Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net Income	$ 19,725us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	$ 21,767us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation expense, intangible asset and other amortization	1,671	1,675
Stock-based compensation	3,063us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation	1,629us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensation
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	(1,314)	(263)
Amortization of deferred commissions	3,064	4,794
Payments of deferred commissions	(1,168)us-gaap_PaymentsForCommissions	(4,559)us-gaap_PaymentsForCommissions
Equity in earnings of equity method investments	(425)	(134)
Realized and unrealized gains on trading securities, net	(545)us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestments	(1,846)us-gaap_GainLossOnInvestments
Realized and unrealized gains on investments of consolidated sponsored investment products, net	(1,659)	(36)
Sales (purchases) of trading securities, net	8,710	(18,223)
Purchases of investments by consolidated sponsored investment products, net	(19,550)	(12,481)
Sales of securities sold short by consolidated sponsored investment products, net	1,533
Deferred taxes, net	2,368us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	7,925us-gaap_DeferredIncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Cash pledged or on deposit of consolidated sponsored investment products	(2,245)
Accounts receivable, net and other assets	(6,054)	(4,833)
Other assets of consolidated sponsored investment products	137	6,480
Accrued compensation and benefits, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other liabilities	(35,020)	(31,052)
Liabilities of consolidated sponsored investment products	2,857	(4,074)
Net cash used in operating activities	(24,852)	(33,231)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Capital expenditures	(1,397)	(439)
Change in cash and cash equivalents of consolidated sponsored investment products due to deconsolidation		(366)us-gaap_CashDivestedFromDeconsolidation
Purchases of available-for-sale securities	(43)	(53)
Net cash used in investing activities	(1,440)	(858)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Borrowings of proceeds from short sales by consolidated sponsored investment products	921
Dividends paid	(4,129)us-gaap_PaymentsOfDividends
Repurchases of common shares	(14,000)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	54	105
Taxes paid related to net share settlement of restricted stock units	(4,122)	(7,401)
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	1,314	263
Contributions of noncontrolling interests, net	11,039	6,915
Net cash used in financing activities	(8,923)	(118)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(35,215)	(34,207)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period	203,304	271,545
Cash and Cash Equivalents, end of period	168,089	237,338
Non-Cash Investing Activities:
Accrual for capital expenditures	458	99
Non-Cash Financing Activities:
Increase (decrease) to noncontrolling interest due to consolidation (deconsolidation) of consolidated sponsored investment products, net	450	(45,075)
Dividends payable	$ 4,095vrts_DividendsAccruedButNotYetPaid

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The amount of expense recognized in the current period for the periodic realization of capitalized fees that were paid to salespeople, distributors, brokers, and agents at the time of the conclusion of the sale. As a noncash expense, this element is added back to net income when calculating cash provided by or used in operations using the indirect method.