Morningstar® Investment Profile™   Morningstar®
Disclosure
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The Merger Fund VL I
Release date as of 2024-10-31. Data on page is subject to change.
Snapshot Ratings & Risk Portfolio Nuts & Bolts
  Morningstar Report
Overall Morningstar
Rating™
What is this?
As of 2024-10-31
Out of 45
Event Driven Funds
Morningstar®
Style Box™
What is this?
As of 2024-06-30
Total Fund Assets ($ Mil)
32.41
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 75.0
Non-U.S. Stocks 2.4
Bonds 9.0
Cash 12.9
Other 0.8
Total 100.0
Asset Allocation Long/Short/Net Graph
Data through 2024-06-30
Morningstar Equity Sectors
% of Stocks
Cyclical 35.53
Basic Materials 4.74
Consumer Cyclical 8.22
Financial Services 22.57
Real Estate 0.00
Sensitive 47.49
Communication Services 6.85
Energy 23.06
Industrials 9.17
Technology 8.41
Defensive 16.98
Consumer Defensive 1.17
Healthcare 15.56
Utilities 0.25
Data through 2024-06-30
Holding Status
Total Number of Stock Holdings 160
Total Number of Bond Holdings 29
% of Net Assets in Top 10 Holdings 44.79
Turnover % (as of 2023-12-31) 222.00
30 Day SEC Yield % ---
Top Holdings
Sector P/E % of Net
Assets
Hess Corp 15.73 9.33
Goldman Sachs FS Treasury Intms Instl --- --- 8.00
Endeavor Group Holdings Inc Class A --- 5.13
WestRock Co --- 4.58
United States Steel Corp 24.59 3.55
Amedisys Inc 33.67 3.34
Axonics Inc --- 2.88
Altaba Inc Escrow --- --- 2.87
Equitrans Midstream Corp --- 2.67
Southwestern Energy Co --- 2.44
Data through 2024-06-30
  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)
Mr. Roy Behren serves as Managing Partner, Member of Investment Committee, Managing Member and Portfolio Manager at Westchester Capital Funds. He was also their Chief Compliance Officer from September 2002 through June 2010. After earning a B.S. in Economics at The Wharton School, he received a J.D. degree from the University of Miami Law School and an LL.M. degree in corporate law from the New York University School of Law. In 1987, he joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's New York Regional Office, where he worked as an enforcement attorney for seven years prior to starting his investment career at WCM. From 2004 through 2006, Roy served as a member of Redback Networks' Board of Directors and its Audit Committee.
Investment Advisor(s)
Virtus Investment Advisers, Inc.
Issuer
Virtus
Subadvisor(s)
Westchester Capital Management LLC
Show Data Definitions

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