VanEck has launched its Wealth Builder ETF with Bitcoin exposure alongside stocks, bonds, and real assets, charging a 0.26% net annual expense ratio.
Summary
- WBMO combines global stocks, bonds, real assets, and indirect Bitcoin exposure in one actively managed fund.
- A Cayman subsidiary holds certain investments, with a general quarter-end limit of 25% of assets.
- Fee waivers bring the fund’s annual expense ratio down from 0.33% to 0.26%.
- VanEck’s separate NODE fund held 16.8% in Bitcoin ETPs at the end of September.
VanEck announced the launch on Oct. 27, introducing WBMO as an actively managed portfolio that combines several asset classes in one holding. The fund uses digital asset exchange-traded products to obtain cryptocurrency exposure and does not invest directly in digital assets, according to the company’s announcement.
The manager reported $244.1 billion in assets under management as of Sep. 30, including mutual funds, ETFs and institutional accounts.
VanEck brings its Wealth Builder strategy into one ETF
Built from the company’s existing Wealth Builder model portfolios, WBMO makes an investment approach previously offered to financial advisers through third-party wealth management platforms available through an ETF. VanEck selects the underlying investments, manages their allocations, and rebalances the portfolio.
The launch announcement describes an open-architecture approach using both VanEck funds and third-party ETFs. Its portfolio combines global equities and fixed income with real assets, including gold, while targeting long-term investment themes such as technological change and fiscal and inflation trends.
“Our Wealth Builder strategy brings together the asset classes we believe are best positioned to perform over the next decade, with a disciplined approach to managing how they fit together,” David Schassler, portfolio manager and head of multi-asset solutions, said in the announcement.
Bitcoin exposure runs through underlying investment products
The Oct. 14 prospectus identifies NYSE Arca as WBMO’s principal U.S. listing exchange and sets long-term capital appreciation and current income as its investment objective.
Certain investments are held through a wholly owned Cayman Islands subsidiary. According to the filing, the subsidiary generally provides exposure to digital assets, commodities, and related instruments through ETPs, within federal tax limits. The fund’s investment in that subsidiary will generally be capped at 25% of total assets at each fiscal quarter-end.
The filing describes a subsidiary limit covering several investment categories, without setting a 25% Bitcoin target. Portfolio allocations depend on macroeconomic analysis, capital-market expectations and assessments of each underlying product’s strategy, liquidity, expenses and risk-adjusted returns.
WBMO does not invest directly in futures, options or swaps, although its underlying ETPs may use derivatives, the prospectus states.
The fee table lists a 0.15% management fee and estimated acquired-fund expenses of 0.18%, producing a 0.33% gross expense ratio. A 0.07% waiver brings the net ratio to 0.26%. The adviser waives management fees corresponding to fees it or affiliates receive from underlying funds.
VanEck has raised Bitcoin holdings in its separate NODE fund
VanEck’s other actively managed products have already combined conventional securities with cryptocurrency-linked investments. As previously reported by crypto.news, its May 2025 NODE launch introduced a fund targeting blockchain businesses, including miners, exchanges, data centers and fintech companies using digital asset technology.
The original NODE strategy called for 30 to 60 companies selected from a pool exceeding 130. Its launch materials described indirect cryptocurrency exposure through a Cayman subsidiary, alongside investments in publicly traded businesses.
In its September 2026 NODE commentary, published Oct. 6, VanEck reported that Bitcoin ETP exposure had risen from roughly 7% at June-end to 16.8% at September-end. Combined coin ETP exposure reached 22.1%, including Ether, Solana, Zcash and Hyperliquid. Those figures describe NODE’s portfolio, not WBMO’s allocation.
The September commentary reported a 0.70 correlation between NODE and Bitcoin, up from 0.42 in August, attributing the change to its larger coin ETP allocation. Its mining holdings had an average year-to-date correlation of 0.46 with Bitcoin, according to the manager.
The same commentary said the team preferred spot ETPs when adding coin exposure and remained underweight digital asset treasury companies, citing leverage and dilution risks associated with their financing structures.
Earlier, an Aug. 19 review of VanEck’s Bitcoin research described eight active capitulation indicators out of 12 tracked measures. All 12 had entered their capitulation zones at some point during the preceding three months. The firm’s cycle analysis placed a possible accumulation period between September and November, without identifying a specific bottom date.
U.S. Bitcoin funds have recorded uneven October flows
An Oct. 22 report on U.S. Bitcoin ETFs documented Farside Investors’ completed-session inflows of $526.7 million on Oct. 19, $23.2 million on Oct. 20 and $524.8 million on Oct. 21. Together, the three sessions brought in $1.0747 billion.
Earlier October sessions had produced withdrawals. The Oct. 22 report recorded $228.4 million leaving Bitcoin funds during Oct. 12–16, following $678.9 million of outflows during Oct. 5–9.
For Oct. 21, BlackRock’s IBIT received $235 million, and Fidelity’s FBTC attracted $212.7 million, according to the same data. Grayscale’s GBTC and Bitcoin Mini Trust recorded inflows of $32.6 million and $8.2 million, respectively.
Elsewhere in VanEck’s product lineup, an Oct. 15 report detailed the firm’s request to withdraw its proposed Lido Staked Ethereum ETF. The Oct. 14 submission said the registration had never become effective and that no shares had been issued or sold.
The proposed Ethereum product would have tracked stETH through a benchmark developed by MarketVector, a VanEck affiliate. Its prospectus described validator penalties, smart-contract failures and liquidity among the investment risks.
Originally filed on Oct. 16, 2025, the proposed fund would have held stETH, the token representing Ether deposited through Lido, while accruing applicable staking rewards. VanEck’s withdrawal request did not give a detailed reason for abandoning the offering or identify a replacement product.
