in assets under management, making it the fifth largest ETP family in the U.S. and eighth largest worldwide as of September 30, 2012.

Market Vectors ETFs are sponsored by Van Eck Global. Founded in 1955, Van Eck Global was among the first U.S. money managers helping investors achieve greater diversification through global investing. Today, the firm continues this tradition by offering innovative, actively managed investment choices in hard assets, emerging markets, precious metals including gold, and other alternative asset classes. Van Eck Global has offices around the world and manages approximately $37.8 billion in investor assets as of September 30, 2012.

1As measured by the Morningstar US OE Large Blend Category average. The Morningstar US OE Large Blend Category contains portfolios that are fairly representative of the overall U.S. stock market in size, growth rates, and price. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as large-cap. The blend style is assigned to portfolios where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. These portfolios tend to invest across the spectrum of U.S. industries, and owing to their broad exposure, the portfolios' returns are often similar to those of the S&P 500 Index. The category contained 1,777 investments as of December 31, 2012.

The S&P 500 Index is a capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries.

The Morningstar® Wide Moat Focus IndexSM was created and is maintained by Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar, Inc. does not sponsor, endorse, issue, sell, or promote the Market Vectors Morningstar Wide Moat Research ETF and bears no liability with respect to that ETF or any security. Morningstar® is a registered trademark of Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar® Wide Moat Focus IndexSM is a service mark of Morningstar, Inc.

The value of the securities held by the Fund may fluctuate due to market and economic conditions or factors relating to specific issuers. Small- and medium-capitalization companies may be more volatile than large-capitalization companies. The Fund is subject to index tracking risk and may not be able to invest in certain securities in the exact proportions in which they are represented in the Index. The Fund's assets may be concentrated in a particular sector and may be subject to more risk than investments in a diverse group of sectors. The Fund may loan its securities, which may subject it to additional credit and counterparty risk.

The "net asset value" (NAV) of an ETF is determined at the close of each business day, and represents the dollar value of one share of the ETF; it is calculated by taking the total assets of an ETF subtracting total liabilities, and dividing by the total number of shares outstanding. The NAV is not necessarily the same as an ETF's intraday trading value. Investors should not expect to buy or sell shares at NAV. Total returns are based upon closing "market price" (price) of the ETF on the dates listed.

Fund shares are not individually redeemable and will be issued and redeemed at their NAV only through certain authorized broker-dealers in large, specified blocks of shares called "creation units" and otherwise can be bought and sold only through exchange trading. Creation units are issued and redeemed principally in kind. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their NAV in the secondary market.

Investing involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of principal. An investor should consider the investment objective, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. To obtain a prospectus and summary prospectus, which contain this and other information, call 888.MKT.VCTR or visit vaneck.com/etf. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Van Eck Securities Corporation, Distributor
335 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017

MacMillan Communications
Mike MacMillan/Chris Sullivan, 212-473-4442
chris@macmillancom.com