Virtus Rampart Sector Trend Fund

Virtus Rampart Sector Trend 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 Sector Trend 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 Sector Trend Fund	Class A	Class C	Class I
Management Fees	0.45%	0.45%	0.45%
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) fees	0.25%	1.00%	none
Other Expenses	0.28%	0.29%	0.29%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	0.98%	1.74%	0.74%

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 Sector Trend Fund - USD ($)	Share Status	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	Sold	669	869	1,086	1,707
Class C	Sold	277	548	944	2,052
Class I	Sold	76	237	411	918

Expense Example, No Redemption - Virtus Rampart Sector Trend Fund - USD ($)	Share Status	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	Held	669	869	1,086	1,707
Class C	Held	177	548	944	2,052
Class I	Held	76	237	411	918

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 324% of the average value of its portfolio.

Investments, Risks and Performance Principal Investment Strategies

The fund utilizes a rules based investment process and may invest in securities representing the primary sectors of the S&P 500® Index and/or cash equivalents (high-quality short-term securities). Allocations to each sector are based on quantitative models.

The fund has the flexibility to invest in any combination of the sectors and high-quality short-term securities, or 100% in high-quality short-term securities. A relative strength momentum model is utilized to rank each sector of the equity market. The fund will allocate to those sectors that the model determines are more likely to outperform the broad market and possess positive absolute momentum. When a sector does not possess positive absolute momentum, a defensive cash equivalent position may be built by allocating from those sectors of the market that are not exhibiting absolute positive momentum, up to 100% of fund assets.

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:

>      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.

>      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.

>      Portfolio Turnover Risk.  The risk that the fund's principal investment strategies will result in a consistently high portfolio turnover rate. See the "Portfolio Turnover" section above for more information about the impact that portfolio turnover can have on your investment.

>      Quantitative Model Risk. The risk that investments selected using quantitative models may perform differently from the market as a whole or from their expected performance. There can be no assurance that use of a quantitative model will enable the fund to achieve positive returns or outperform the market.

>      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.

>      Sector Focused Investing Risk. The risk that events negatively affecting a particular industry or market sector in which the 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 ETFs representing one or more of the primary sectors of the S&P 500® Index (such as consumer discretionary, energy, healthcare) or in an ETF representing U.S. Treasuries, the fund is more vulnerable to conditions that negatively affect such sectors as compared to a fund that is not significantly invested in such sectors.

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

>      U.S. Government Securities Risk. The risk that U.S. Government securities in the fund's portfolio will be subject to price fluctuations, or that an agency or instrumentality will default on an obligation not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

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.

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: 14.28% Worst Quarter: Q4/2018: -12.72%

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 Sector Trend Fund	Label	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Class A	Return Before Taxes	(11.56%)	1.17%	8.41%
Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions	Return After Taxes on Distributions	(11.77%)	(0.31%)	7.18%
Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	(6.69%)	0.73%	6.68%
Class C	Return Before Taxes	(6.91%)	1.62%	8.25%
Class I	Return Before Taxes	(6.00%)	2.63%		8.52%	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
S&P 500® Index	S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	(4.38%)	8.49%	13.12%

The S&P 500®Index is a free-float market capitalization-weighted index of 500 of the largest U.S. companies. The index is a calculated on a total return basis with 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 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.