Yahoo Finance VanEck Hits $10B Milestone in European ETFs
VanEck has crossed the $10 billion milestone in European ETFs following strong inflows this year.
The firm, which manages $78.3 billion in its 68 U.S. exchange-traded funds, launched its first UCITS ETFs in 2015, before acquiring Dutch ETF issuer ThinkETF for an undisclosed sum in January 2018.
The asset manager’s range now totals 50-strong ETFs after most recently introducing two U.S. wide moat ETFs in Europe this year.
New York-based VanEck has posted a strong start to the year with inflows of $1.1 billion, the 10th highest across all European ETF issuers, as of April 30, according to data from ETFbook. Chief Executive Officer Jan van Eck won the Lifetime Achievement Award at last month's etf.com awards.
This has been driven by demand for the VanEck Defense UCITS ETF (DFNS) which reached $100 million in assets under management (AUM) a mere seven months after its launch in April 2023. DFNS’s assets have now swelled to $699 million.
Demand for defense ETFs has been on the rise following an increasingly unstable geopolitical landscape, as Western countries dramatically increase their defense spending in the face of the war in Ukraine and growing tensions between China and Taiwan.
Strong Inflows From Private Investors
The asset manager had similar success with its rare earth industry ETF which grew to $100 million in AUM in five months after its launch in 2022; however, demand has since waned with assets sitting at $97 million.
Martijn Rozemuller, CEO of VanEck Europe, said: “In the last year and a half, we have seen particularly strong inflows from private investors and increasingly from institutional clients—both of which have helped VanEck reach this significant milestone."
“We are excited to keep working hard on behalf of our investors in over 17 European markets.”
Elsewhere, VanEck’s uranium ETF was added to Courtville Partners’ model portfolio in April, with the product returning 20.4% year to date.
This article first appeared in etf.com sister publication ETF Stream.