NVIT Emerging Markets Fund

Summary Prospectus July 6, 2020

Class I / Class II / Class D / Class Y

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s Prospectus, which contains information about the Fund and its risks. This Summary Prospectus is intended for use in connection with variable insurance contracts, and is not intended for use by other investors. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated April 29, 2020 (as may be supplemented or revised), are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. For free paper or electronic copies of the Fund’s Prospectus and other information about the Fund, go to nationwide.com/mutualfundsnvit, email a request to web_help@nationwide.com or call 800-848-0920, or ask any variable insurance contract provider who offers shares of the Fund as an underlying investment option in its products.

Objective

The NVIT Emerging Markets Fund seeks long-term capital growth by investing primarily in equity securities of companies located in emerging market countries.

Fees and Expenses

This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay when buying and holding shares of the Fund. Sales charges and other expenses that may be imposed by variable insurance contracts are not included. If these charges were reflected, the expenses listed below would be higher. See the variable insurance contract prospectus.

	Class I Shares	Class II Shares	Class D Shares	Class Y Shares
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Management Fees	0.95%	0.95%	0.95%	0.95%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees	None	0.25%	0.25%	None
Other Expenses	0.21%	0.21%	0.30%	0.06%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses	1.16%	1.41%	1.50%	1.01%
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement(1)	(0.05)%	(0.05)%	(0.05)%	(0.05)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement	1.11%	1.36%	1.45%	0.96%

⁽¹⁾ Nationwide Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust”) and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the “Adviser”) have entered into a written contract waiving 0.05% of the management fee to which the Adviser would otherwise be entitled until July 31, 2021. The written contract may be changed or eliminated only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust.

Example

This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example, however, does not include charges that are imposed by variable insurance contracts. If these charges were reflected, the expenses listed below would be higher.

This Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of those time periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses, and any expense limitation or fee waivers that may apply for the periods indicated above under “Fees and Expenses.” Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class I Shares	$113	$364	$633	$1,405
Class II Shares	138	441	766	1,687
Class D Shares	148	469	814	1,786
Class Y Shares	98	317	553	1,232

NSP-EM (7/20)

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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. 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 22.56% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities issued by companies that are tied economically to emerging market countries. The Fund considers a company to be tied economically to emerging market countries if it is headquartered, trades on an exchange or maintains at least 50% of its net assets in, or derives at least 50% of its revenues from, emerging market countries. Emerging market countries are typically developing and low- or middle income countries, and may be found in regions such as Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Some emerging market countries may be considered to be “frontier market” countries, although the Fund will not invest more than 20% of its net assets in frontier market countries. Frontier market countries are those emerging market countries that are considered to be among the smallest, least mature and least liquid. The Fund typically maintains investments in at least six countries at all times. The Fund may invest in companies of any size, including smaller companies. Many securities in which the Fund invests are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

The Fund consists of two portions managed by different subadvisers acting independently with respect to the assets of the Fund they manage. NFA is the Fund’s investment adviser and, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees of the Trust, selects the Fund’s subadvisers and monitors their performance on an ongoing basis. NFA determines the amount of Fund assets to allocate to each subadviser. NFA has selected Lazard Asset Management LLC (“Lazard”) and Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Limited (“Aberdeen Standard Investments”) to subadvise different portions of the Fund because they approach investing in emerging market securities in a different manner from each other.

Lazard utilizes a flexible investment approach and engages in bottom-up, fundamental security analysis and selection. Lazard may consider a security’s growth or value potential in managing its portion of the Fund. Lazard may invest in securities of any market capitalization, although it typically invests in securities of companies with a market capitalization of $300 million or more. The allocation of this portion’s assets among countries and regions may vary from time to time based on Lazard’s judgment and analysis of market conditions. Lazard may sell a security when its (1) target price is achieved, (2) risk analysis is unfavorable, (3) fundamental drivers deteriorate or the investment thesis is invalidated, or (4) there is a negative change in corporate strategy or corporate governance.

Aberdeen Standard Investments believes company fundamentals drive stock prices and that the market is not efficient at pricing such fundamentals when they are undergoing, or face the prospect of, material change. Aberdeen Standard Investments aims to identify and evaluate improving situations that are not fully recognized by the market by utilizing a bottom-up stock selection process. Sector, regional and country allocations are a result of stock selection. This investment strategy is not growth- or value biased or momentum driven, but is style-agnostic. Aberdeen Standard Investments may sell a stock if it believes (1) the stock no longer meets its valuation criteria or the investment thesis is invalidated; (2) the stock’s risk parameters outweigh its return opportunity; (3) more attractive alternatives are identified; or (4) specific events alter a stock’s prospects.

In allocating assets between the subadvisers, NFA seeks to increase diversification among securities and investment styles in order to potentially increase the possibility for investment return and reduce risk and volatility.

Principal Risks

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

As with any fund, the value of the Fund’s investments—and therefore, the value of Fund shares—may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:

Equity securities risk– stock markets are volatile. The price of an equity security fluctuates based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions.

Market and selection risks – market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. This may be due to numerous factors, including interest rates, the outlook for corporate profits, the health of the national and world economies, national and world social and

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political events, and the fluctuation of other stock markets around the world. Selection risk is the risk that the securities selected by the Fund’s subadvisers will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.

Foreign securities risk – foreign securities may be more volatile, harder to price and less liquid than U.S. securities. The prices of foreign securities may be further affected by other factors, such as changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the currencies in which the securities are traded.

    Foreign currencies – foreign securities may be denominated or quoted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio. Generally, when the U.S. dollar rises in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in that currency loses value because the currency is worth fewer U.S. dollars. Conversely, when the U.S. dollar decreases in value against a foreign currency, a security denominated in that currency gains value because the currency is worth more U.S. dollars.

Emerging markets risk – emerging markets are riskier than more developed markets because they tend to develop unevenly and may never fully develop. Investments in emerging markets may be considered speculative. Emerging markets are more likely to experience hyperinflation and currency devaluations, which adversely affect returns to U.S. investors. In addition, many emerging securities markets have far lower trading volumes and less liquidity than developed markets. Since these markets are smaller than developed markets, they may be more likely to suffer sharp and frequent price changes or long-term price depression because of adverse publicity, investor perceptions or the actions of a few large investors. Practices in relation to settlement of securities transactions in emerging markets involve higher risks than those in developed markets, in part because the Fund will need to use brokers and counterparties that are less well capitalized, and custody and registration of assets in some countries may be unreliable compared to developed markets. Many emerging markets also have histories of political instability and abrupt changes in policies. Certain emerging markets may also face other significant internal or external risks, including the risk of war, nationalization of assets, and ethnic, religious and racial conflicts.

Frontier markets risk – frontier market countries generally have smaller economies and even less developed capital markets than traditional emerging market countries and, as a result, the risks of investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries. The risk magnification is the result of: potential for extreme price volatility and illiquidity in frontier markets; government ownership or control of parts of the private sector and of certain companies; trade barriers, exchange controls, managed adjustments in relative currency values and other protectionist measures imposed or

negotiated by countries with which frontier market countries trade; and the relatively new and unsettled securities laws in many frontier market countries.

Growth style risk– growth stocks are generally more sensitive to market movements than other types of stocks primarily because their stock prices are based heavily on future expectations. If the subadviser’s assessment of the prospects for a company’s growth is wrong, or if the subadviser’s judgment of how other investors will value the company’s growth is wrong, then the Fund may suffer a loss as the price of the company’s stock may fall or not approach the value that the subadviser has placed on it. In addition, growth stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks, such as “value” stocks.

Value style risk – value stocks are those that a subadviser believes to be trading at prices that do not reflect the issuing company’s intrinsic value. Companies issuing such securities may be currently out of favor, undervalued due to market declines, or experiencing poor operating conditions that the subadviser believes to be temporary. Value investing carries the risk that the market will not recognize a security’s intrinsic value for a long time or that a stock judged to be undervalued may actually be appropriately priced. In addition, value stocks as a group may be out of favor at times and underperform the overall equity market for long periods while the market concentrates on other types of stocks.

Country risk– if the Fund emphasizes one or more countries, it may be more susceptible to the financial, market, political or economic events affecting the particular issuers and industries participating in such countries than funds that do not emphasize particular countries.

Liquidity risk – when there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities or instruments, it can become more difficult to sell the securities or instruments at or near their perceived value. An inability to sell a portfolio position can adversely affect the Fund's value or prevent the Fund from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities. Liquidity risk also includes the risk that the Fund will experience significant net redemptions of its shares at a time when it cannot find willing buyers for its portfolio securities or instruments or can sell its portfolio securities or instruments only at a material loss. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell other securities or instruments that are more liquid, but at unfavorable times and conditions. Investments in foreign securities tend to have more exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities.

Smaller company risk – smaller companies are usually less stable in price and less liquid than larger, more established companies. Smaller companies are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business and economic developments and may have more limited resources. Therefore, they generally involve greater risk.

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Multi-manager risk – while NFA monitors each subadviser and the overall management of the Fund, each subadviser makes investment decisions independently from NFA and the other subadviser(s). It is possible that the security selection process of one subadviser will not complement that of the other subadviser(s). As a result, the Fund’s exposure to a given security, industry sector or market capitalization could be smaller or larger than if the Fund were managed by a single subadviser, which could affect the Fund’s performance.

Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the volatility or variability of the Fund’s annual total returns over time and shows that Fund performance can change from year to year. The table shows the Fund’s average annual total returns for certain time periods compared to the returns of a comparable broad-based securities index. Remember, however, that past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The returns shown in the bar chart and table do not include charges that will be imposed by variable insurance contracts. If these amounts were reflected, returns would be less than those shown.

Annual Total Returns – Class I Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)

Highest Quarter:	17.36%	–	3rd qtr of 2010
Lowest Quarter:	-24.89%	–	3rd qtr of 2011

Year-to-date total return as of March 31, 2020: -18.97%

The inception date for Class Y shares is April 30, 2014. Pre-inception historical performance for Class Y shares is based on the previous performance of Class I shares. Performance for Class Y shares has not been adjusted to reflect that share class’s lower expenses than those of Class I shares.

The inception date for Class D shares is July 29, 2016. Pre-inception historical performance for Class D shares is based on the previous performance of Class II shares. Performance for Class D shares has been adjusted to reflect that share class’s higher expenses than those of Class II shares.

Average Annual Total Returns
(For the Periods Ended December 31, 2019)

	1 year	5 years	10 years
Class I Shares	22.95%	5.39%	2.72%
Class II Shares	22.66%	5.13%	2.47%
Class D Shares	22.58%	5.04%	2.38%
Class Y Shares	23.24%	5.55%	2.81%
MSCI Emerging Markets® Index (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses)	18.42%	5.61%	3.68%

Portfolio Management

Investment Adviser

Nationwide Fund Advisors

Subadvisers

Lazard Asset Management LLC (“Lazard”)
Standard Life Investments (Corporate Funds) Limited (“Aberdeen Standard Investments”)

Portfolio Managers

Portfolio Manager	Title	Length of Service with Fund
Lazard
Stephen Russell, CFA	Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst	Since 2016
Thomas Boyle	Director, Portfolio Manager/Analyst	Since 2016
Aberdeen Standard Investments
Matthew Williams	Investment Director	Since 2018

Tax Information

The dividends and distributions paid by the Fund to the insurance company separate accounts will consist of ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both. Because shares of the Fund must be purchased through separate accounts used to fund variable insurance contracts, such dividends and distributions will be exempt from current taxation by contract holders if left to accumulate within a separate account. Consult the variable insurance contract prospectus for additional tax information.

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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

This Fund is only offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The Fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance companies (or their affiliates) for distribution and/or other services, and to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries that distribute the variable insurance contracts. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the insurance companies to include the Fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contracts, and by influencing the broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries to distribute variable insurance contracts that include the Fund as an underlying investment option over other variable insurance contracts or to otherwise recommend the selection of the Fund as an underlying investment option by contract owners instead of other funds that also may be available investment options. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.

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