Morningstar® Investment Profile™   Morningstar®
Disclosure
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The Merger Fund VL I
Release date as of 2025-06-30. Data on page is subject to change.
Snapshot Ratings & Risk Portfolio Nuts & Bolts
  Morningstar Report
Overall Morningstar
Rating™
What is this?
As of 2025-06-30
Out of 42
Event Driven Funds
Morningstar®
Style Box™
What is this?
As of 2025-03-31
Total Fund Assets ($ Mil)
24.04
View Historical Morningstar Star Ratings and Definitions
  Investment Objective & Strategy  
The investment seeks to achieve capital growth by engaging in merger arbitrage.
Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its total assets principally in equity securities of companies which are involved in publicly announced mergers, takeovers, tender offers, leveraged buyouts, spin-offs, liquidations and other corporate reorganizations. It may invest in other investment companies, including exchange-traded funds ("ETFs").
  Morningstar Category: Event Driven
Event driven strategies attempt to profit when security prices change in response to certain corporate actions, such as bankruptcies, mergers and acquisitions, emergence from bankruptcy, shifts in corporate strategy, and other atypical events. Activist shareholder and distressed investment strategies also fall into this category. These portfolios typically focus on equity securities but can invest across the capital structure. They typically have low to moderate equity market sensitivity since company-specific developments tend to drive security prices. 
  Investment Risks
There are no additional fund specific investment risks (e.g. liquidity risk, currency risk, foreign investment risk, etc.) associated with this fund beyond the normal risks generally associated with investing in a mutual fund.
  Portfolio Profile
Asset Allocation
% of Net Assets
U.S. Stocks 66.3
Non-U.S. Stocks 2.9
Bonds 13.4
Cash 14.7
Other 2.7
Total 100.0
Asset Allocation Long/Short/Net Graph
Data through 2025-03-31
Morningstar Equity Sectors
% of Stocks
Cyclical 56.21
Basic Materials 4.34
Consumer Cyclical 8.84
Financial Services 43.03
Real Estate 0.00
Sensitive 38.72
Communication Services 18.98
Energy 7.91
Industrials 8.11
Technology 3.72
Defensive 5.07
Consumer Defensive 0.41
Healthcare 4.66
Utilities 0.00
Data through 2025-03-31
Holding Status
Total Number of Stock Holdings 132
Total Number of Bond Holdings 33
% of Net Assets in Top 10 Holdings 47.12
Turnover % (as of 2024-12-31) 178.00
30 Day SEC Yield % ---
Top Holdings
Sector P/E % of Net
Assets
Goldman Sachs FS Treasury Intms Instl --- --- 11.05
Endeavor Group Holdings Inc Class A --- 7.65
ChampionX Corp 16.45 5.32
Discover Financial Services --- 4.70
GSR III Acquisition Corp Class A ordinary shares 75.01 4.44
Berry Global Group Inc --- 3.12
United States Steel Corp --- 2.92
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP / Calumet Finance Corp 11% --- --- 2.86
Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc --- 2.56
Beacon Roofing Supply Inc Class A --- 2.50
Data through 2025-03-31
  Principal Risks   
Event-Driven Investment/Arbitrage Strategies, Hedging Strategies, Short Sale, Credit and Counterparty, Prepayment (Call), Emerging Markets, Foreign Securities, Loss of Money, Not FDIC Insured, High Portfolio Turnover, Interest Rate, Market/Market Volatility, Convertible Securities, Distressed Investments, Equity Securities, ETF, High-Yield Securities, Industry and Sector Investing, Options, Other, Restricted/Illiquid Securities, Underlying Fund/Fund of Funds, Derivatives, Leverage, Regulation/Government Intervention, Shareholder Activity, Management, Small Cap, Mid-Cap, Large Cap, Technology Sector
Show Risk Definitions
  Other Information
Inception Date: 2004-05-26
Portfolio Manager(s)
Michael T. Shannon   (2007-01-31)
Mr. Shannon has served as Co-President of the Westchester Capital Management, LLC (“Westchester”) since 2011 and Co-Chief Investment Officer since October 2021. Mr. Shannon served as Westchester’s Director of Research from May 1996 until April 2005. From April 2005 to April 2006, Mr. Shannon was Senior Vice President in charge of the Special Situations and Mergers Group of D.E. Shaw & Co. Mr. Shannon returned to Westchester in May 2006 as a research analyst and portfolio strategist and has served as a portfolio manager for the Fund since January 2007. Mr. Shannon is a Partner of Pembroke where he is also a Portfolio Manager. He graduated from McGill University in 1980 in Electrical Engineering and from the Richard Ivey School of Business at The University of Western Ontario in 1983 with a master’s in business administration degree. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1990.
Roy D. Behren   (2007-01-31)
Roy Behren is co-president and co-chief investment officer at Westchester Capital Management, LLC, and an investment management affiliate of Virtus Investment Partners. Mr. Behren is also a co-portfolio manager at Westchester and its affiliate, Westchester Capital Partners, LLC. Mr. Behren was named managing partner of Westchester in 2010, having held the role of chief compliance officer from September 2002 through June 2010. He joined Westchester in 1994 from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s New York Regional Office, where he worked as an enforcement attorney for seven years. He also served as a member of Redback Networks’ board of directors and its audit committee from 2004 through 2006. Mr. Behren earned a B.S. in economics at The Wharton School, a J.D. from the University of Miami Law School, and an LL.M. in corporate law from the New York University School of Law. He began working in the investment industry in 1987.
Investment Advisor(s)
Virtus Investment Advisers, LLC
Issuer
Virtus
Subadvisor(s)
Westchester Capital Management LLC
Show Data Definitions

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