Virtus Rampart Alternatives Diversifier Fund

Virtus Rampart Alternatives Diversifier Fund

Investment Objective

The fund has an investment objective of long-term capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses

The tables below illustrate all fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. 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 advisor or other financial intermediary; (ii) under “Sales Charges” on page 176 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 114 of the fund’s statement of additional information.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - Virtus Rampart Alternatives Diversifier Fund	Class A	Class C		Class I
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%	none		none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds)	none	1.00%	[1]	none

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

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - Virtus Rampart Alternatives Diversifier Fund		Class A	Class C	Class I
Management Fees		none	none	none
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) fees		0.25%	1.00%	none
Other Expenses		0.46%	0.46%	0.45%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses		0.79%	0.79%	0.79%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	[1]	1.50%	2.25%	1.24%

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. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - Virtus Rampart Alternatives Diversifier Fund - USD ($)	Share Status	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	Sold	719	1,022	1,346	2,263
Class C	Sold	328	703	1,205	2,585
Class I	Sold	126	393	681	1,500

Expense Example, No Redemption - Virtus Rampart Alternatives Diversifier Fund - USD ($)	Share Status	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	Held	719	1,022	1,346	2,263
Class C	Held	228	703	1,205	2,585
Class I	Held	126	393	681	1,500

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 17% of the average value of its portfolio.

Investments, Risks and Performance Principal Investment Strategies

The fund seeks to achieve its objective by investing its assets in a mix of underlying affiliated and unaffiliated mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) (collectively, “underlying funds”). The fund emphasizes low correlating asset classes in order to help reduce volatility and increase return potential. Applying an innovative, institutional-level approach to investing, the fund invests in a diversified portfolio of alternative asset classes including managed futures, global real estate, global infrastructure, natural resources, commodities, currencies, and floating rate securities. Among the underlying funds in which the fund invests are equity funds that invest principally in equity securities of issuers of any capitalization, including those of foreign issuers, which includes emerging markets issuers. Under normal circumstances, the fund will generally invest in affiliated mutual funds where available to represent the desired asset classes, and unaffiliated mutual funds and/or ETFs to represent the desired asset classes for which affiliated mutual funds are unavailable or deemed not to be appropriate for the fund. The fund is non-diversified under federal securities laws.

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. In addition, you will also be subject to the risks associated with the principal investment strategies of any mutual funds and ETFs in which the fund invests. 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:

>      Affiliated Fund Risk.  The risk that the adviser's authority to select and substitute underlying funds from a variety of affiliated and unaffiliated 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.

>      Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Risk.  The risk that the value of an ETF will be more volatile than the underlying portfolio of securities the ETF is designed to track, or that the costs to the fund of owning shares of the ETF will exceed those the fund would incur by investing in such securities directly.

>      Fund of Funds Risk.  The risk that the fund's performance will be adversely affected by the assets owned by the other mutual funds 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.

>      Non-Diversification Risk.  The risk that the fund will be more susceptible to factors negatively impacting the securities in its portfolio to the extent that the fund invests more of its assets in the securities of fewer issuers than would a diversified fund.

>      Redemption Risk.  The risk that redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the fund has an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the fund by causing the fund to take actions it would not otherwise take at a given time.

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

>      Commodity and Commodity-linked Instruments Risk.  The risk that investments in commodities or commodity-linked notes will subject the fund's portfolio to greater volatility than investments in traditional securities, or that commodity-linked instruments will experience returns different from the commodities they attempt to track.

>      Credit Risk.   The risk that the issuer of a security will fail to pay interest or principal in a timely manner, or that negative perceptions of the issuer's ability to make such payments will cause the price of the security to decline.

>      Derivatives Risk.  The risk that the fund will incur a loss greater than the fund's investment in, or will experience greater share price volatility as a result of investing in, a derivative contract. 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 to attempt to increase yield.

>      Emerging Market Investing Risk.  The risk that prices of emerging markets securities will be more volatile, or will be more greatly affected by negative conditions, than those of their counterparts in more established foreign markets.

>      Equity Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Securities Risk.  The risk that, in addition to the risks associated with investing in the real estate industry, the value of the fund's shares will be negatively affected by factors specific to investing through a pooled vehicle, such as through poor management of the REIT or REIT-like entity, concentration risk, or other risks typically associated with investing in small or medium market capitalization companies.

>      Equity Securities Risk.  The risk that events negatively affecting issuers, industries or financial markets in which the fund invests will impact the value of the stocks held by the fund and, thus, the value of the fund's shares over short or extended periods. Investments in a particular style or in small or medium-sized companies may enhance that risk.

>      Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Risk.  The risk that the value of an ETF will be more volatile than the underlying portfolio of securities the ETF is designed to track, or that the costs to the fund of owning shares of the ETF will exceed those the fund would incur by investing in such securities directly.

>      Foreign Investing Risk.  The risk that the prices of foreign securities in the fund's portfolio will be more volatile than those of domestic securities, or will be negatively affected by currency fluctuations, less regulated or liquid securities markets, or economic, political or other developments.

>      High-Yield/High-Risk Fixed Income Securities (Junk Bonds) Risk.  The risk that the issuers of high-yield/​high-risk securities in the fund's portfolio will default, that the prices of such securities will be volatile, and that the securities will not be liquid.

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

>      Industry/Sector Concentration Risk.  The risk that events negatively affecting an industry or market sector in which a fund focuses its investments will cause the value of the fund's shares to decrease, perhaps significantly. To the extent that the fund invests a significant portion of its portfolio in one or more industries (such as communications, consumer cyclicals and consumer non-cyclicals) or sectors, the fund is more vulnerable to conditions that negatively affect such industries or sectors as compared to a fund that is not significantly invested in such industries or sector.

>      Infrastructure-Related Investment Risk.  The risk that the value of the fund's shares will decrease as a result of conditions, such as general or local economic conditions and political developments, changes in regulations, environmental problems, casualty losses, and changes in interest rates, negatively affecting the infrastructure companies in which the fund invests.

>      Interest Rate Risk.  The risk that when interest rates rise, the values of the fund's debt securities, especially those with longer maturities, will fall.

>      Leverage Risk.  The risk that leverage created from borrowing or certain types of transactions or instruments, including derivatives, may impair the fund's liquidity, cause it to liquidate positions at an unfavorable time, increase its volatility or otherwise cause it not to achieve its intended result.

>      Liquidity Risk.  The risk that certain securities may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and price beneficial to the fund.

>      Market Volatility Risk.  The risk that the value of the securities in which the fund invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual issuers and/or general economic conditions. Such price changes may be temporary or may last for extended periods.

>      Master Limited Partnership (MLP) Risk.  The risk that the fund's investments in MLP units will be negatively impacted by tax law changes, changes in interest rates, the failure of the MLP's parent or sponsor to make payments as expected, regulatory developments or other factors affecting the MLP's underlying assets, which are typically in the natural resources and energy sectors.

>      Preferred Stock Risk.  The risk that a preferred stock will decline in price, fail to pay dividends when expected, or be illiquid.

>      Short Sales Risk.  The risk that the fund will experience a loss if the price of a borrowed security increases between the date of a short sale and the date on which the fund replaces the security.

>      Unrated Fixed Income Securities Risk.  The risk that the subadviser will be unable to accurately assess the quality of an unrated fixed income security, so that the fund invests in a security with greater risk than intended, or that the liquidity of unrated fixed income securities in which the fund invests will be hindered, making it difficult for the fund to sell them.

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 and a composite benchmark that reflects the market sectors in which the fund invests. Updated performance information is available at virtus.com or by calling 800-243-1574.

Calendar year total returns for Class A Shares (includes returns of a predecessor fund)

Returns do not reflect sales charges and would be lower if they did.

Annual Return (%)

Best Quarter: Q2/2009: 12.30% Worst Quarter: Q3/2011: -11.68%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/18; includes returns of a predecessor fund)

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

Average Annual Total Returns - Virtus Rampart Alternatives Diversifier Fund	Label	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Class A	Return Before Taxes	(14.56%)	(1.29%)	3.05%
Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions	Return After Taxes on Distributions	(15.19%)	(1.71%)	2.67%
Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	(8.43%)	(1.01%)	2.38%
Class C	Return Before Taxes	(10.07%)	(0.87%)	2.89%
Class I	Return Before Taxes	(9.16%)	0.12%		2.87%	Oct. 01, 2009
Class I | S&P 500® Index	S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)				12.41%	Oct. 01, 2009
Class I | Alternatives Diversifier Composite Benchmark	Alternatives Diversifier Composite Benchmark (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)				2.76%	Oct. 01, 2009
S&P 500® Index	S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	(4.38%)	8.49%	13.12%
Alternatives Diversifier Composite Benchmark	Alternatives Diversifier Composite Benchmark (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	(5.96%)	(0.35%)	4.09%

The S&P 500® Index is a free-float market capitalization-weighted index of 500 of the largest U.S. companies. The S&P 500® Index is calculated on a total return basis with dividends reinvested.The Alternatives Diversifier Composite Benchmark consists of Diversified Trends Index (15%) (prior to 3/1/12, the HFRX Equity Market Neutral Index was used (20%)), FTSE EPRA NAREIT Developed Rental Index-net (20%), (prior to 6/1/15, the UBS Global Investors Index was used (20%), MSCI World Infrastructure Sector Capped Index (15%)(prior to 9/1/08, a mix of MSCI US Utilities Index was used (65%), MSCI World Telecom Services Index (20%) and MSCI World ex US Utilities Index (15%) was used), S&P North American Natural Resources Sector Index (10%), Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index (15%), Deutsche Bank G10 Currency Harvest Index (15%)(prior to 3/1/12, the Deutsche Bank G10 Currency Harvest Index (10%) was used) and Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index (10%). The indexes are 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 A 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.

[1] The deferred sales charge is imposed on Class C Shares redeemed during the first year only.

[1] 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.