Front-end Load Waivers Available at Merrill | ||
| Shares of mutual funds available for purchase by employer-sponsored retirement, deferred compensation, and employee benefit plans (including health savings accounts) and trusts used to fund those plans provided the shares are not held in a commission-based brokerage account and shares are held for the benefit of the plan. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans | ||
| Shares purchased through a Merrill investment advisory program | ||
| Brokerage class shares exchanged from advisory class shares due to the holdings moving from a Merrill investment advisory program to a Merrill brokerage account | ||
| Shares purchased through the Merrill Edge Self-Directed platform | ||
| Shares purchased through the systematic reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same mutual fund in the same account | ||
| Shares exchanged from level-load shares to front-end load shares of the same mutual fund in accordance with the description in the Merrill SLWD Supplement | ||
| Shares purchased by eligible employees of Merrill or its affiliates and their family members who purchase shares in accounts within the employee’s Merrill Household (as defined in the Merrill SLWD Supplement) | ||
| Shares purchased by eligible persons associated with the fund as defined in this prospectus (e.g. the fund’s officers or trustees) | ||
| Shares purchased from the proceeds of a mutual fund redemption in front-end load shares provided (1) the repurchase is in a mutual fund within the same fund family; (2) the repurchase occurs within 90 calendar days from the redemption trade date, and (3) the redemption and purchase occur in the same account (known as Rights of Reinstatement). Automated transactions (i.e. systematic purchases and withdrawals) and purchases made after shares are automatically sold to pay Merrill’s account maintenance fees are not eligible for Rights of Reinstatement | ||
Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (“CDSC”) Waivers on Front-end, Back-end, and Level Load Shares Available at Merrill | ||
| Shares sold due to the client’s death or disability (as defined by Internal Revenue Code Section 22(e)(3)) | ||
| Shares sold pursuant to a systematic withdrawal program subject to Merrill’s maximum systematic withdrawal limits as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement | ||
| Shares sold due to return of excess contributions from an IRA account | ||
| Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the investor reaching the qualified age based on applicable IRS regulation | ||
| Front-end or level-load shares held in commission-based, non-taxable retirement brokerage accounts (e.g. traditional, Roth, rollover, SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans) that are transferred to fee-based accounts or platforms and exchanged for a lower cost share class of the same mutual fund | ||
Front-end Load Discounts Available at Merrill: Breakpoints, Rights of Accumulation & Letters of Intent | ||
| Breakpoint discounts, as described in this prospectus, where the sales load is at or below the maximum sales load that Merrill permits to be assessed to a front-end load purchase, as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement | ||
| Rights of Accumulation (ROA), as described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement, which entitle clients to breakpoint discounts based on the aggregated holdings of mutual fund family assets held in accounts in their Merrill Household On or about May 1, 2026, assets not held at Merrill will no longer be included in the ROA calculation. For more detail on the timing and calculation, please refer to the Merrill SLWD Supplement. | ||
| Letters of Intent (LOI), which allow for breakpoint discounts on eligible new purchases based on anticipated future eligible purchases within a fund family at Merrill, in accounts within your Merrill Household, as further described in the Merrill SLWD Supplement On or about May 1, 2026, Merrill will no longer accept new LOIs. For more detail on the timing, please refer to the Merrill SLWD Supplement. | ||
| Front-End Sales Charge Waivers on Class A shares Available at Baird | |||||
| Shares purchased through reinvestment of capital gains distributions and dividend reinvestment when purchasing shares of the same fund | |||||
| Shares purchased by employees and registered representatives of Baird or its affiliates and their family members as designated by Baird | |||||
| Shares purchased within 90 days following a redemption from a VanEck Fund, provided (1) the redemption and purchase occur within the purchaser’s Baird household and (2) the redeemed shares were subject to a front-end or deferred sales charge (known as rights of reinstatement) | |||||
| A shareholder in the Fund’s Investor C Shares will have their share converted at net asset value to Investor A shares of the same fund if the shares are no longer subject to CDSC and the conversion is in line with the policies and procedures of Baird | |||||
| Employer-sponsored retirement plans or charitable accounts in a transactional brokerage account at Baird, including 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, Simple IRAs or SAR-SEPs | |||||
| CDSC Waivers on Investor A and C shares Available at Baird | |||||
| Shares sold due to death or disability of the shareholder | |||||
| Shares sold as part of a systematic withdrawal plan as described in the Fund’s Prospectus | |||||
| Shares bought due to returns of excess contributions from an IRA Account | |||||
| Shares sold as part of a required minimum distribution for IRA and retirement accounts due to the shareholder reaching the qualified age based on applicable Internal Revenue Service regulations as described in the Fund’s prospectus | |||||
| Shares sold to pay Baird fees but only if the transaction is initiated by Baird | |||||
| Shares acquired through a right of reinstatement | |||||
| Front-End Sales Charge Discounts Available at Baird: Breakpoints and/or Rights of Accumulations | |||||
| Breakpoints as described in this prospectus | |||||
| Rights of accumulations which entitles shareholders to breakpoint discounts will be automatically calculated based on the aggregated holding of VanEck assets held by accounts within the purchaser’s household at Baird. Eligible VanEck assets not held at Baird may be included in the rights of accumulations calculation only if the shareholder notifies his or her financial advisor about such assets | |||||
| Letters of Intent (LOI) allow for breakpoint discounts based on anticipated purchases of VanEck through Baird, over a 13-month period of time | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors Class A share front-end sales charge waivers information | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors clients purchasing or converting to Class A shares of the fund in a Wells Fargo Advisors brokerage account are entitled to a waiver of the front-end load in the following circumstances: | |||||
•Wells Fargo Advisors employee and employee-related accounts according to Wells Fargo Advisor’s employee account linking rules. Legacy accounts and positions receiving affiliate discounts prior to the effective date will continue to receive discounts. Going forward employees of affiliate businesses will not be offered NAV. | |||||
•Shares purchased through reinvestment of dividends and capital gains distributions when purchasing shares of the same fund. | |||||
| WellsTrade, the firm’s online self-directed brokerage account, generally offers no-load share classes but there could be instances where a Class A share is offered without a front-end sales charge. | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors Class 529-A share front-end sales charge waivers information | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors clients purchasing or converting to Class 529-A shares of the fund through Wells Fargo Advisors transactional brokerage accounts are entitled to a waiver of the front-end load in the following circumstances: | |||||
•Shares purchased through a rollover from another 529 plan. | |||||
•Recontribution(s) of distributed funds are only allowed during the NAV reinstatement period as dictated by the sponsor’s specifications outlined by the plan. | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors is not able to apply the NAV Reinstatement privilege for 529 Plan account purchases placed directly at the fund company. Investors wishing to utilize this privilege outside of Wells Fargo systems will need to do so directly with the Plan or a financial intermediary that supports this feature. | |||||
| Unless specifically described above, other front-end load waivers are not available on mutual fund purchases through Wells Fargo Advisors. | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors Contingent Deferred Sales Charge information | |||||
•Contingent deferred sales charges (CDSC) imposed on fund redemptions will not be rebated based on future purchases. | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors Class A front-end load discounts | |||||
| Wells Fargo Advisors Clients purchasing Class A shares of the fund through Wells Fargo Advisors brokerage accounts will follow the following aggregation rules for breakpoint discounts: | |||||
•Effective April 1, 2026, SEP or SIMPLE IRAs will not be aggregated as a group plan. They will aggregate with the client’s personal accounts based on Social Security Number. Previously established SEP and SIMPLE IRAs may still be aggregated as a group plan. | |||||
•Effective April 1, 2026, Employer-sponsored retirement plan (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit sharing and money purchase pension plans and defined benefit plans) accounts will aggregate with other plan accounts under the same Tax ID and will not be aggregated with other retirement plan accounts under a different Tax ID or personal accounts. For purposes of this provision, employer-sponsored retirement plans do not include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, SAR-SEPs or Keogh plans. | |||||
•Gift of shares will not be considered when determining breakpoint discounts | |||||