Then vs. Now: A Consistent Philosophy for a Changing World
10 September 2025
Read Time 2 MIN
When Russell Brennan, AVP, Accounting and Valuation Oversight, first joined the firm, he recalls the space being so cramped that there was a conference room with four desks squeezed into it. “The oxygen plummeted if someone shut the door,” he jokes. For Paul Weltchek, Senior Analyst, Security and Portfolio Analytics, who arrived when VanEck had fewer than 70 employees, those early years were defined by building processes and systems from scratch. Paralegal Alison Emanuel remembers transcribing board minutes on a typewriter and mailing heavy board books in binders. Today, they’re delivered with a click.
From those modest beginnings, VanEck has grown into a global investment manager with teams across continents, a market-leading ETF platform, and strategies spanning active and passive, traditional and digital assets. But some things haven’t changed. Since the firm’s founding in 1955, the investment philosophy has remained the same: identify investment opportunities tied to impactful trends across economic, technological, political, and social dimensions, and deliver forward-looking solutions to investors.
“Our investment philosophy is defined by a relentless determination to innovate on behalf of our clients. We focus on optimal access, whether by being first to market or by developing a more intelligent, efficient approach.” – CEO Jan van Eck
Nadira Singh remembers the excitement in 2006 over the launch of VanEck’s first ETF, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX), marked by the firm’s first bell ringing at what was then the American Stock Exchange (now NYSE). VanEck’s Senior Sales Management Support & Client Services Manager Carmen Chartier Ryser recalls Jan’s bold call to push into ETFs in Europe in 2012. “Many didn’t believe, but Jan had done the work. He saw what was coming. I was a believer then—and I still am.”
Fast forward to today. VanEck recently commemorated its 70th anniversary with the ringing of the NYSE Closing Bell on August 27, 2025, a bookend that reflects how far we’ve come and how strong our convictions remain.
Even as the team has expanded and the firm’s product set has evolved, VanEck has stayed true to its guiding principle to provide investors early access to transformative opportunities that have the potential to reshape markets. Another demonstration of the firm’s willingness to lead ahead of the curve came in 2017, when VanEck became the first established ETF issuer to file for a bitcoin-linked ETF.
Seventy years in, VanEck is still investing with a deep understanding of disruptive macroeconomic forces. Still thinking long term. And still building the kind of firm where culture and conviction endure.
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