VanEck launches three active ETFs seeking CPI-plus returns

Binaya Dahal

Journalist

30 April 2026

VanEck has launched three actively managed exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), with the products seeking to generate real returns above inflation by outperforming CPI by 3% to 5% a year.

The new “Core+” suite that began trading on Thursday as VBAL, VGRO and VHGR, draws on institutional asset allocation frameworks and invests across Australian and international equities, fixed income, listed infrastructure, property and gold.

According to the firm, VBAL seeks annual return of inflation plus 3%, VGRO targets CPI plus 4%, and the return benchmark for VHGR is CPI plus 5%.

VanEck Asia Pacific chief executive and managing director Arian Neiron said the firm’s goal is not to predict markets with precision but to prepare portfolios to perform across a range of outcomes and to help customers stay invested through cycles that test conviction.

“Markets are not static systems. They evolve driven by cycles in growth, liquidity, policy and behaviour,” he said.

“Portfolios that endure are not those built on a single philosophy, but those constructed with an appreciation for how different investment approaches perform across regimes.”

VanEck says the strategic asset allocation underpinning each fund will be reviewed quarterly, with individual fixed income sleeves targeting government, fixed rate and floating rate debt separately rather than through a composite bond index.

Neiron further said the range moves beyond passive index exposure by blending market capitalisation, smart beta and active strategies within a single fund structure.

“What we are delivering to investors is simple in concept, but powerful in execution, a fully implemented, diversified portfolio in a single trade with full transparency,” he said.

“Investors will see through to the underlying securities, the exposures, the geographies. This is institutional grade portfolio construction, and we’re making it accessible with one trade.”

One of the world’s largest issuers of ETFs, VanEck manages more than $US200 billion globally and offers more than 45 ETFs on the ASX.