AFK VanEck Africa Index ETF

PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND

Investors in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant losses. An investment in the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Therefore, you should consider carefully the following risks before investing in the Fund.

Risk of Investing in the Nuclear Energy Industry. The companies represented in the Fund’s portfolio may face considerable risk as a result of, among other risks, incidents and accidents, breaches of security, ill-intentioned acts or terrorism, air crashes, natural disasters (such as floods or earthquakes), equipment malfunctions or mishandling in storage, handling, transportation, treatment or conditioning of substances and nuclear materials. Such events could have serious consequences, especially in case of radioactive contamination and irradiation of the environment, for the general population, as well as a material, negative impact on the Fund’s portfolio companies and thus the Fund’s financial situation. The March 2011 nuclear power plant catastrophe in Japan may have far reaching effects on the nuclear energy industry, the extent of which are uncertain. In addition, the nuclear energy industry is subject to competitive risk associated with the prices of other energy sources, such as natural gas and oil. Consumers of nuclear energy may have the ability to switch between the nuclear energy and other energy sources and, as a result, during periods when competing energy sources are less expensive, the revenues of companies in the nuclear energy industry may decline with a corresponding impact on earnings.

Nuclear activity is also subject to particularly detailed and restrictive regulations, with a scheme for the monitoring and periodic re-examination of operating authorization, which primarily takes into account nuclear safety, environmental and public health protection, and also national safety considerations (terrorist threats in particular). These regulations may be subject to significant tightening by national and international authorities. This could result in increased operating costs, which would have a negative impact on the Fund’s portfolio companies and may cause operating businesses related to nuclear energy to become unprofitable or impractical to operate. Furthermore, uranium prices are subject to fluctuation. The price of uranium has been and will continue to be affected by numerous factors beyond the Fund’s control. With respect to uranium, such factors include the demand for nuclear power, political and economic conditions in uranium producing and consuming countries, uranium supply from secondary sources and uranium production levels and costs of production. In addition, the prices of crude oil, natural gas and electricity produced from traditional hydro power and possibly other undiscovered energy sources could potentially have a negative impact on the competitiveness of nuclear energy companies in which the Fund invests.

Risk of Investing in the Energy Sector. The energy sector includes companies engaged in the exploration, production and distribution of energy sources and companies that manufacture or provide related equipment or services. Because as currently constituted the Nuclear Energy Index is concentrated in the energy sector, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance will depend to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the energy sector. Companies operating in the energy sector are subject to risks including, but not limited to, economic growth, worldwide demand, political instability in the regions

that the companies operate, government regulation stipulating rates charged by utilities, interest rate sensitivity, oil price volatility and the cost of providing the specific utility services. In addition, these companies are at risk of civil liability from accidents resulting in injury, loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental damage claims and risk of loss from terrorism and natural disasters.

Risk of Investing in the Industrials Sector. The industrials sector includes companies engaged in the manufacture and distribution of capital goods, such as those used in defense, construction and engineering, companies that manufacture and distribute electrical equipment and industrial machinery and those that provide commercial and transportation services and supplies. Because as currently constituted the Nuclear Energy Index is concentrated in the industrials sector, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance will depend on to a greater extent on, the overall condition of the industrials sector. Companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by changes in government regulation, world events and economic conditions. In addition, companies in the industrials sector may be adversely affected by environmental damages, product liability claims and exchange rates.

Risk of Investing in the Utilities Sector. The utilities sector includes companies that produce or distribute electricity, gas or water. Because as currently constituted the utilities sector represents a significant portion of the Nuclear Energy Index, the Fund will be sensitive to changes in, and its performance may depend to a great extent on, the overall condition of the utilities sector. Companies in the utilities sector may be adversely affected by changes in exchange rates, domestic and international competition, difficulty in raising adequate amounts of capital and governmental limitation on rates charged to customers.

Risk of Investing in Foreign Issuers. Investments in the securities, including depositary receipts, of foreign issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities. These additional risks include greater market volatility, the availability of less reliable financial information, higher transactional and custody costs, taxation by foreign governments, decreased market liquidity and political instability. Because the Fund may invest in securities denominated in foreign currencies and some of the income received by the Fund will generally be in foreign currencies, changes in currency exchange rates may negatively impact the Fund’s return. In addition, the Fund may invest in depositary receipts which involve similar risks to those associated with investments in foreign securities.

Risk of Investing in Small- and Medium-Capitalization Companies. Small- and medium-capitalization companies may be more volatile and more likely than large-capitalization companies to have narrower product lines, fewer financial resources, less management depth and experience and less competitive strength. Returns on investments in securities of small- and medium-capitalization companies could trail the returns on investments in securities of large-capitalization companies.

Issuer-Specific Changes Risk. The value of an individual security or particular type of security can be more volatile than the market as a whole and can perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. The value of securities of smaller issuers can be more volatile than that of larger issuers. A change in the financial condition, market perception or credit rating of an issuer of securities included in the Nuclear Energy Index may cause the value of its securities to decline.

Equity Securities Risk. The value of the equity securities held by the Fund may fall due to general market and economic conditions, perceptions regarding the markets in which the issuers of securities held by the Fund participate, or factors relating to specific issuers in which the Fund invests. Equity securities are subordinated to preferred securities and debt in a company’s capital structure with respect to priority in right to a share of corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater dividend risk than preferred securities or debt instruments. In addition, while broad market measures of equity securities have historically generated higher average returns than fixed income securities, equity securities have also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns.

Market Risk. The prices of the securities in the Fund are subject to the risks associated with investing in the securities market, including general economic conditions and sudden and unpredictable drops in value. An investment in the Fund may lose money.

Index Tracking Risk. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the Nuclear Energy Index for a number of reasons. For example, the Fund incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the Nuclear Energy Index and incurs costs associated with buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the Fund’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the Nuclear Energy Index. Because the Fund bears the costs and risks associated with buying and selling securities while such costs are not factored in to the return of the Nuclear Energy Index, the Fund’s return may deviate significantly from the return of the Nuclear Energy Index. In addition, the Fund may not be able to invest in certain securities included in the Nuclear Energy Index, or invest in them in the exact proportions they represent of the Nuclear Energy Index, due to legal restrictions or limitations imposed by the governments of certain countries or a lack of liquidity on stock exchanges in which such securities trade. The Fund is expected to value certain of its investments based on fair value prices. To the extent the Fund calculates its net asset value (“NAV”) based on fair value prices and the value of Nuclear Energy Index is based on securities’ closing prices on local foreign markets ( i.e. , the value of the Nuclear Energy Index is not based on fair value prices), the Fund’s ability to track the Nuclear Energy Index may be adversely affected.

Replication Management Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund of equity securities traded on an exchange, such as market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic and political developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in security prices. However, because the Fund is not “actively” managed, unless a

specific security is removed from the Nuclear Energy Index, the Fund generally would not sell a security because the security’s issuer was in financial trouble. Therefore, the Fund’s performance could be lower than funds that may actively shift their portfolio assets to take advantage of market opportunities or to lessen the impact of a market decline or a decline in the value of one or more issuers.

Premium/Discount Risk. Disruptions to creations and redemptions, the existence of extreme market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares may result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to NAV. If a shareholder purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV, the shareholders may sustain losses.

Non-Diversified Risk. The Fund is classified as a “non-diversified” investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). Therefore, the Fund may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers or may invest a larger proportion of its assets in a single company. As a result, the gains and losses on a single investment may have a greater impact on the Fund’s NAV and may make the Fund more volatile than more diversified funds. The Fund may be particularly vulnerable to this risk because the Nuclear Energy Index it seeks to replicate is comprised of securities of a very limited number of companies.

Concentration Risk. The Fund’s assets may be concentrated in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries to the extent the Nuclear Energy Index concentrates in a particular sector or sectors or industry or group of industries. Based on the current composition of the Nuclear Energy Index, the Fund’s assets are concentrated in the energy and industrials sectors and the nuclear energy industry; therefore, the Fund will be subject to the risk that economic, political or other conditions that have a negative effect on those sectors and industry will negatively impact the Fund to a greater extent than if the Fund’s assets were invested in a wider variety of sectors or industries.