497K 1 c106897_497k.htm Untitled Document
    

Summary Prospectus September 28, 2023

 

Virtus Stone Harbor Strategic Income Fund

A: VSHFX

I: SHSIX

 
 

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 www.virtus.com/investor-resources/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 September 28, 2023 are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

Investment Objective

The fund has an investment objective of seeking to maximize total return, which consists of income on its investments and 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 47 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 95 of the fund’s SAI.

The Virtus Stone Harbor Strategic Income Fund, a series of Virtus Opportunities Trust, is the successor of the Stone Harbor Strategic Income Fund, formerly a series of Stone Harbor Investment Funds (“Predecessor Fund”), resulting from a reorganization of the Predecessor Fund with and into the fund on April 8, 2022.

    

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Class A

 Class I

Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)

3.75%

None

Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) 

None

None

 

 

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as
a percentage of the value of your investment)

Class A

 Class I

Management Fees

0.55%

0.55%

Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) Fees

0.25%

None

Other Expenses(a)

0.38%

0.32%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

0.46%

0.46%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses(b)

1.64%

1.33%

Less: Expense Reimbursement(c)

(0.69)%

(0.63)%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement(b)(c)(d)

0.95%

0.70%

 

  

(a)

Restated to reflect current fees and expenses.

(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)

Virtus Alternative Investment Advisers, Inc. (“VAIA”), 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 0.95% for Class A Shares and 0.70% for Class I Shares through September 30, 2024. Following the contractual period, VAIA may discontinue these expense reimbursement arrangements at any time. Under certain conditions, VAIA 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. The expense limitation agreement is terminable by mutual agreement of the Board of Trustees of Virtus Opportunities Trust and VAIA.

(d)

Not included in the table are extraordinary proxy expenses and/or excise tax expense. If such amounts were reflected in this table, the Total Annual Series Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement would have been 0.98% for Class A Shares and 0.74% 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:


          

 

Share Status

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

Class A

Sold or Held

$468

 

$808

 

$1,171

 

$2,190

 

Class I

Sold or Held

$72

 

$359

 

$668

 

$1,546

 

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 (including the Predecessor Fund’s) portfolio turnover rate was 99% of the average value of its portfolio.

Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies

The fund is intended to provide broad exposure to global credit markets. The fund, either directly or through the underlying funds (defined below), may invest in a broad variety of fixed income and other income producing securities and instruments (including derivatives), and will not be limited in terms of type of instrument, geography, credit rating or duration. The fund may invest all or a significant portion of its assets in Virtus Stone Harbor High Yield Bond Fund, Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Debt Income Fund, Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets Fund and Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Bond Debt Fund and/or one or more other affiliated funds managed substantially similarly to these funds (together, the “underlying funds”). The underlying funds listed above are described elsewhere in this Prospectus. The fund is not required to invest in the underlying funds, and from time to time may not be invested in any underlying fund. The fund will consider the holdings of the underlying funds in which it invests when determining compliance with the 80% policy. In addition to investing in the underlying funds, the fund may invest directly in fixed income securities and in other instruments and transactions. References in this Prospectus to the fund may refer to actions undertaken by the Fund or by an underlying fund.

The types of fixed income securities in which the fund may invest include, but are not limited to, government securities; corporate debt securities; mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities issued or guaranteed by various governmental and non-governmental entities; secured and unsecured senior and subordinated loans and loan participations, including mortgages; Rule 144A securities; municipal securities; debentures, notes (including structured notes and promissory notes), and derivatives related to these types of securities. At any given time, the fund may be entirely or significantly invested in a particular type of fixed income security or underlying fund.

The fund may invest in fixed income securities and derivative instruments rated below investment grade (or, if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by the subadviser). These types of securities and debt instruments are commonly referred to as “high yield” securities or “junk bonds” and may include, among other things, bonds, debentures, notes, equipment trust certificates, commercial paper, commercial loans, and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers. The fund may also invest in preferred securities.

The fund may invest all or a substantial portion of its assets in securities issued by non-U.S. entities. The fund’s investments may be issued by any U.S. or non-U.S. public- or private-sector entity. The Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in investments that are economically tied to countries with emerging securities markets or whose performance is linked to those countries’ markets, economies or ability to repay loans, such as loans issued by corporations or other business organizations. An investment is economically tied to an emerging market country if it is principally traded on the country’s securities markets or if the issuer is organized or principally operates in the country, derives a majority of its income from its operations within the country or has a majority of its assets within the country. All or a significant portion of the fund’s investments may be denominated in non-U.S. currencies. The fund considers “emerging market countries” to include countries identified by the World Bank Group as being “low income economies” or which are included in a JPMorgan emerging market bond index.

The fund may invest in derivatives and other instruments for hedging purposes or to otherwise gain or reduce long or short exposure to securities, markets or currencies. Although the fund and the underlying funds are not limited in the types of derivatives that may be used, the fund currently expects that its derivatives investments will consist primarily of the following instruments and transactions: futures, options, swaps, including credit default swaps, and credit linked notes. The fund may use derivatives to a significant extent.

Credit Quality. The fund may invest in securities of any credit rating (including unrated securities) and may invest without limit in higher risk, below-investment grade debt securities. Such securities may include those that are in default with respect to the payment of principal or interest.

Maturity and Duration. The subdviser normally maintains an average portfolio duration of between 2 and 7 years. However, the fund’s average duration may be outside this range, and the fund may invest in securities of any duration and maturity.

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.

> Affiliated Fund Risk: The risk that the subadviser’s authority to select and substitute underlying funds from a variety of affiliated mutual funds may create a conflict of interest.

> Allocation Risk: The risk that the fund’s exposure to equities and fixed income securities, or to different asset classes, may vary from the intended allocation or may not be optimal for market conditions at a given time.

  
 

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> Fund of Funds Risk: The risk that the fund’s performance will be adversely affected by the assets owned by the other mutual funds and ETFs in which it invests, and that the layering of expenses associated with the fund’s investment in such other funds will cost shareholders more than direct investments would have cost.

The principal risks attributable to the underlying funds in which the fund invests are:

> 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.

> 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.

> Credit Risk: If the issuer of a debt instrument fails to pay interest or principal in a timely manner, or negative perceptions exist in the market of the issuer’s ability to make such payments, the price of the security may decline.

> Interest Rate Risk: The values of debt instruments may rise or fall in response to changes in interest rates, and this risk may be enhanced for securities with longer maturities.

> Counterparty Risk: There is risk that a party upon whom the fund relies to complete a transaction will default.

> Currency Rate Risk: Fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may negatively affect the value of the fund’s shares.

> Derivatives Risk: Derivatives and other similar instruments (collectively referred to in this section as “derivatives”) may include, among other things, futures, options, forwards and swap agreements and may be used in order to hedge portfolio risks, create leverage or attempt to increase returns. Investments in derivatives may result in increased volatility and the fund may incur a loss greater than its principal investment.

> High-Yield/High-Risk Fixed Income Securities (Junk Bonds) Risk: There is a greater risk of issuer default, less liquidity, and increased price volatility related to high-yield/high-risk securities than investment grade securities.

> Liquidity Risk: Certain instruments may be difficult or impossible to sell at a time and price beneficial to the fund.

> Income Risk: Income received from the fund may vary widely over the short- and long-term and/or be less than anticipated if the proceeds from maturing securities in the fund are reinvested in lower-yielding securities.

> U.S. and Non-U.S. Government Securities Risk: U.S. Government securities may be subject to price fluctuations. An agency may default on an obligation not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Any guarantee on U.S. government securities does not apply to the value of the fund’s shares. The governmental entity that controls the repayment of non-U.S. government debt may not be willing or able to repay the principal and/or to pay the interest when it becomes due.

> Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Changes in interest rates may cause both extension and prepayment risks for mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. These securities are also subject to risks associated with the non-repayment of underlying collateral, including losses to the fund.

> 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.

> Bank Loan Risk: In addition to the risks typically associated with high-yield/high-risk fixed income securities, bank loans may be unsecured or not fully collateralized, may be subject to restrictions on resale, may be less liquid and may trade infrequently on the secondary market. Bank loans settle on a delayed basis; thus, sale proceeds may not be available to meet redemptions for a substantial period of time after the sale of the loan.

> Prepayment/Call Risk: Issuers may prepay or call their fixed rate obligations when interest rates fall, forcing the fund to reinvest in obligations with lower interest rates and the fund may not benefit fully from the increase in value that other fixed income investments experience when interest rates decline.

> 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.

> RIC Compliance Risk: If the fund fails to qualify as a “regulated investment company” under the Internal Revenue Code, the fund’s expenses could increase, reducing its investment performance.

> Short-Term Investments Risk: The fund’s short-term investments may not provide the liquidity or protection intended or may prevent the fund from experiencing positive movements in the fund’s principal investment strategies.

Performance Information

The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the 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 and Predecessor Fund’s performance from year to year since its inception. The table shows how the fund’s and Predecessor 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.

  
 

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Class A Shares have not had a full calendar year of operations; therefore, performance information is not shown here. Updated performance information is available at virtus.com or by calling 800-243-1574.

 

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.

PerformanceBarChartData(2014:4.22,2015:-2.11,2016:8.88,2017:5.34,2018:-2.88,2019:9.45,2020:3.86,2021:0.83,2022:-9.34)

        

Best Quarter:

2020, Q2:

9.60%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1:

-11.83%

Year to Date (6/30/2023):

4.16%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended December 31, 2022; includes returns of a predecessor fund)

Returns reflect deduction of maximum sales charges and full redemption at end of periods shown.

     

 

 

 

 

Since

 

 

 

 

Inception

 

1 Year

5 Years

(12/18/2013)

Class I Shares

 

 

 

 

Return Before Taxes

-9.34%

0.18%

1.85%

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions

-11.52%

-1.43%

0.13%

 

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

-5.52%

-0.50%

0.69%

Bloomberg Global Credit Index (Hedged USD) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

-13.75%

0.53%

2.42%

 

 

 

 

 

The Bloomberg Global Credit Hedged USD Index is a subset of the Global Aggregate Index and is subject to the same quality, liquidity and maturity requirements and exclusion rules of the latter. Constituents must be rated investment grade by at least two of the three major ratings agencies. Constituents must have a remaining maturity of at least one year. The index does not include convertibles, floating rate notes, fixed rate perpetuals, warrants, linked bonds and structured products. The index is calculated on a total-return basis with dividends reinvested, and it 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 Alternative Investment Advisers, Inc. (“VAIA”).

The fund’s subadviser is Stone Harbor Investment Partners (“Stone Harbor”), an operating division of Virtus Fixed Income Advisers, LLC (“VFIA”), an affiliate of VAIA.

Portfolio Management

> Peter J. Wilby, CFA, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Stone Harbor. Mr. Wilby has served as a Portfolio Manager of the fund or the Predecessor Fund and a member of the fund’s management team since 2013.

> James E. Craige, CFA, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Stone Harbor. Mr. Craige has served as a Portfolio Manager of the fund or the Predecessor Fund and a member of the fund’s management team since 2013.

> David Torchia, Portfolio Manager of Stone Harbor. Mr. Torchia has served as a Portfolio Manager of the fund or the Predecessor Fund and a member of the fund’s management team since 2013.

> Roger Lavan, CFA, Portfolio Manager of Stone Harbor. Mr. Lavan has served as a Portfolio Manager of the fund or the Predecessor Fund and a member of the fund’s management team since 2013.

  
 

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> David Scott, Portfolio Manager of Stone Harbor. Mr. Scott has served as a Portfolio Manager of the fund or the Predecessor Fund and a member of the fund’s management team since 2013.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Minimum initial investments applicable to Class A 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.

Minimum additional investments applicable to Class A 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.

  
 

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Virtus Mutual Funds
P.O. Box 534470

Pittsburgh, PA 15253-4470

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
  

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