Virtus Investment Partners continues to integrate additions to its multiaffiliate structure and evolve its fund lineup, supporting an Average Parent rating.
The publicly traded firm oversees roughly USD 175 billion in assets under management across 14 affiliates and a handful of external subadvisors. Virtus added 10 of its affiliates between 2017 and 2023 and now fully owns all but one. Some of its managers are strong, including equity specialist Kayne Anderson Rudnick, which is Virtus’s largest affiliate at nearly 40% of AUM. Affiliates enjoy autonomy over their investment approaches while they benefit from Virtus’ distribution and back-office resources. Recently, the firm has focused on building out its new proprietary risk-management system and transitioning affiliates to it.
Virtus is leveraging its multiboutique structure to compete in different vehicles and geographies. Since acquiring Virtus ETF Solutions in 2015, the firm has continued to grow its exchange-traded fund offerings. It launched three new active ETFs in 2024, including a private credit collateralized loan obligation ETF run by affiliate Seix. Virtus also expanded its non-US offerings by launching eight UCITS versions of core strategies in 2023 and 2024. Although Virtus has lowered expenses as assets have grown, more than half of its share classes still carry high or above-average fees relative to peers.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, Virtus (Branding Name ID: BN00000CHC), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
United States