Investments, Risks and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies
The fund seeks to track the performance of the Horizon Kinetics International Wealth Index (Ticker: INWTR), a public index maintained by Horizon Kinetics LLC, the parent company of the fund’s subadviser, and published by International Securities Exchange, LLC. The index is composed of non-U.S., exchange-listed companies managed by executives who have accumulated a substantial amount of their personal wealth through the companies that they manage. The issuers have market capitalizations, at time of addition to the index, in excess of $200 million. The fund attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. The manner in which the index is constructed is likely to result in the fund’s assets generally being focused in one or more market sectors. For example, companies eligible for inclusion in the index based upon the first requirement of having an individual with significant wealth in a control position, are often companies in the consumer discretionary sector; therefore, it would not be unusual for the fund’s assets to be similarly focused in the consumer discretionary sector.
The fund intends to diversify its investments among countries and normally to have represented in the portfolio business activities of a number of different countries. In determining "location" of an issuer, the subadviser primarily relies on the country where the issuer is incorporated. However, the country of risk is ultimately determined based on analysis of the following criteria: actual building address (domicile), primary exchange on which the security is traded and country in which the greatest percentage of company revenue is generated. This evaluation is conducted so as to determine that the issuer's assets are exposed to the economic fortunes and risks of the designated country.
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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- Correlation to Index Risk. The risk that the performance of the fund and its index may vary somewhat due to factors such as fund flows, transaction costs, whether the fund obtains every security in its index, complexities of investing in foreign markets and timing differences associated with additions to and deletions from its index.
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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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- Foreign Investing Risks. 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 or economic, political or other developments.
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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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- Sector Concentration Risk. The risk that events negatively affecting a particular 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 the fund focuses its assets in a particular market sector, the fund is more vulnerable to conditions that negatively affect such market sector as compared to a fund that does not focus holdings in such securities.
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- Small and Medium Market Capitalization Risk. The risk that the fund's investments in small and medium market capitalization companies will increase the volatility and risk of loss to the fund, as compared with investments in larger, more established companies.
Performance Information
The fund has not had a full calendar year of operations; therefore, performance information is not shown here.
Updated performance information is available at virtus.com or by calling 800-243-1574.
Management
The fund’s investment adviser is Virtus Investment Advisers, Inc. (“VIA”).
The fund’s subadviser is Horizon Asset Management LLC (“Horizon”).
Portfolio Management
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- Murray Stahl, Portfolio Manager, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at Horizon. Mr. Stahl has served as a Portfolio Manager of the fund since inception in November 2014.
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- Matthew Houk, Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Horizon. Mr. Houk has served as a Portfolio Manager of the fund since inception in November 2014.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Minimum initial investments applicable to Class A and Class C Shares: