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Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund

Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund

Investment Objective

The fund has an investment objective of long-term capital appreciation.

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 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 advisor or other financial intermediary; (ii) under “Sales Charges” on page 104 of the fund’s prospectus; (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;” and (iv) under “Alternative Purchase Arrangements” on page 100 of the fund’s statement of additional information (“SAI”).

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund	Class A	Class C		Class I	Class R6
Maximum Sales Charge (load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.50%	none		none	none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (load) (as a percentage of the lesser of purchase price or redemption proceeds)	none	1.00%	[1]	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 KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund		Class A	Class C	Class I	Class R6
Management Fees		0.80%	0.80%	0.80%	0.80%
Distribution and Shareholder Servicing (12b-1) Fees		0.25%	1.00%	none	none
Other Expenses		0.29%	0.29%	0.29%	0.20%
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses		0.01%	0.01%	0.01%	0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	[1]	1.35%	2.10%	1.10%	1.01%
Less: Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement	[2]	(0.14%)	(0.14%)	(0.14%)	(0.13%)
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Reimbursement	[1],[2]	1.21%	1.96%	0.96%	0.88%

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 an investment of  $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated. 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, that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same and that the expense reimbursement arrangement remains in place for the contractual period. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Expense Example - Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund - USD ($)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	667	941	1,236	2,075
Class C	299	644	1,116	2,420
Class I	98	336	593	1,328
Class R6	90	309	545	1,224

Expense Example No Redemption - Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund - USD ($)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class A	667	941	1,236	2,075
Class C	199	644	1,116	2,420
Class I	98	336	593	1,328
Class R6	90	309	545	1,224

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 19% of the average value of its portfolio.

Investments, Risks and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies

The fund pursues long-term capital appreciation in the medium capitalization sector while seeking to provide the risk characteristics of the less volatile large capitalization S&P 500® Index. The fund invests in a select group of medium market capitalization companies believed by the subadviser to be undervalued relative to their future growth potential. The investment strategy emphasizes companies believed by the subadviser to have a sustainable competitive advantage, strong management and low financial risk and to be able to grow over market cycles. Although the fund invests primarily in U.S. companies, it may invest in foreign securities and depositary receipts.

Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of medium market capitalization companies. As of the date of this Prospectus, the fund’s subadviser considers medium market capitalization companies for this purpose to be those companies that, at the time of initial purchase, have market capitalizations generally within the range of companies included in the Russell Midcap® Index on a rolling three-year basis. On this basis, as of September 30, 2020, the total market capitalization range of companies included in the Russell Midcap® Index over the past three years was $72.5 million to $81.5 billion. Generally, the fund invests in approximately 25 to 35 securities at any given time.

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.

Equity Securities Risk.  The value of the stocks held by the fund may be negatively affected by the financial market, industries in which the fund invests, or issuer-specific events. Focus on a particular style or in small or medium-sized companies may enhance that risk.

Limited Number of Investments Risk.  Because the fund may have a limited number of securities, it may be more susceptible to factors adversely affecting its securities than a fund with a greater number of securities.

Depositary Receipts Risk.  Investments in foreign companies through depositary receipts may expose the fund to the same risks as direct investments in securities of foreign issuers.

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, acts of terrorism, the spread of infectious illness or

other public health issue, recessions, or other events 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.

Medium Market Capitalization Companies Risk.  The fund’s investments in medium market capitalization companies may increase the volatility and risk of loss to the fund, as compared with investments in larger, more established companies.

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.

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 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. 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.

Calendar year total returns for Class I Shares

Best Quarter: Q2/2020: 21.63% Worst Quarter: Q1/2020: -18.19%

Average Annual Total Returns (for the periods ended 12/31/20)

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

Average Annual Returns - Virtus KAR Mid-Cap Core Fund	Label	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Class I	Return Before Taxes	26.10%	17.08%	14.80%
Class A	Return Before Taxes	18.84%	15.47%	13.88%
Class C	Return Before Taxes	24.85%	15.92%	13.67%
Class R6	Return Before Taxes	26.19%			14.65%	Jan. 30, 2018
After Taxes on Distributions | Class I	Return After Taxes on Distributions	25.90%	16.96%	14.47%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Class I	Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	15.60%	13.85%	12.42%
Russell Midcap® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	Russell Midcap® Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)	17.10%	13.40%	12.41%	10.53%	Jan. 30, 2018

The Russell Midcap® Index is a market capitalization-weighted index of medium-capitalization stocks of U.S. companies. The index is calculated on a total-return basis with dividends reinvested. 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.

[1] The deferred sales charge is imposed on Class C Shares redeemed during the first year only.

[1] The Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses do not correlate to the ratio of expenses to average net assets appearing in the Financial Highlights tables, which tables reflect only the operating expenses of the fund and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses.

[2] 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 1.20% for Class A Shares, 1.95% for Class C Shares, 0.95% for Class I Shares and 0.87% for Class R6 Shares through February 1, 2022. 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, or at the time of recapture.