U.S. Large-Cap Equity

PIMCO StocksPLUS Absolute Return Fund (PSPTX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies.
The fund's investment objective is to seek total return which exceeds that of the S&P 500 Index. The Fund seeks to exceed the total return of the S&P 500 Index by investing under normal circumstances in S&P 500 Index derivatives, backed by a portfolio of Fixed Income Instruments. In managing the Fund’s investments in Fixed Income Instruments, PIMCO utilizes an absolute return approach, which is designed to have flexibility with respect to duration, overall sector exposures, non-U.S. exposures and credit quality, both as a function of the strategy’s investment guidelines and lack of a fixed income index benchmark. The absolute return approach seeks positive investment returns regardless of market environment and does not apply to the equity index replicating component of the Fund. “Fixed Income Instruments” include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities. The Fund may invest in common stocks, options, futures, options on futures and swaps. The Fund normally uses S&P 500 Index derivatives instead of S&P 500 Index stocks to attempt to equal or exceed the daily performance of the S&P 500 Index. The Fund typically will seek to gain long exposure to its benchmark index in an amount, under normal circumstances, approximately equal to the Fund’s net assets. The value of S&P 500 Index derivatives should closely track changes in the value of the S&P 500 Index. However, S&P 500 Index derivatives may be purchased with a small fraction of the assets that would be needed to purchase the equity securities directly, so that the remainder of the assets may be invested in Fixed Income Instruments. PIMCO actively manages the Fixed Income Instruments held by the Fund with a view toward enhancing the Fund’s total return, subject to an overall portfolio duration which normally varies from (negative) 3 years to positive 8 years based on PIMCO’s market forecasts. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security’s price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security’s duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.        

The S&P 500 Index is composed of 500 selected common stocks that represent approximately two-thirds of the total market value of all U.S. common stocks. The Fund seeks to remain invested in S&P 500 Index derivatives or S&P 500 Index stocks even when the S&P 500 Index is declining.

Though the Fund does not normally invest directly in S&P 500 Index securities, when S&P 500 Index derivatives appear to be overvalued relative to the S&P 500 Index, the Fund may invest all of its assets in a “basket” of S&P 500 Index stocks.

The Fund may invest, without limitation, in derivative instruments, such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements, or in mortgage- or asset backed securities, subject to applicable law and any other restrictions described in the Fund’s prospectus or Statement of Additional Information. The Fund may purchase or sell securities on a when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment basis and may engage in short sales. Assets not invested in equity securities or derivatives may be invested in Fixed Income Instruments. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in high yield securities (“junk bonds”) rated B or higher by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or equivalently rated by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (“S&P”) or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”), or, if unrated, determined by PIMCO to be of comparable quality (except that within such 20% limitation, the Fund may invest in mortgage-related securities rated below B). In the event that ratings services assign different ratings to the same security, PIMCO will use the highest rating as the credit rating for that security. The Fund may invest, without limitation, in securities denominated in foreign currencies and in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its total assets in securities and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries (this limitation does not apply to investment grade sovereign debt denominated in the local currency with less than 1 year remaining to maturity, which means the Fund may invest in such instruments without limitation subject to any applicable legal or regulatory limitation). The Fund will normally limit its foreign currency exposure (from non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities or currencies) to 35% of its total assets. The Fund will normally limit its exposure (from non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities or currencies) to each non-U.S. currency to 10% of its total assets. The Fund will normally limit its aggregate U.S. dollar exposure from transactions or instruments that reference the relative return of a non-U.S. currency or currencies as compared to the U.S. dollar to 20% of its total assets. The Fund may also invest up to 10% of its total assets in preferred securities.

Principal Risks.
The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are interest rate risk, call risk, credit risk, high yield risk, market risk, issuer risk, liquidity risk, derivatives risk, equity risk, mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities risk, foreign (non-U.S.) investment risk, emerging markets risk, sovereign debt risk, currency risk, leveraging risk, management risk, short exposure risk and LIBOR transition risk.

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Virtus NFJ Dividend Value Fund (ANDVX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital and income. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by normally investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings made for investment purposes) in common stocks and other equity securities of companies that pay or are expected to pay dividends. Under normal conditions, the Fund will invest primarily in common stocks of companies with market capitalizations greater than $3.5 billion. The portfolio managers use a value investing style focusing on companies whose securities the portfolio managers believe have attractive valuation and fundamental strength. The portfolio managers partition the Fund’s selection universe by industry and then identify what they believe to be the most attractively valued securities in each industry to determine potential holdings for the Fund representing a broad range of industry groups. The portfolio managers use initial parameters and quantitative tools to narrow the Fund’s selection universe and also review and consider fundamental changes. In selecting individual holdings and constructing the overall portfolio, the portfolio managers take into account the dividend yields of their investments. After narrowing the universe through a combination of qualitative analysis and fundamental research, the portfolio managers select securities for the Fund. In addition to common stocks and other equity securities, the Fund may also invest up to 25% of its assets in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate-related investments, and a portion of its assets in non-U.S. securities (including through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs)), including emerging market securities. The Fund may utilize foreign currency exchange contracts, options, stock index futures contracts and other derivative instruments. Although the Fund did not invest significantly in derivative instruments as of the most recent fiscal year end, it may do so at any time.

Principal Risks
The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are allocation risk, counterparty risk, credit risk, currency rate risk, depositary receipts risk, derivatives risk, emerging markets risk, equity securities risk, focused investment risk, foreign investing risk, issuer risk, liquidity risk, market volatility risk, real estate investment risk, portfolio turnover risk and small and medium market capitalization companies risk.

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Virtus Silvant Focused Growth Fund (AFGFX)
Investment Objective and Principal Strategies
The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by normally investing primarily in equity securities of U.S. companies with market capitalizations of at least $1 billion. The Fund may also invest up to 20% of its assets in non-U.S. securities (but no more than 10% in any one non-U.S. country or 10% in emerging market securities). At times, depending on market conditions, the Fund may also invest a significant percentage of its assets in a small number of business sectors or industries. The portfolio managers normally select 25 to 45 stocks for the Fund’s portfolio.

The portfolio managers attempt to include securities in the Fund’s portfolio that exhibit the greatest combination of earnings growth potential, quality (as reflected in consistent business fundamentals) and attractive valuation. The portfolio managers ordinarily look for several of the following characteristics when analyzing specific companies for possible investments: higher than average growth and strong potential for capital appreciation; substantial capacity for growth in revenue, cash flow or earnings through either an expanding market or expanding market share; a strong balance sheet; superior management; strong commitment to research and product development; and differentiated or superior products and services or a steady stream of new products and services. Based in part on a proprietary environmental, social and corporate governance (“ESG”) scoring model, companies’ ESG practices and risk factors are considered as part of the investment process, namely for the purposes of identifying tail risk factors arising from a company’s ESG practices and understanding how a company’s ESG risk factors might affect the company and its performance. The portfolio managers maintain discretion to invest in companies with low ESG scores and to exclude companies with high ESG scores from the Fund’s portfolio. In addition to common stocks and other equity securities (such as preferred stocks, convertible securities and warrants), the Fund may utilize foreign currency exchange contracts, options, stock index futures contracts and other derivative instruments. Although the Fund did not invest significantly in derivative instruments as of the most recent fiscal year end, it may do so at any time.

Principal Risks
The principal risks of investing in the Fund, which could adversely affect its net asset value, yield and total return, are allocation risk, counterparty risk, credit risk, currency rate risk, derivatives risk, emerging markets risk, equity securities risk, focused investment risk, foreign investing risk, issuer risk, leverage risk, liquidity risk, non-diversification risk market volatility risk, portfolio turnover risk and preferred stocks risk.

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