June 1, 2026
BDCs: An Alternative Way to Access the Benefits of Private Credit

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

1 Source: Prequin, Moody’s Ratings, Moody’s Global Private Credit Outlook. As of January 2025.

This is not an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation to buy or sell any of the securities, financial instruments or digital assets mentioned herein. The information presented does not involve the rendering of personalized investment, financial, legal, tax advice, or any call to action. Certain statements contained herein may constitute projections, forecasts and other forward-looking statements, which do not reflect actual results, are for illustrative purposes only, are valid as of the date of this communication, and are subject to change without notice. Actual future performance of any assets or industries mentioned are unknown. Information provided by third party sources are believed to be reliable and have not been independently verified for accuracy or completeness and cannot be guaranteed. VanEck does not guarantee the accuracy of third party data. The information herein represents the opinion of the author(s), but not necessarily those of VanEck or its other employees.

An investor cannot invest directly in an index. Returns reflect past performance and do not guarantee future results. Results reflect the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, if any. Certain indices may take into account withholding taxes. Index returns do not represent Fund returns. The Index does not charge management fees or brokerage expenses, nor does the Index lend securities, and no revenues from securities lending were added to the performance shown.

Business Development Companies (BDCs) generally invest in less mature U.S. private companies or thinly traded U.S. public companies which involve greater risk than well-established publicly-traded companies. While the BDCs that comprise the Index are expected to generate income in the form of dividends, certain BDCs during certain periods of time may not generate such income. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees and other operating expenses incurred by the BDCs and of any performance-based or incentive fees payable by the BDCs in which it invests, in addition to the expenses paid by the Fund. A BDC’s incentive fee may be very high, vary from year to year and be payable even if the value of the BDC’s portfolio declines in a given time period. Incentive fees may create an incentive for a BDC’s manager to make investments that are risky or more speculative than would be the case in the absence of such compensation arrangements, and may also encourage the BDC’s manager to use leverage to increase the return on the BDC’s investments. The use of leverage by BDCs magnifies gains and losses on amounts invested and increases the risks associated with investing in BDCs. A BDC may make investments with a larger amount of risk of volatility and loss of principal than other investment options and may also be highly speculative and aggressive. The Fund and its affiliates may not own in excess of 25% of a BDC’s outstanding voting securities which may limit the Fund’s ability to fully replicate its index. An investment in the Fund may be subject to risks which include, among others, investing in BDCs, investment restrictions, financial sector, small- and medium-capitalization companies, equity securities, market, operational, index tracking, authorized participant concentration, no guarantee of active trading market, trading issues, passive management, fund shares trading, premium/discount and liquidity of fund shares, issuer-specific changes, and index-related concentration risks, all of which may adversely affect the fund. Small- and medium-capitalization companies may be subject to elevated risks.

MVIS US Business Development Companies Index is a rules-based index intended to track the overall performance of Business Development Companies (BDC).

ICE BofA US High Yield Index tracks the performance of U.S. dollar-denominated below investment grade corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market. Qualifying securities must have a below investment grade rating.

FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index is a broad-based, free-float adjusted market capitalization weighted index consisting of equity real estate investment trusts.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Utilities Index comprises those companies included in the S&P 500 that are classified as members of the GICS® utilities sector.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index tracks the 500 of the largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States.

Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based benchmark that measures the investment grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market, including Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities.

ICE BofA Current 10-Year US Treasury Index is a one-security index comprised of the most recently issued 10-year U.S. Treasury bond.

MVIS US Business Development Companies Index is the exclusive property of MarketVector Indexes GmbH (a wholly owned subsidiary of Van Eck Securities Corporation), which has contracted with Solactive AG to maintain and calculate the Index. Solactive AG uses its best efforts to ensure that the Index is calculated correctly. Irrespective of its obligations towards MarketVector Indexes GmbH, Solactive AG has no obligation to point out errors in the Index to third parties. The VanEck BDC Income ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by MarketVector Indexes GmbH and MarketVector Indexes GmbH makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Fund.

The Cliffwater Direct Lending Index (CDLI) seeks to measure the unlevered, gross of fee performance of U.S. middle market corporate loans, as represented by the asset-weighted performance of the underlying assets of Business Development Companies (BDCs), including both exchange-traded and unlisted BDCs, subject to certain eligibility requirements.

Investing involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of principal. Bonds and bond funds will decrease in value as interest rates rise. 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 contains this and other information, call 800.826.2333 or visit vaneck.com/etfs. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing.

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