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Virtus Senior Floating Rate Fund
Virtus Senior Floating Rate Fund
Investment Objective
The fund has an investment objective of high total return from both current income and 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 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 193 of the fund’s prospectus and “Alternative Purchase Arrangements” on page 57 of the fund’s statement of additional information.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees Virtus Senior Floating Rate Fund
Class A
Class C
Class I
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) 2.75% none none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) 0.50% [1] 1.00% [2] none
[1] Generally, Class A Shares are not subject to any charges by the Fund when redeemed; however, a contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed on certain redemptions within 18 months on exchanges from a Virtus non-money market fund into a Virtus money market fund and purchases on which a finder's fee has been paid. The 18-month period begins on the last day of the month preceding the month in which the purchase was made.
[2] The deferred sales charge is imposed on Class C Shares redeemed during the first year only.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses Virtus Senior Floating Rate Fund
Class A
Class C
Class I
Management Fees 0.60% 0.60% 0.60%
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) Fees 0.25% 1.00% none
Other Expenses [1] 0.38% 0.38% 0.38%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses [2] 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses [1] 1.24% 1.99% 0.99%
[1] Restated to reflect current expenses.
[2] 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. 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 Senior Floating Rate Fund (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class A
398 658 937 1,734
Class C
302 624 1,073 2,317
Class I
101 315 547 1,213
Expense Example, No Redemption Virtus Senior Floating Rate Fund (USD $)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class A
398 658 937 1,734
Class C
202 624 1,073 2,317
Class I
101 315 547 1,213
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 56% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies
The fund offers the potential for attractive total return and income by investing primarily in non-investment grade bank loans with a focus on higher quality companies within a rating tier. Using extensive credit and company analysis and monitoring, the subadviser looks for those securities with strong total return potential while maintaining an emphasis on managing risk.

Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in a portfolio of senior floating rate loans (“Senior Loans”). The fund may invest up to 15% of total assets in U.S. and non-U.S. dollar denominated foreign securities and foreign Senior Loans, including Yankee bonds. The fund may purchase derivative instruments, including, but not limited to, options, futures contracts, credit-linked notes, and swaps.

The fund may borrow an amount up to 33 1/3% of its total assets (including the amount borrowed). The fund may borrow for investment purposes, to meet repurchase requests and for temporary, extraordinary or emergency purposes.
Principal Risks
The fund may not achieve its objective, 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:
  • 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.
  • 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 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.
  • 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 the value of the fund’s shares will be more volatile or that the fund will incur a loss greater than the fund’s investment in a given security when leverage is used.
  • Liquidity Risk. The risk that certain securities may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and price beneficial to the fund.
  • Loan Participation Risk. The risk that there may not be a readily available market for loan participation interests and, in some cases, the fund may have to dispose of such securities at a substantial discount from face value. Loan participations also involve the credit risk associated with the underlying corporate borrower.
  • 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.
  • 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 the life of the fund. 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 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
Returns do not reflect sales charges and would be lower if they did.

Annual Return (%)
Bar Chart
Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/12)
Returns reflect deduction of maximum sales charges and full redemption at end of periods shown.
Average Annual Total Returns Virtus Senior Floating Rate Fund
1 Year
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class A
5.72% 5.69% Jan. 31, 2008
Class A Return After Taxes on Distributions
0.53% 2.73%  
Class A Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
0.35% 2.80%  
Class C
8.00% 5.55% Jan. 31, 2008
Class I
8.98% 6.54% Jan. 31, 2008
Barclay's Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
4.22% 5.69%  
S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
9.66% 6.48%  
The Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index measures the U.S. investment grade fixed rate bond market. The index is calculated on a total-return basis. The S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index is a daily total return index that uses LSTA/LPC Mark-to-Market Pricing to calculate market value change. On a real-time basis, the Index tracks the current outstanding balance and spread over LIBOR for fully funded term loans. The facilities included in the Index represent a broad cross section of leveraged loans syndicated in the United States, including dollar-denominated loans to overseas issuers. 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.