Natural resources play a critical role in today’s evolving global economy, supported by long-term demand across energy, metals, agriculture, and renewables. VanEck’s approach to resource equity investing focuses on capturing this opportunity through differentiated exposure and disciplined portfolio construction. This Q&A brings these themes together by highlighting what sets the VanEck Natural Resources ETF (HAP) apart and why natural resources remain relevant in the current market environment.

• What Are Natural Resources?
• Why Invest in Natural Resources Today?
• Why Invest in Natural Resources Over Commodities?
• What is the HAP ETF and What Sets it Apart in the Market?
• What Trends Are Driving Resource Demand?
• What Role Do Natural Resource Equities Play in a Broader Portfolio?
• What Are the Key Risks of Investing in HAP?
• How Can Investors Buy VanEck ETFs?

What Are Natural Resources?

Natural resources are the cornerstone of global economic growth, providing the raw materials and energy that power every aspect of modern life. This broad asset class includes energy sources (oil, natural gas, and renewables), metals and minerals critical to industrial production and technology, agricultural commodities that sustain populations, and materials such as forest products and water systems. These assets are indispensable to global supply chains—fueling manufacturing, infrastructure development, data centers, and food systems worldwide.

Companies operating in this space play a pivotal role in extracting, refining, and managing these resources efficiently and responsibly. VanEck’s perspective goes beyond traditional commodities to reflect the evolution of the resource economy, incorporating exposures ranging from renewable power producers to agritech innovators, all of which are shaping the future of the natural resources sector.

Why Invest in Natural Resources Today?

Natural resources equities serve as both inflation hedges and growth drivers, offering a dual source of potential portfolio value. Historically, resource companies tend to perform well during periods of moderate to high inflation, as rising input prices can translate directly into higher profits. They also benefit from long-term structural demand, driven by population growth, industrial expansion, and the accelerating modernization of emerging markets. Meanwhile, tightening supply chains and global infrastructure investment are increasing the strategic importance of real assets as anchors of portfolio stability.

Beyond inflation resilience, the sector is supported by secular trends—from the energy transition and decarbonization efforts to technological innovation and agricultural modernization. As economies around the world continue to rebuild and decarbonize, demand for raw materials and sustainable inputs is set to expand. These forces together position natural resources as a core pillar of real asset exposure, providing a balance between cyclical opportunity and enduring long-term growth.

Why Invest in Natural Resources Over Commodities?

While commodities provide direct exposure to raw material prices, natural resource equities represent ownership in the companies that discover, extract, refine, and distribute these materials. This approach offers two key advantages:

• Income potential and capital appreciation: Resource companies can generate cash flow, reinvest in growth, and pay dividends—benefits not available through direct commodity exposure alone.
• Diversified value-chain exposure: Equity investments gain access to the full resource lifecycle, from exploration and production to processing, innovation, and renewable development, rather than being limited to futures contracts or single-commodity exposure.

In essence, natural resource equities blend real asset exposure with corporate efficiency and innovation, providing a more stable, long-term way to capture the upside of global resource cycles.

What is the HAP ETF and What Sets it Apart in the Market?

The VanEck Natural Resources ETF (HAP) seeks to replicate the MarketVector^® Global Natural Resources Index (MVGNRTR), providing a comprehensive, balanced exposure across the natural resources spectrum. HAP includes energy (30%), metals (30%), agriculture (24%), renewable energy (12%), and forest products (3%).

HAP uniquely integrates renewable energy into its allocation—an area absent from traditional benchmarks like the S&P Global Natural Resources Index. It also emphasizes agribusiness innovation, such as agricultural machinery, fertilizers, and crop science, reflecting a forward-looking view of the sector. Its methodology limits single-stock exposure (5% cap) and rebalances quarterly, ensuring broad, risk-aware diversification.

What Trends Are Driving Resource Demand?

Several long-term structural forces are supporting sustained demand for natural resources:

• Energy transition: The global move toward decarbonization and electrification is fueling investment in renewable power, copper, and battery materials.
• Digital infrastructure growth: Data centers and AI computing are rapidly expanding electricity demand.
• Agricultural innovation: The global agriculture market is forecasted to expand significantly over the coming decade, supported by sustainable farming and food technology.
• Monetary diversification: Central banks and investors continue to accumulate gold and strategic metals as hedges against currency volatility and geopolitical uncertainty.

Collectively, these trends highlight natural resources as a long-term, multi-sector growth theme aligned with both industrial evolution and sustainability goals.

What Role Do Natural Resource Equities Play in a Broader Portfolio?

Natural resource equities provide low correlation to traditional asset classes like U.S. stocks and bonds, enhancing diversification and resilience. They can mitigate inflation risk, stabilize returns, and capture cyclical opportunities that are often uncorrelated with technology or consumer sectors.

Within a diversified portfolio, HAP can serve as a core real assets component, complementing equities and fixed income while providing exposure to both traditional and renewable resource growth. Its global composition allows investors to access a blend of developed and emerging market producers, thereby reducing country-specific concentration risk.

What Are the Key Risks of Investing in HAP?

While natural resources can enhance portfolio balance, they come with distinct risks:

• Geopolitical risk: Conflicts, sanctions, or political instability in commodity-producing regions may disrupt supply and affect prices.
• Regulatory and repatriation risk: Governments may impose capital controls or nationalize assets.
• Commodity price volatility: Shifts in global supply and demand, weather patterns, or energy policy can influence resource company performance.
• Trade policy risk: Tariffs or export restrictions can distort global commodity flows.

HAP should be viewed as a strategic, long-term allocation—balancing potential volatility with its ability to hedge inflation and capture secular growth trends.

How Can Investors Buy VanEck ETFs?

Learn more here.

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