Summary Prospectus January 27, 2023 |
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Virtus Vontobel Greater European Opportunities Fund |
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A: VGEAX |
C: VGECX |
I: VGEIX |
Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus, shareholder reports, statement of additional information (“SAI”), and other information about the fund online at virtus.com/investor-center/mutual-fund-documents. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-243-1574 or by sending an e-mail to: virtus.investment.partners@virtus.com. If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary such as a bank, the prospectus and other information will also be available from your financial intermediary. The fund’s prospectus and SAI both dated January 27, 2023, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. |
Investment Objective
The fund has an investment objective of long-term capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses
The tables below illustrate the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts in Class A Shares if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Virtus Funds.More information on these and other discounts is available: (i) from your financial professional or other financial intermediary; (ii) under “Sales Charges” on page 129 of the fund’s prospectus; (iii) with respect to purchase of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to the fund’s prospectus, entitled “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers;” and (iv) under “Alternative Purchase Arrangements” on page 109 of the fund’s SAI.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
Class A |
Class C |
Class I | |
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) |
5.50% |
None |
None | |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) |
None |
1.00%(a) |
None | |
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Annual
Fund Operating Expenses (expenses
that you pay each year as |
Class A |
Class C |
Class I | |
Management Fees |
0.85% |
0.85% |
0.85% | |
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) Fees |
0.25% |
1.00% |
None | |
Other Expenses |
1.08% |
1.00% |
1.05% | |
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses |
0.03% |
0.03% |
0.03% | |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses(b) |
2.21% |
2.88% |
1.93% | |
Less: Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(c) |
(0.83)% |
(0.75)% |
(0.80)% | |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement(b)(c)(d) |
1.38% |
2.13% |
1.13% |
(a) |
The deferred sales charge is imposed on Class C Shares redeemed during the first year only. |
(b) |
The Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses do not correlate to the ratio of expenses to average net assets appearing in the Financial Highlights tables, which tables reflect only the operating expenses of the fund and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses. |
(c) |
The fund’s investment adviser has contractually agreed to limit the fund’s total operating expenses (excluding certain expenses, such as front-end or contingent deferred sales charges, taxes, leverage and borrowing expenses (such as commitment, amendment and renewal expenses on credit or redemption facilities), interest, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, unusual or infrequently occurring expenses (such as litigation), acquired fund fees and expenses, and dividend expenses, if any) so that such expenses do not exceed 1.35% for Class A Shares, 2.10% for Class C Shares and 1.10% for Class I Shares through January 31, 2024. Following the contractual period, the adviser may discontinue these expense reimbursement arrangements at any time. Under certain conditions, the adviser may recapture operating expenses reimbursed and/or fees waived under these arrangements for a period of three years following the date such waiver or reimbursement occurred, provided that the recapture does not cause the fund to exceed its expense limit in effect at the time of the waiver or reimbursement, and any in effect at the time of recapture, after repayment is taken into account. |
(d) |
Not included in the table are extraordinary proxy expenses. If such amounts were reflected in this table, the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reduction/Reimbursement would have been 1.39% for Class A Shares, 2.14% for Class C Shares, 1.14% for Class I Shares . |
Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods or continued to hold them. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same and that the expense reimbursement agreement remains in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
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Share Status |
1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years | ||||
Class A |
Sold or Held |
$683 |
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$1,128 |
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$1,598 |
|
$2,893 |
|
Class C |
Sold |
$316 |
|
$821 |
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$1,452 |
|
$3,151 |
|
|
Held |
$216 |
|
$821 |
|
$1,452 |
|
$3,151 |
|
Class I |
Sold or Held |
$115 |
|
$529 |
|
$968 |
|
$2,189 |
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Portfolio Turnover
The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 29% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies
This fund seeks to offer investors exposure to European market economies through well-established companies. The securities selected for inclusion in the fund are believed by the subadviser to be well-managed businesses with consistent operating histories and financial performance that have favorable long-term economic prospects and, in most cases, generate free cash flow. Over full market cycles, the investment style is designed with the objective of capturing part of the up market cycles and may offer protection in down market cycles.
Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the fund’s assets are invested in equity securities or equity-linked instruments of issuers located in Europe, including issuers in emerging markets countries. Equity-linked securities are hybrid debt securities whose return is connected to an underlying equity, usually a stock. The fund intends to diversify its investments among countries and normally to have represented in the portfolio business activities of a number of different countries. In determining the “location” of an issuer, the subadviser primarily relies on the country where the issuer is incorporated. However, the country of risk is ultimately determined based on analysis of the following criteria: actual building address (domicile), primary exchange on which the security is traded and country in which the greatest percentage of company revenue is generated. This evaluation is conducted so as to determine that the issuer’s assets are exposed to the economic fortunes and risks of the designated country.
Principal Risks
The fund may not achieve its objective(s), and it is not intended to be a complete investment program. The value of the fund’s investments that supports your share value may decrease. If between the time you purchase shares and the time you sell shares the value of the fund’s investments decreases, you will lose money. Investment values can decrease for a number of reasons. Conditions affecting the overall economy, specific industries or companies in which the fund invests can be worse than expected, and investments may fail to perform as the subadviser expects. As a result, the value of your shares may decrease. Purchase and redemption activities by fund shareholders may impact the management of the fund and its ability to achieve its investment objective(s). The principal risks of investing in the fund are identified below.
> Equity Securities Risk. The value of the stocks held by the fund may be negatively affected by the financial market, industries in which the fund invests, or issuer-specific events. Focus on a particular style or in small or medium-sized companies may enhance that risk.
> Foreign Investing Risk. Investing in foreign securities subjects the fund to additional risks such as increased volatility; currency fluctuations; less liquidity; less publicly available information about the foreign investment; and political, regulatory, economic, and market risk.
> Emerging Market Risk. Emerging markets securities may be more volatile, or more greatly affected by negative conditions, than those of their counterparts in more established foreign markets.
> Geographic Concentration Risk. A fund that focuses its investments in a particular geographic location will be sensitive to financial, economic, political and other events negatively affecting that location and may cause the value of the fund to decrease, perhaps significantly.
> Market Volatility Risk. The value of the securities in the fund may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies and/or general economic conditions. Price changes may be short- or long-term. Local, regional or global events such as war or military conflict (e.g. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issue, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the fund and its investments, including hampering the ability of the fund’s portfolio manager(s) to invest the fund’s assets as intended.
> Equity-Linked Instruments Risk. The performance of equity-linked instruments is subject to similar risks to those of the referenced equity security, in addition to the risk that the equity-linked instruments fail to replicate the performance of the referenced equity security. Equity-linked instruments also expose the fund to counterparty risk, which could result in a loss of all or part of the fund’s investment.
> Redemption Risk. One or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders may redeem their holdings in the fund, resulting in an adverse impact on remaining shareholders in the fund by causing the fund to take actions it would not otherwise have taken.
Performance Information
The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the potential risks of investing in the fund. The fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future.
The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year over a 10-year period. The table shows how the fund’s average annual returns compare to those of a broad-based securities market index. Updated performance information is available at virtus.com or by calling 800-243-1574.
2 |
Calendar year total returns for Class I Shares |
Returns do not reflect sales charges applicable to other share classes and would be lower if they did. |
Best Quarter: |
2020, Q2: |
17.35% |
Worst Quarter: |
2020, Q1: |
-18.56% |
Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/22)
Returns reflect deduction of maximum sales charges and full redemption at end of periods shown.
|
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|
|
|
1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years | |
Class I Shares |
|
|
| |
|
Return Before Taxes |
-23.90% |
1.17% |
3.74% |
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions |
-23.90% |
-1.09% |
2.18% |
|
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
-14.15% |
0.81% |
2.94% |
Class A Shares |
|
|
| |
|
Return Before Taxes |
-28.26% |
-0.22% |
2.90% |
Class C Shares |
|
|
| |
|
Return Before Taxes |
-24.68% |
0.15% |
2.71% |
MSCI Europe Index (net) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
-15.06% |
1.87% |
4.58% | |
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The MSCI Europe Index (net) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that measures equity market performance of the developed markets in Europe. The MSCI Europe Index (net) is calculated on a total-return basis with net dividends reinvested. The index is unmanaged and not available for direct investment.
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. After-tax returns are shown only for Class I Shares; after-tax returns for other classes will vary. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold fund shares in tax-deferred accounts or to shares held by non-taxable entities. In certain cases, the Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares for a period may be higher than other return figures for the same period. This will occur when a capital loss is realized upon the sale of fund shares and provides an assumed tax benefit that increases the return.
Management
The fund’s investment adviser is Virtus Investment Advisers, Inc.
The fund’s subadviser is Vontobel Asset Management, Inc. (“Vontobel”).
Portfolio Management
> Markus Hansen, Director and Portfolio Manager at Vontobel. Mr. Hansen has served as a Portfolio Manager of the Fund since August 2020.
> Daniel Kranson, CFA, Executive Director and Portfolio Manager at Vontobel. Mr. Kranson has served as Portfolio Manager of the fund since 2013.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Minimum initial investments applicable to Class A and Class C Shares:
$2,500, generally
$100 for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), systematic purchase or exchange accounts
No minimum for defined contribution plans, asset-based fee programs, profit-sharing plans or employee benefit plans.
3 |
Minimum additional investments applicable to Class A and Class C Shares:
$100, generally
No minimum for defined contribution plans, asset-based fee programs, profit-sharing plans or employee benefit plans.
For Class I Shares, the minimum initial purchase is $100,000; there is no minimum for additional purchases.
In general, you may buy or sell shares of the fund by mail or telephone on any business day. You also may buy and sell shares through a financial professional, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary.
Taxes
The fund’s distributions are taxable to you as either ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Such tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of monies from those arrangements.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial professional to recommend the fund over another investment.
Ask your financial professional or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
Virtus
Mutual Funds
8410 |
1-23 |
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