VIRTUS REAL ESTATE SECURITIES FUND

Virtus Real Estate Securities Fund

Investment Objective

The fund has investment objectives of capital appreciation and income with approximately equal emphasis.

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 is available from your financial advisor and under “Sales Charges” on page 215 of the fund’s prospectus and “Alternative Purchase Arrangements” on page 103 of the fund’s statement of additional information.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees VIRTUS REAL ESTATE SECURITIES FUND	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)	1.00%	[1]	5.00%	[2]	1.00%	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 REAL ESTATE SECURITIES FUND	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class I
Management Fees	0.74%	0.74%	0.74%	0.74%
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) fees	0.25%	1.00%	1.00%	none
Other Expenses	0.41%	0.41%	0.41%	0.41%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.40%	2.15%	2.15%	1.15%

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. In the case of Class B Shares, it assumes that your shares are converted to Class A Shares after eight years. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example VIRTUS REAL ESTATE SECURITIES FUND (USD $)	Share Status	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	Sold or Held	709	993	1,297	2,158
Class B	Sold	618	873	1,154	2,292
Class C	Sold	318	673	1,154	2,483
Class I	Sold or Held	117	365	633	1,398

Expense Example, No Redemption VIRTUS REAL ESTATE SECURITIES FUND (USD $)	Share Status	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	Sold or Held	709	993	1,297	2,158
Class B	Held	218	673	1,154	2,292
Class C	Held	218	673	1,154	2,483
Class I	Sold or Held	117	365	633	1,398

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 30% of the average value of its portfolio.

Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies

The fund offers exposure to the equity real estate investment trust (“REIT”) market utilizing a Growth at a Reasonable Price style with macroeconomic and fundamental security analysis designed to identify the most attractive investment candidates. The subadviser believes the value of a REIT extends beyond the value of the underlying real estate and that through fundamental research, it can uncover and exploit inefficiencies in the market.

Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in publicly-traded REITs and companies that are principally engaged in the real estate industry. The fund concentrates its assets in the real estate industry.

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 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 redemption by one or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders of their holdings in the fund could have an adverse impact on the remaining shareholders in the fund including by accelerating the realization of capital gains and increasing the fund's transaction costs. The principal risks of investing in the fund are:

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• 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 a REIT or REIT-like entity, concentration risk, or other risks typically associated with investing in small or medium market capitalization companies.

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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 a particular style or in small or medium-sized companies may enhance that risk.

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• Industry/Sector Concentration Risk. The risk that events negatively affecting real estate securities will cause the value of the fund’s shares to decrease, perhaps significantly. Since the fund concentrates its assets in real estate related securities, the fund is more vulnerable to conditions that negatively affect real estate related securities as compared to a fund that does not concentrate holdings in such securities.

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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.

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 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: Q3/2009: 32.91% Worst Quarter: Q4/2008: -38.73%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/13; 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 REAL ESTATE SECURITIES FUND	Label	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Class A	Return Before Taxes	(5.58%)	14.51%	7.97%
Class A Return After Taxes on Distributions	Return After Taxes on Distributions	(7.44%)	13.59%	6.99%
Class A Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	(2.01%)	11.39%	6.25%
Class B	Return Before Taxes	(4.25%)	14.99%	7.79%
Class C	Return Before Taxes	(0.53%)	15.00%	7.81%
Class I	Return Before Taxes	0.45%	16.17%		1.62%	Dec. 29, 2006
Class I S&P 500 ® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)				6.12%	Dec. 29, 2006
Class I FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)				1.71%	Dec. 29, 2006
S&P 500 ® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	S&P 500® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	32.39%	17.94%	7.40%
FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	2.47%	16.50%	8.42%

The S&P 500®  Index is a free-float market capitalization-weighted index of 500 of the largest U.S. companies. The FTSE NAREIT Equity REITs Index is a free-float market capitalization-weighted index measuring equity tax-qualified REITs, which meet minimum size and liquidity criteria, that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ National Market System. The indexes are calculated on a total return basis with dividends reinvested. 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] 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 (i) within 18 months on exchanges from a Virtus non-money market fund into a Virtus money market fund; and (ii) on 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 maximum deferred sales charge is imposed on Class B Shares redeemed during the first year; thereafter, it decreases 1% annually to 2% during the fourth and fifth years and to 0% after the fifth year. The deferred sales charge is imposed on Class C Shares redeemed during the first year only.