HARTFORD, Conn., Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTS), which operates a multi-manager asset management business, today announced that Rajiv Jain of Vontobel Asset Management has been named Morningstar's 2012 International-Stock Fund Manager of the Year (U.S) for his outstanding long-term portfolio management of the Virtus Foreign Opportunities Fund (Class A: JVIAX) and Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund (Class A: HEMZX).

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"Jain ... is an unconventional manager whose portfolios don't look much like those of indexes or his peers," wrote Morningstar senior fund analyst Gregg Wolper in an article on Morningstar.com. "He wants steady growers with dominant positions in their fields [and] straightforward, understandable business plans. In 2012, Jain's funds have benefited from an absence of stocks suffering significant losses (outside of a few mining companies) as much as the presence of big winners. Certainly, investor preference for defensive types of companies helped the funds' returns for much of this year."

Vontobel Asset Management, which has subadvised Virtus funds since 2005, employs a high-quality, benchmark-agnostic approach to portfolio management that emphasizes companies over countries. Virtus' relationship with Vontobel has grown from two funds with $120 million in assets under management to five funds with more than $8 billion managed as of December 31, 2012.

"We congratulate Rajiv on this honor, which is a well-deserved recognition for his distinguished, long-term track record of these two funds," said George R. Aylward, president and chief executive officer of Virtus. "Morningstar's acknowledgment of the quality and consistency of Rajiv's investment process confirms the success of his approach to risk-controlled investing over full market cycles. The international equity markets have been difficult to navigate over the past five years, but Rajiv's steadfast approach has allowed him to deliver top-tier performance for our fund shareholders."

The Virtus Foreign Opportunities Fund has a five-star rating in the Morningstar Foreign Large Growth category, and has a top-decile rank for the one-, three-, and ten-year periods, and a top quartile rank for the five-year period. The Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund has a five star rating in the Morningstar Diversified Emerging Markets category, and is ranked as a top decile fund on a one-, three-, and five-year basis and as a top quartile fund on a ten-year basis. (Data as of November 30, 2012.) Jain also manages the Virtus Greater Asia ex Japan Opportunities Fund (Class A: VGAAX) and co-manages the Virtus Global Opportunities Fund (Class A: NWWOX).

Established in 1988, the Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year award recognizes portfolio managers who demonstrate excellent investment skill and the courage to differ from the consensus to benefit investors. To qualify for the award, managers' funds must have not only posted impressive returns for the year, but the managers also must have a record of delivering outstanding long-term risk-adjusted performance and of aligning their interests with shareholders'. Nominated funds must be Morningstar Medalists--a fund that has garnered a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Gold, Silver, or Bronze. The Fund Manager of the Year award winners are chosen based on Morningstar's proprietary research and in-depth qualitative evaluation by its fund analysts.

About Vontobel Asset Management
Vontobel Asset Management, Inc. is a global investment management firm dedicated exclusively to managing long-only global equity portfolios. Established in 1984, Vontobel has approximately $34 billion in assets under management as of November 30, 2012. Vontobel serves both institutional and intermediary clients, including some of the world's leading corporations and public and private pension funds. Vontobel is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vontobel Holding AG and a sister company of Bank Vontobel AG, one of Switzerland's foremost private banks for over eighty years. Vontobel Holding AG is an exchange-listed Swiss company.

About Virtus Investment Partners
Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ: VRTS) is a distinctive partnership of boutique investment managers singularly committed to the long-term success of individual and institutional investors. The company provides investment management products and services through its affiliated managers and select subadvisers, each with a distinct investment style, autonomous investment process, and individual brand. Virtus Investment Partners offers access to a variety of investment styles across multiple disciplines to meet a wide array of investor needs. Its affiliated managers include Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co., Euclid Advisors LLC, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management, LLC, Newfleet Asset Management, LLC, Newfound Investments LLC, Rampart Investment Management Co., LLC, and Zweig Advisers LLC. Additional information is available at www.virtus.com.

Morningstar Data as of 11/30/2012


          Fund                              Category        Overall Star
                                                               Rating          3-Year Star Rating     5-Year Star Rating    10-Year Star Rating
          ----                              --------          ------------    ------------------     ------------------    -------------------
          Load
          Waived                            With Load Load Waived  With Load Load Waived  With Load Load Waived  With Load
          ------                            --------- -----------  --------- -----------  --------- -----------  ---------
    JVIAX        Foreign Large Growth                           5          5           5          5           5          4         5         5
    -----        --------------------                         ---        ---         ---        ---         ---        ---       ---       ---
    HEMZX        Diversified Emerging Markets                   5          5           5          5           5          5         5         5
    -----        ----------------------------                 ---        ---         ---        ---         ---        ---       ---       ---



            Fund                                     Category                             Ranking/ Funds in Category
            ----                                     --------                             --------------------------
           1-Year                                     3-Year                                        5-Year                 10-Year
           ------                                     ------                                        ------                 -------
            JVIAX                              Foreign Large Growth                                            4/240              9/212                35/174                 3/100
            -----                              --------------------                                            -----              -----                ------                 -----
            HEMZX                          Diversified Emerging Markets                                       51/552              3/355                 5/249                20/150
            -----                          ----------------------------                                       ------              -----                 -----                ------

Data sourced from Morningstar Essentials.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating(TM) based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effect of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variation and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating(TM) for a fund is derived from a weighted average of performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and ten- year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. Load-waived star ratings do not include any front-end sales load and are intended for those investors who have access to those terms (e.g., for plan participants of a defined contribution plan). Ratings are for Class A shares as shown only; other share classes bear different fees and expenses, which affect performance.

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Important risk considerations: The market price of equity securities may be affected by financial market, industry, or issuer-specific events. Focus on a particular style or on small or medium-sized companies may enhance that risk. A fund that focuses its investments in a particular industry or sector will be more sensitive to conditions that affect that industry or sector than a non-concentrated fund. Investing internationally, especially in emerging markets, involves additional risks such as currency, political, accounting, economic, and market risk. A fund that focuses its investments in a particular geographic location will be highly sensitive to financial, economic, political, and other developments affecting the fiscal stability of that location.

Strong ratings are not indicative of positive fund performance and past performance is no guarantee of future results. For complete investment performance, please visit www.virtus.com.

Please carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. For this and other information about the Virtus Mutual Funds, call 1-800-243-4361 or visit www.Virtus.com for a prospectus. Read it carefully before you invest or send money.

Virtus Mutual Funds are distributed by VP Distributors, LLC, member FINRA and subsidiary of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc.

SOURCE Virtus Investment Partners, Inc.