Summary Prospectus April 28, 2025 | |
Virtus Seix High Yield Fund |
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A: HYPSX | I: SAMHX | R6: HYIZX |
Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus, shareholder reports, statement of additional information (“SAI”), and other information about the fund online at www.virtus.com/investor-resources/mutual-fund-documents. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-243-1574 or by sending an e-mail to: virtus.investment.partners@virtus.com. If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary such as a bank, the prospectus and other information will also be available from your financial intermediary. The fund’s prospectus and SAI both dated April 28, 2025, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. |
Investment Objective
The fund has an investment objective of seeking high income and, 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) | Class A | Class I | Class R6 | |
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) | 3.75% | None | None | |
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds) | None | None | None | |
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Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses
that you pay each year as | Class A | Class I | Class R6 | |
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(a) | (0.27)% | (0.18)% | (0.15)% | |
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement(a) | 0.82% | 0.64% | 0.53% | |
(a) | 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:
Class | Share Status | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | ||||
Class A | Sold or Held | $456 |
| $683 |
| $928 |
| $1,631 |
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Class I | Sold or Held | $65 |
| $244 |
| $437 |
| $997 |
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Class R6 | Sold or Held | $54 |
| $202 |
| $364 |
| $832 |
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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.
Investments, Risks and Performance
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
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.
> 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 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 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: 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
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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: 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 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: 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: 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: 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) |
Returns do not reflect sales charges applicable to other share classes and would be lower if they did. |
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)
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Class | 1 Year | 5 Years | 10 Years | (8/1/2016) | |
Class I Shares |
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| Return Before Taxes | 7.04% | 4.30% | 4.68% | — |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions | 4.11% | 2.02% | 2.34% | — |
| Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | 4.11% | 2.29% | 2.52% | — |
Class A Shares |
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| Return Before Taxes | 2.84% | 3.34% | 4.08% | — |
Class R6 Shares |
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| Return Before Taxes | 7.29% | 4.45% | — | 5.26% |
Index |
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Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | 1.25% | -0.33% | 1.35% | 0.86% | |
ICE BofA US High Yield BB-B Constrained Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) | 6.84% | 3.64% | 4.87% | 4.91% | |
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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.
Management
The fund’s investment adviser is Virtus Investment Advisers, LLC (formerly known as Virtus Investment Advisers, Inc.) (“VIA”).
The fund’s subadviser is Seix Investment Advisors (“Seix”), an operating division of Virtus Fixed Income Advisers, LLC, an affiliate of VIA.
Portfolio Management
The following individuals are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the fund’s portfolio.
> James FitzPatrick, CFA, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Seix. Mr. FitzPatrick has co-managed the fund since 2013.
> Michael Kirkpatrick, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Seix. Mr. Kirkpatrick has co-managed the fund since 2007.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Minimum initial investments applicable to Class A Shares:
$2,500, generally
$100 for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), systematic purchase or exchange accounts
No minimum for defined contribution plans, asset-based fee programs, profit-sharing plans or employee benefit plans.
Minimum additional investments applicable to Class A Shares:
$100, generally
No minimum for defined contribution plans, asset-based fee programs, profit-sharing plans or employee benefit plans.
For Class I Shares, the minimum initial purchase is $100,000; there is no minimum for additional purchases.
Class R6 Shares are offered without a minimum initial investment to the following investors in plan level or omnibus accounts only (provided that they do not require or receive any compensation, administrative payments, sub-transfer agency payments or service payments with respect to Class R6 Shares): (i) qualified retirement plans, including, but not limited to, 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer sponsored 403(b) plans, and defined benefit plans; (ii) banks and trust companies; (iii) insurance companies; (iv) financial intermediaries utilizing such shares in fee-based investment advisory programs; (v) registered investment companies; (vi) 529 portfolios that are advised or sub-advised by Virtus affiliates; and (vii) non-qualified deferred compensation plans. Other institutional investors may be permitted to purchase Class R6 Shares subject to the fund’s determination of eligibility and may be subject to a $2,500,000 minimum initial investment requirement.
The minimums may be reduced or waived in some circumstances. In general, you may buy or sell shares of the fund by mail or telephone on any business day. You also may buy and sell shares through a financial professional, broker-dealer or other financial intermediary.
Taxes
The fund’s distributions are taxable to you as either ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. Such tax-deferred arrangements may be taxed later upon withdrawal of monies from those arrangements.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your financial professional to recommend the fund over another investment.
No compensation, administrative payments, sub-transfer agency payments or service payments are paid to brokers or other entities from fund assets or the Distributor’s or an affiliate’s resources on sales of or investments in Class R6 Shares. Class R6 Shares do not carry sales commissions or pay Rule 12b-1 fees, or make payments to brokers or other entities to assist in, or in connection with, the sale of the fund’s shares. Ask your financial professional or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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Virtus Mutual Funds
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8607 | 4-25 |