Investment Objective

and a secondary objective of capital growth.

The tables below illustrate the 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 214 of the fund’s prospectus and “Alternative Purchase Arrangements” on page 108 of the fund’s statement of additional information.

Shareholder Fees VIRTUS HIGH YIELD FUND	Class A	Class B		Class C		Class I
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	3.75%	none		none		none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds)	none	5.00%rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther	^[1]	1.00%rr_MaximumDeferredSalesChargeOverOther	^[1]	none

[1]	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.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses VIRTUS HIGH YIELD FUND	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class I
Management Fees	0.65%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.65%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.65%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.65%rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) fees	0.25%	1.00%	1.00%	none
Other Expenses	0.41%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.41%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.41%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	0.41%rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.31%rr_ExpensesOverAssets	2.06%rr_ExpensesOverAssets	2.06%rr_ExpensesOverAssets	1.06%rr_ExpensesOverAssets

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. 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. 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, No Redemption VIRTUS HIGH YIELD FUND (USD $)	Share Status	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	Sold or Held	503	775	1,066	1,895
Class B	Held	209	646	1,108	2,197
Class C	Held	209	646	1,108	2,390
Class I	Sold or Held	108	337	585	1,294

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 82% of the average value of its portfolio.

The fund is appropriate for investors seeking diversification and the potential rewards associated with investing in high-yield fixed income securities. High-yield fixed income securities are those that are rated below investment grade. The subadviser uses an investment process that focuses on adding value through issue selection, sector/industry selection and opportunistic trading. The fund will generally overweight those sectors and industries where the subadviser identifies well-valued companies whose business profiles are viewed to be improving. The subadviser attempts to maintain the duration of the fund at a level similar to that of its style benchmark, the Barclay’s U.S. High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in high yield fixed income securities.

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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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.

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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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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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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.

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Industry/Sector Concentration Risk. The risk that events negatively affecting an industry or market sector in which a 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 one or more industries (such as communications, consumer cyclicals and consumer non-cyclicals) or sectors, the fund is more vulnerable to conditions that negatively affect such industries or sectors as compared to a fund that is not significantly invested in such industries or sector.

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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.

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Long-Term Maturities/Durations Risk. The risk of greater price fluctuations than would be associated with securities having shorter maturities or durations.

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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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Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Risk. The risk that changes in interest rates will cause both extension and prepayment risks for mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities in which the fund invests, or that an impairment of the value of collateral underlying such securities, will cause the value of the securities to decrease.

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U.S. Government Securities Risk. The risk that the impairment of the value of collateral underlying a mortgage-backed or asset-backed security, such as due to non-payment of loans, will result in a reduction in the value of such security.

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.

Returns do not reflect sales charges and would be lower if they did.

Annual Return (%)

Best Quarter:

Q2/2009:

11.27%

Worst Quarter:

Q4/2008:

-14.67%

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

The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index measures the U.S. investment grade fixed rate bond market. The Barclays U.S. High-Yield 2% Issuer Capped Bond Index is a market capitalization-weighted index that measures fixed rate non-investment grade debt securities of U.S. and non-U.S. corporations. No single issuer accounts for more than 2% of market cap. The indexes are calculated on a total return basis. 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.