XML 101 R56.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.25.1
Dec. 31, 2024
Virtus Seix High Yield Fund
Virtus Seix High Yield Fund
Investment Objective

The fund has an investment objective of seeking high income and, secondarily, capital appreciation.

secondarily, capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses

The tables below illustrate the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts in Class A Shares if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Virtus Funds. More information on these and other discounts is available: (i) from your financial professional or other financial intermediary; (ii) under “Sales Charges” on page 87 of the fund’s prospectus; and (iii) with respect to purchase of shares through specific intermediaries, in Appendix A to the fund’s prospectus, entitled “Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers.”

The Virtus Seix High Yield Fund, a series of Virtus Asset Trust, is the successor of the RidgeWorth Seix High Yield Fund, a series of RidgeWorth Funds (“Predecessor Fund”), resulting from a reorganization of the Predecessor Fund with and into the fund.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees - Virtus Seix High Yield Fund
Class A Shares
Class I Shares
Class R6 Shares
Maximum Sales Charge Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of Offering Price) 3.75% none none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (as a percentage of Offering Price) none none 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 Seix High Yield Fund
Class A Shares
Class I Shares
Class R6 Shares
Management Fees 0.45% 0.45% 0.45%
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) Fees 0.25% none none
Other Expenses 0.39% 0.37% 0.23%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.09% 0.82% 0.68%
Less: Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement [1] (0.27%) (0.18%) (0.15%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement [1] 0.82% 0.64% 0.53%
[1]

The fund’s investment adviser has contractually agreed to limit the fund’s total operating expenses (excluding certain expenses, such as front-end or contingent deferred sales charges, taxes, leverage and borrowing expenses (such as commitment, amendment and renewal expenses on credit or redemption facilities), interest, brokerage commissions, expenses incurred in connection with any merger or reorganization, unusual or infrequently occurring expenses (such as litigation), acquired fund fees and expenses, and dividend expenses, if any) so that such expenses do not exceed 0.82% for Class A Shares, 0.64% for Class I Shares and 0.53% for Class R6 Shares through April 30, 2026. Prior to April 30, 2026, only the fund’s Board may modify or terminate the expense limitation agreement. Following the contractual period, the adviser may discontinue these expense reimbursement arrangements at any time. Under certain conditions, the adviser may recapture operating expenses reimbursed and/or fees waived under these arrangements for a period of three years following the date such waiver or reimbursement occurred, provided that the recapture does not cause the fund to exceed its expense limit in effect at the time of the waiver or reimbursement, and any in effect at the time of recapture, after repayment is taken into account.

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 or continued to hold them. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same and that the expense reimbursement agreement remains in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example - Virtus Seix High Yield Fund - USD ($)
Class A Shares
Class I Shares
Class R6 Shares
1 Year $ 456 $ 65 $ 54
3 Years 683 244 202
5 Years 928 437 364
10 Years $ 1,631 $ 997 $ 832
Expense Example, No Redemption - Virtus Seix High Yield Fund - USD ($)
Class A Shares
Class I Shares
Class R6 Shares
1 Year $ 456 $ 65 $ 54
3 Years 683 244 202
5 Years 928 437 364
10 Years $ 1,631 $ 997 $ 832
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 72% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the fund invests in various types of lower-rated, higher yielding debt instruments, including corporate obligations, floating rate loans and other debt obligations. The fund may invest in debt obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers, including emerging market debt. The fund’s investment in non-U.S. issuers may at times be significant.

Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in high yield securities. These securities will be chosen from the broad universe of available U.S. dollar denominated, high yield securities rated below investment grade by the ICE BofA US Cash Pay High Yield Index or unrated securities that the subadviser believes are of comparable quality. Such securities are commonly known as “junk bonds” and present greater risks than investment grade bonds. Although the fund seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily through investment in high yield securities, the fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in investment grade instruments.

The fund will be managed with a duration that is close to the fund’s comparative benchmark, the ICE BofA US High Yield BB-B Constrained Index, which is generally between 3 and 6 years. Duration measures a bond or fund’s sensitivity to interest rate or other changes (such as changes in a bond’s yield) and is expressed as a number of years or days. The higher the number, the greater the risk. Under normal circumstances, for example, if a portfolio has a duration of 5 years, its value will change by 5% if yields change by 1%. Shorter duration bonds generally result in lower expected volatility. The fund may also invest a portion of its assets in instruments that are restricted as to resale.

In addition, to implement its investment strategy, the fund may buy or sell derivative instruments (such as swaps, including credit default swaps, futures and warrants) to use as a substitute for a purchase or sale of a position in the underlying assets and/or as part of a strategy designed to reduce exposure to other risks, such as interest rate or credit risks. The fund may count the value of certain derivatives with below investment grade fixed income characteristics towards its policy to invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in high yield securities.

Principal Risks
Risk Table - Virtus Seix High Yield Fund
Risk [Text Block]
Principal Risks

Principal Risks

The fund may not achieve its objective(s), 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 principal risks of investing in the fund are identified below.

Risk Lose Money [Member] 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.
Credit Risk

> Credit Risk: If the issuer of a debt instrument fails to pay interest or principal in a timely manner, or negative perceptions exist in the market of the issuer’s ability to make such payments, the price of the security may decline.

Interest Rate Risk

> Interest Rate Risk: The values of debt instruments may rise or fall in response to changes in interest rates, and this risk may be enhanced for securities with longer maturities.

High-Yield/High-Risk Fixed Income Securities (Junk Bonds) Risk

> High-Yield/High-Risk Fixed Income Securities (Junk Bonds) Risk: There is a greater risk of issuer default, less liquidity, and increased price volatility related to high-yield/high-risk securities than investment grade securities, and high-yield/high-risk securities are generally considered to be speculative.

Foreign Investing Risk

> Foreign Investing Risk: Investing in foreign securities subjects the fund to additional risks such as increased volatility; currency fluctuations; less liquidity; less publicly available information about the foreign investment; and political, regulatory, economic, and market risk.

Market Volatility Risk

> Market Volatility Risk: The value of the securities in the fund may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies and/or general economic conditions. Price changes may be short- or long-term. Local, regional or global events such as war or military conflict (e.g., Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), geopolitical risk, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issue, recessions, tariffs and other restrictions on trade, or the threat or potential of one or more such events and developments, could have a significant impact on the fund and its investments, including hampering the ability of the fund’s portfolio manager(s) to invest the fund’s assets as intended.

Bank Loan Risk

> Bank Loan Risk: In addition to the risks typically associated with high-yield/high-risk fixed income securities, bank loans may be unsecured or not fully collateralized, may be subject to restrictions on resale, may be less liquid and may trade infrequently on the secondary market. Bank loans settle on a delayed basis; thus, sale proceeds may not be available to meet redemptions for a substantial period of time after the sale of the loan.

Derivatives Risk

> Derivatives Risk: Derivatives and other similar instruments (collectively referred to in this section as “derivatives”) may include, among other things, futures, options, forwards and swap agreements and may be used in order to hedge portfolio risks, create leverage or attempt to increase returns. Investments in derivatives may result in increased volatility and the fund may incur a loss greater than its principal investment.

Emerging Market Risk

> Emerging Market Risk: Emerging markets securities may be more volatile, or more greatly affected by negative conditions, than those of their counterparts in more established foreign markets. Such securities may also be subject to Sanctions Risk.

Sanctions Risk

> Sanctions Risk: The imposition of sanctions and other similar measures could cause a decline in the value and/or liquidity of securities issued by or tied to the sanctioned country and increase market volatility and disruption in the sanctioned country and throughout the world. Sanctions and other similar measures could limit or prevent the fund from buying and selling securities (in the sanctioned country and other markets), significantly delay or prevent the settlement of transactions, and negatively impact the fund’s liquidity and performance.

Illiquid and Restricted Securities Risk

> Illiquid and Restricted Securities Risk: Certain securities in which the fund invests may be difficult to sell at the time and price beneficial to the fund, for example due to low trading volumes or legal restrictions.

Income Risk

> Income Risk: Income received from the fund may vary widely over the short- and long-term and/or be less than anticipated if the proceeds from maturing securities in the fund are reinvested in lower-yielding securities.

Prepayment/Call Risk

> Prepayment/Call Risk: Issuers may prepay or call their fixed rate obligations when interest rates fall, forcing the fund to reinvest in obligations with lower interest rates and the fund may not benefit fully from the increase in value that other fixed income investments experience when interest rates decline.

Redemption Risk

> Redemption Risk: One or more large shareholders or groups of shareholders may redeem their holdings in the fund, resulting in an adverse impact on remaining shareholders in the fund by causing the fund to take actions it would not otherwise have taken.

Unrated Fixed Income Securities Risk

> Unrated Fixed Income Securities Risk: If the subadviser is unable to accurately assess the quality of an unrated fixed income security, the fund may invest in a security with greater risk than intended, or the securities may be more difficult to sell than anticipated.

Performance Information

The fund has adopted the past performance of the Predecessor Fund as its own. The Predecessor Fund and the fund have identical investment objectives and strategies. 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 and Predecessor Fund’s performance from year to year over a 10-year period. The table shows how the fund’s and Predecessor Fund’s average annual returns compare to those of a broad-based securities market index and a style-specific index 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 I Shares (includes returns of the Predecessor Fund)
Bar Chart
      

Best Quarter:

2020, Q2:

10.53%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1:

-10.41%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/24; includes returns of the Predecessor Fund)
Average Annual Total Returns - Virtus Seix High Yield Fund
Label
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class A Shares Return Before Taxes 2.84% 3.34% 4.08%    
Class I Shares Return Before Taxes 7.04% 4.30% 4.68%    
Class I Shares | After Taxes on Distributions Return After Taxes on Distributions 4.11% 2.02% 2.34%    
Class I Shares | After Taxes on Distributions and Sales Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 4.11% 2.29% 2.52%    
Class R6 Shares Return Before Taxes 7.29% 4.45%   5.26% Aug. 01, 2016
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index 1.25% (0.33%) 1.35% 0.86% Aug. 01, 2016
ICE BofA US High Yield BB-B Constrained Index ICE BofA US High Yield BB-B Constrained Index 6.84% 3.64% 4.87% 4.91% Aug. 01, 2016

The Bloomberg 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 index is unmanaged and not available for direct investment.

The ICE BofA US High Yield BB-B Constrained Index measures performance of BB/B U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market, and is restricted to a maximum of 2% per issuer. The index is calculated on a total return basis. The index is 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 I 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.