James Colby to Speak at Bloomberg State & Muni Finance Conference

Conference to Address Key Issues of the State & Municipal Bond Market

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- James Colby, Senior Municipal Strategist and Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income Investments with Market Vectors ETFs, announced today that he will participate in the “Relative Value: Municipal Bonds & Other Fixed Income Asset Classes” panel during the Bloomberg State & Municipal Finance Conference on Wednesday, October 3 in New York City. Colby, who oversees Van Eck’s Market Vectors municipal bond ETFs, and who blogs regularly about the muni landscape on Muni Nation, will be sharing his thoughts on the outlook for municipal bonds as U.S. Treasury yields remain at all-time lows.

The full-day Conference at Lighthouse International will convene public sector policy makers, labor leaders, pension fund managers, institutional investors and issuers to debate current issues central to state and municipal finance and evaluate opportunities for investors and participants in the municipal bond market.

“Despite some high-profile predictions to the contrary, the municipal bond marketplace has continued to grow and thrive in recent years, and municipal bonds continue to be an important component of many investors’ search for yield,” said Colby. “I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to share my thoughts with the attendees at this week’s conference.”

Among other topics, speakers will discuss recent recommendations by the Securities and Exchange Commission for improving the structure of the municipal securities market; the impact of municipal bankruptcies; new opportunities for revenue through private and public partnerships; and what lies ahead in the fourth quarter. Additionally, state treasurers, local government officials and economic experts will discuss the state of the market and opportunities in places such as Delaware, Illinois, Kansas City and Virginia.

“As the political season heats up, state and municipal finance issues continue to be top-of-mind as Americans are deciding who they want as representation on the local, state and federal levels,” said Robert Bierman, head of Bloomberg LINK. “During this Conference, attendees will hear from a range of experts on the most important issues facing state and municipal governments and leave with insight into opportunities upon which they can act.”

This Conference is sponsored by National Public Finance Guarantee, DIVER by Lumesis, Trident Municipal Research and Assured Guaranty.

For more information on the program and speakers, please visit: http://www.bloomberglink.com/muni-ny. The hashtag for this event is #BBmuni.

About Market Vectors ETFs

Market Vectors exchange-traded products have been offered since 2006 and span many asset classes, including equities, fixed income (municipal and international bonds) and currency markets. The Market Vectors family currently totals $24.8 billion in assets under management, making it the fifth largest ETP family in the U.S. and eighth largest worldwide as of August 31, 2012.

Market Vectors ETFs are sponsored by Van Eck Global. Founded in 1955, Van Eck Global was among the first U.S. money managers helping investors achieve greater diversification through global investing. Today, the firm continues this tradition by offering innovative, actively managed investment choices in hard assets, emerging markets, precious metals including gold, and other alternative asset classes. Van Eck Global has offices around the world and manages approximately $33.9 billion in investor assets as of August 31, 2012.

About Bloomberg LINK

Bringing the power of Bloomberg to the executive conference business, Bloomberg LINK produces invitation-only, in-person gatherings that combine world-class editorial programming with peer-to-peer networking amongst the who’s who in influential communities. In this environment, participants engage in open discussions that lead to learning from each other’s expertise and experience. For more information, please visit www.bloomberglink.com.

There are risks involved with investing in ETFs, including possible loss of money. Shares are not actively managed and are subject to risks similar to those of stocks, including those regarding short selling and margin maintenance requirements. Ordinary brokerage commissions apply. Debt securities carry interest rate and credit risk. Interest rate risk refers to the risk that bond prices generally fall as interest rates rise and vice versa. Credit risk is the risk of loss on an investment due to the deterioration of an issuer's financial health. The Funds' underlying securities may be subject to call risk, which may result in the Funds having to reinvest the proceeds at lower interest rates, resulting in a decline in the Funds' income.

Municipal bonds are subject to risks related to litigation, legislation, political change, conditions in underlying sectors or in local business communities and economies, bankruptcy or other changes in the issuer’s financial condition, and/or the discontinuance of taxes supporting the project or assets or the inability to collect revenues for the project or from the assets. Additional risks include credit, interest rate, call, reinvestment, tax, market and lease obligation risk. High-yield municipal bonds are subject to greater risk of loss of income and principal than higher-rated securities, and are likely to be more sensitive to adverse economic changes or individual municipal developments than those of higher-rated securities. Interest and principal payments for pre-refunded bonds are funded from securities in an escrow account. The escrowed securities do not guarantee the price of these bonds. Municipal bonds may be less liquid than taxable bonds. There is no guarantee that the Funds’ income will be exempt from federal or state income taxes, and changes in those tax rates or in alternative minimum tax rates or in the tax treatment of municipal bonds may make them less attractive as investments and cause them to lose value. Capital gains, if any, are subject to capital gains tax. Some portions of the distributions from HYD and XMPT may be subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

Fund shares are not individually redeemable and will be issued and redeemed at their NAV only through certain authorized broker-dealers in large, specified blocks of shares called “creation units” and otherwise can be bought and sold only through exchange trading. Creation units are issued and redeemed principally in kind. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their NAV in the secondary market.

The “net asset value” (NAV) of an ETF is determined at the close of each business day, and represents the dollar value of one share of the ETF; it is calculated by taking the total assets of an ETF subtracting total liabilities, and dividing by the total number of shares outstanding. The NAV is not necessarily the same as an ETF's intraday trading value. Investors should not expect to buy or sell shares at NAV. Total returns are based upon closing “market price” (price) of the ETF on the dates listed.

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 contain this and other information, call 888.MKT.VCTR or visit vaneck.com/etf. Please read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Media:
MacMillan Communications
Mike MacMillan/Chris Sullivan
212-473-4442
chris@macmillancom.com

Source: Van Eck Global