497K 1 d497k.htm VIRTUS MARKET NEUTRAL FUND Virtus Market Neutral Fund

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Summary Prospectus January 31, 2011

Virtus Market Neutral Fund

 

A: EMNAX

  

B: EMNBX

  

C: EMNCX

  

I: VIMNX

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, statement of additional information (SAI), annual report and other information about the fund online at http://www.virtus.com/individuals/forms/prospectuses.aspx?type=individual.

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 31, 2011, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

 

 

 

Investment Objective

The fund has an investment objective to seek long-term capital appreciation while maintaining minimal portfolio exposure to general equity market risk.

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 if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Virtus Mutual Funds. More information about these and other discounts, as well as eligibility requirements for each share class, is available from your financial advisor and under “Sales Charges” on page 126 of the fund’s prospectus and “Alternative Purchase Arrangements” on page 52 of the fund’s statement of additional information.

 

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)    Class A      Class B      Class C      Class I  
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)      5.75%         None         None         None   
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds)      None         5.00% (a)       1.25% (a)       None   

 

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the
value of your investment)
  Class A     Class B     Class C     Class I  
Management Fees             1.50%                1.50%                1.50%                1.50%   
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) Fees             0.25%                1.00%                1.00%                None   
Other Expenses:                                                                

Dividends on Short Sales and Interest Expense

    2.02%                2.02%                2.02%                2.02%           

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses(b)

    0.01%                0.01%                0.01%                0.01%           

Remainder of Other Expenses

    0.40%                0.40%                0.40%                0.40%           
Total Other Expenses             2.43%                2.43%                2.43%                2.43%   
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses             4.18%                4.93%                4.93%                3.93%   

 

  (a) The maximum deferred sales charge is imposed on Class B Shares redeemed during the first year; thereafter, it decreases 1% annually to 3% during the third and fourth years and to 0% after the sixth year. 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 expense 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.

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. It shows your costs if you sold your shares at the end of the period or continued to hold them. In the case of Class B Shares, it assumes that your shares are converted to Class A Shares after seven years. 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:

 

      Share Status    1 Year      3 Years      5 Years      10 Years  
Class A    Sold or Held      $971         $1,771         $2,586         $4,680   
Class B    Sold      $893         $1,681         $2,469         $4,803   
     Held      $493         $1,481         $2,469         $4,803   
Class C    Sold      $618         $1,481         $2,469         $4,947   
     Held      $493         $1,481         $2,469         $4,947   
Class I    Sold or Held      $395         $1,198         $2,018         $4,147   


 

 

 

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 155% of the average value of its portfolio.

Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies

The fund utilizes a unique market neutral style seeking to provide attractive performance in both up and down markets. The fund invests in what the subadviser believes to be undervalued companies with strong and improving business prospects while shorting companies the subadviser believes to have deteriorating business momentum and excessive valuations. The use of uncorrelated equity strategies across investing styles, market caps and industries may provide investors with more attractive risk adjusted returns, as compared with traditional equity investing.

The fund attempts to maintain minimal exposure to general market risk by always having both long and short positions in stocks. The fund uses a blended strategy, investing in both growth and value stocks of U.S. and foreign issuers of any capitalization, including those in emerging markets. In addition to purchasing or selling short individual securities, the fund may purchase or sell short any type of future or option related to such securities. The fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Principal Risks

The fund may not achieve its objectives, 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 adviser expects. As a result, the value of your shares may decrease. The principal risks of investing in the fund are:

 

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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.

 

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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 smaller companies may be more volatile than investments in larger companies.

 

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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.

 

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Foreign Investing Risk. The risk that the prices of foreign securities may be more volatile than those of their domestic counterparts.

 

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Futures and Options 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, futures or options.

 

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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 companies and/or general economic conditions. Price changes may be temporary or may last for extended periods.

 

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Short Sales Risk. The risk that a fund may 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.

For a more detailed description of the above risks, see “More Information About Risks Related to Principal Investment Strategies” in the prospectus.

 

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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 more narrowly-based benchmark. 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.

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Best Quarter:    Q3/2002:    8.66%    Worst Quarter:     Q4/2002:    -12.08%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/10; includes returns of a predecessor fund)

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

 

      1 Year      5 Years      10 Years     

Class I

(since  10/1/09)

 
Class A                                    

Return Before Taxes

     -6.21%         -2.35%         0.41%           

Return After Taxes on Distributions

     -6.60%         -2.58%         0.24%           

Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares

     -3.52%         -2.03%         0.30%           
Class B                                    

Return Before Taxes

     -5.04%         -2.13%         0.26%           
Class C                                    

Return Before Taxes

     -1.21%         -1.93%         0.27%           
Class I                                    

Return Before Taxes

     -0.21%                         0.59%   
S&P 500® Index      15.06%         2.29%         1.42%         19.74%   
Citigroup 90-Day Treasury Bill Index      0.13%         2.30%         2.26%         0.13%   

Management

The fund’s investment adviser is Virtus Investment Advisers, Inc.

The fund’s subadviser is The Boston Company Asset Management LLC (“TBCAM”).

Portfolio Management

 

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Robert J. Eastman, CFA, Director and Portfolio Manager at TBCAM, is a manager of the fund. Mr. Eastman has been Portfolio Manager since 2008.

 

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Sean P. Fitzgibbon, CFA, Senior Managing Director and Lead Portfolio Manager at TBCAM, is a manager of the fund. Mr. Fitzgibbon has been Portfolio Manager since 2008.

 

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Jeffrey D. McGrew, CFA, Managing Director and a Portfolio Manager at TBCAM, is a manager of the fund. Mr. McGrew has been Portfolio Manager since 2008.

 

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c/o State Street Bank and Trust Company

P.O. Box 8301

Boston, MA 02266-8301

 

 

 

8413    1-11

 

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

 

Purchase Minimums (except Class I Shares)      
Minimum Initial Purchase    $2,500

Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), systematic purchase or systematic exchange accounts

   $100

Defined contribution plans, asset-based fee programs, profit-sharing plans or employee benefit plans

   No minimum
Minimum Additional Purchase    $100

Defined contribution plans, asset-based fee programs, profit-sharing plans or employee benefit plans

   No minimum

For Class I Shares, the minimum initial purchase is $100,000; there is no minimum for additional purchases.

In general, you can 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 advisor.

NOTE: Class B Shares are no longer available for purchase, except through reinvestment of dividends/capital gain distributions by existing shareholders and exchange of Class B shares of a fund for Class B shares of other Virtus Mutual Funds, as permitted by the existing exchange privileges (as set forth in the fund’s prospectus).

Taxes

The fund’s distributions are taxable to you either as 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 advisor to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.