Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund

Home / Mutual Fund / Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund
Mutual Fund Specialty

Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund

Image specific to each asset class and market style grouping.
Ticker
RAGTX
CUSIP
92837Q801
POP
$ (as of )
Inception
02/05/2002
Total Assets by Class
$517,306,750.23 (as of 06/05/2023)
Total Assets by Fund
$1,270,553,311.27 (as of 06/05/2023)
Morningstar Category
Technology

Portfolio Overview

Investment Overview

The Fund seeks attractive long-term competitive returns by investing in a diversified portfolio of innovative technology companies that are capitalizing on the major themes powering tech sector growth.

Effective July 25, 2022, this Fund's name and subadviser have changed.

Management Team

Investment Partner

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC is a growth equity boutique. The investment team applies rigorous fundamental research to build exclusively high-growth portfolios.


Learn more about Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC

Investment Professionals

Nancy Zevenbergen

Nancy Zevenbergen, CFA

President, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager

Industry start date: 1981
Start date as fund Portfolio Manager: 2022

Show More
Brooke de Boutray

Brooke de Boutray, CFA

Co-Chief Investment Officer, Portfolio Manager

Industry start date: 1982
Start date as fund Portfolio Manager: 2022

Show More
Joe Dennison

Joseph Dennison, CFA

Portfolio Manager

Industry start date: 2011
Start date as fund Portfolio Manager: 2022

Show More
Anthony Zackery

Anthony Zackery, CFA

Portfolio Manager, Sustainable Investment Lead

Industry start date: 2011
Start date as fund Portfolio Manager: 2022

Show More

Key Features

Capitalizing on Technological Growth Trends

The Fund aims to identify significant growth trends ahead of the crowd, building an intimate knowledge of technology companies with optimal exposure to key trends and investing in those that demonstrate market leading potential

Diversified Technology Portfolio

The Fund invests in 40-70 emerging and mature technology companies, focusing on revenue, cash flow, and earnings growth in companies with strong management and solid fundamentals

Leveraging an Information Advantage

The portfolio management team has deep experience uncovering emerging trends and managing investments in technology companies across lifecycles, applying perspective from decades of industry knowledge

Portfolio Characteristics

Characteristics4

(as of 03/31/2023)
Average Weighted Market Cap (billions) $716.37
Median Market Cap (billions) $53.60
Trailing P/E Ex-Negative Earnings 37.35
Price-to-Cash Flow 30.47
Price-to-Book Value 9.78
3-Year Earnings Growth Rate 26.47

Top Holdings (% Fund)

(as of 03/31/2023)
Security
Microsoft Corp
8.62
 8.62%
Apple Inc
8.11
 8.11%
Alphabet, Inc.- Cl C
7.96
 7.96%
Amazon.com Inc
7.27
 7.27%
NVIDIA Corp
5.86
 5.86%
Palo Alto Networks Inc
3.34
 3.34%
Meta Platforms Inc
3.30
 3.30%
Tesla Inc
3.19
 3.19%
Visa Inc
3.17
 3.17%
ON Semiconductor Corp
3.11
 3.11%

Holdings are subject to change.

Industry Allocation (% Equity)

(as of 03/31/2023)
Systems Software
19.83
 19.83%
Semiconductors
17.75
 17.75%
Interactive Media Services
11.29
 11.29%
Broadline Retail
9.87
 9.87%
Technology,Hardware,Storage&Periphe
8.12
 8.12%
Transaction & Payment Processing Services
5.22
 5.22%
Application Software
5.21
 5.21%
Internet Services & Infrastructure
4.67
 4.67%
Semiconductor Materials & Equipment
3.66
 3.66%
Automobile Manufacturers
3.20
 3.20%
Advertising
2.79
 2.79%
Passenger Ground Transportation
1.54
 1.54%
Electronic Components
1.51
 1.51%
Technology Distributors
1.46
 1.46%
Aerospace & Defense
1.27
 1.27%
Communications Equipment
1.24
 1.24%
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines
0.80
 0.80%
Electrical Components & Equipment
0.27
 0.27%
Real Estate Operating Companies
0.23
 0.23%
Trading Companies & Distributors
0.09
 0.09%

Performance & Risk

Growth of $10,000 Investment

From to
This chart assumes an initial investment of $10,000 made on for Class ddd shares including any applicable sales charges. Performance assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions.

Performance

As of
As of

Performance data quoted represents past results. Past performance is no guarantee of future results and current performance may be higher or lower than the performance shown. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate, so your shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

Sales Charge and Expenses

Risk Statistics3

(as of )
Fund Index
R2
Beta
Alpha
Std Dev

Risk Considerations

Market Volatility: The value of the securities in the portfolio may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies and/or general economic conditions. Local, regional, or global events such as war, terrorism, pandemic, or recession could impact the portfolio, including hampering the ability of the portfolio's manager(s) to invest its assets as intended.
Issuer Risk: The portfolio will be affected by factors specific to the issuers of securities and other instruments in which the portfolio invests, including actual or perceived changes in the financial condition or business prospects of such issuers.
Equity Securities: The market price of equity securities may be adversely affected by financial market, industry, or issuer-specific events. Focus on a particular style or on small, medium, or large-sized companies may enhance that risk.
Focused Investments: To the extent the portfolio focuses its investments on a limited number of issuers, sectors, industries or geographic regions, it may be subject to increased risk and volatility.
Foreign Investing: Investing in foreign securities subjects the portfolio to additional risks such as increased volatility; currency fluctuations; less liquidity; less publicly available information about the foreign investment; and political, regulatory, economic, and market risk.
Prospectus: For additional information on risks, please see the fund's prospectus.

Commentary

1Q23

Market Review

A combination of resilient economic data and moderating inflation in the first quarter provided hope that the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) interest rate playbook might be entering its final innings.  A welcome period of improved portfolio performance followed as some investors navigated back to companies that are executing efficiently, implementing operational changes, and guiding to continued secular growth. This optimism was tempered in March by several high-profile bank failures and the subsequent scrutiny of financial institutions’ balance sheets and cash positions, which generated significant volatility across most asset classes. These developments left investors assessing the extent of future Fed actions and top-down considerations related to the access and cost of capital for individuals and businesses.

Fund Performance

Amid these macro-related developments, the Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund returned 25.11% (Class I) in the quarter, outperforming the 21.45% return of the S&P North American Technology Sector Index. The Fund’s consumer discretionary (automobiles, diversified retailers) and information technology (semiconductors, computer hardware) holdings were responsible for most of the quarterly returns, while the real estate sector (diversified REITs) was a minor detractor from performance. 

NVIDIA and Apple were the largest contributors to performance in the quarter.

  • Shares of NVIDIA, founder-led maker of high-performance semiconductors, reflected broad excitement for artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the quarter. Mainstream success of OpenAI's ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) language tool, led NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang to proclaim that the industry has experienced its "iPhone moment," indicating a significant breakthrough that could result in more graphics processing chip sales over time. Further contributing to investor enthusiasm for the company's ambitions, management announced a new cloud-based service for enterprise customers wanting to build and deploy AI technology themselves, helping research analysts envision significant long-term hardware and software revenue potential. 
  • Apple steadily climbed in the quarter amid revived enthusiasm for technology stocks. Supporting further gains, fears of a liquidity crisis in the banking sector pushed many investors to reduce allocations to financial services in favor of mega-cap stocks with strong balance sheets. Beyond the macro story, Apple announced leadership changes intended to deepen its focus on India, where the market opportunity for its iPhone and product suite is expected to be significant and is currently underpenetrated. Management plans to leverage its experience in China to bring the country to scale, capitalizing on the continued rollout of 5G infrastructure, a rising middle class, and introduction of retail stores to the region.
  • Microsoft, Amazon.com, and Tesla were also among the largest performance contributors.

Enphase Energy and BILL Holdings were the largest detractors from performance in the quarter.

  • Global energy tech company Enphase Energy, a strong performer in 2022, started 2023 with selling pressure despite posting 76% fourth-quarter revenue growth. Adverse reactions were likely due to a combination of market rotations away from last year's strong stock market performers, as well as lowered short-term residential installation expectations as consumers and investors digest new regulations and tax credit interpretations. Interest rate moves and uncertainty in regional banks also weighed on sentiment for domestic-focused solar players that still depend on project financing. Compelling long-term economics and enduring renewable, energy independence trends are expected to support the company’s continued growth over the long term.
  • BILL Holdings, a founder-led provider of financial automation software, reported 49% year-over-year core revenue growth and over 20 million payments processed for its small- and medium-sized business customers. However, management acknowledged slowing growth in new client additions and platform payments volume, as economic concerns caused businesses to reduce and delay costs. While heightened near-term macro uncertainty and competitive fears have weighed on shares, the company's fundamental drivers remain intact. BILL seems well-positioned to capture share of the ongoing digitization of manual accounting processes throughout American businesses. 
  • Xometry, GitLab, and Aspen Technology were also among the largest performance detractors.

Perspective

The financial world can feel as if it’s traveling at warp speed with dynamic headlines about technological advancements, Fed announcements, economic data disclosures, and corporate statements. The global economy and investor psychology oscillates, cycling between periods of accommodative (hope) and restrictive (despair) conditions, with speculators attempting to forecast and time each hypothesis along the way. Above the fray, ZCI remains unwavering in the view that a company’s revenue, earnings, and free cash flow growth ultimately determine investment outcomes.

Two recent events have the potential of disrupting status quo behaviors from Wall Street to Main Street. First, the U.S. regional bank crisis exposed fragility in the banking system and will likely result in tighter lending conditions and more onerous industry regulations. The benefits of operating as a well-capitalized public company should not be taken for granted in this environment. ZCI will continue to monitor capital market trends and cash needs for existing and prospective portfolio companies.

Second, the public release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, an AI and machine learning (ML) language tool, captured the attention of more than 100 million users faster than any application in history. AI/ML concepts have been around for decades, but the industry has arguably experienced its “leap forward” moment. Companies that provide critical infrastructure used in AI development, as well as those that have large and diverse datasets to train the models, stand to benefit as technology and markets continue to evolve. The need for innovation is perpetual, offering exciting and potentially wealth-creating frontiers for investors with a time horizon long enough to weather the daily noise.

The commentary is the opinion of the subadviser. This material has been prepared using sources of information generally believed to be reliable; however, its accuracy is not guaranteed. Opinions represented are subject to change and should not be considered investment advice or an offer of securities.

Related Literature

Marketing Materials

Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund Fact Sheet - INST
Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund Fact Sheet - A

Financial Materials

Virtus Investment Trust Statutory Prospectus
Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund Summary Prospectus
Virtus Investment Trust SAI
Virtus Investment Trust Annual Report
Virtus Investment Trust Semiannual Report

Holdings

Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Quarterly Holdings
Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund Top Holdings
Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund Holdings Fiscal Q1
Virtus Zevenbergen Technology Fund Holdings Fiscal Q3

Section 19(a) Notices

Section 19(a) Notice for Ex-Date December 21, 2022

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of any Virtus Mutual Fund before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contains this and other information about the fund. Please contact your financial representative, call 1-800-243-4361 to obtain a current prospectus and/or summary prospectus. You should read the prospectus and/or summary prospectus carefully before you invest or send money.

Performance data quoted represents past results. Past performance is no guarantee of future results and current performance may be higher or lower than the performance shown. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate, so your shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

Average annual total return is the annual compound return for the indicated period. It reflects the change in share price and the reinvestment of all dividends and capital gains. NAV returns do not include the effect of any applicable sales charges. POP and w/CDSC returns include the effect of maximum applicable sales charges.

Returns for periods of less than one year are cumulative total returns.

1 Yields/Distributions: 30-day SEC Yield is a standardized yield calculated according to a formula set by the SEC, and is subject to change. 30-day SEC Yield (unsubsidized) is the 30-day SEC Yield without the effect of applicable expense waivers. Distribution Rate is calculated by (a) annualizing the latest income distribution for fixed income funds or funds less than 1 year old, or (b) summing all income distributions over the preceding 12 months for all other funds, and dividing by the NAV on the last business date of the period, unless otherwise indicated. The Distribution Rate may be comprised of ordinary income, net realized capital gains and returns of capital.

2 Distribution History: Distributions are represented on a cash basis and may be reclassified at year end for tax purposes. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. STCG: Short Term Capital Gain, LTCG: Long Term Capital Gain

3 Risk Statistics: R2 is a statistical measure that represents the percentage of a fund or security's movements that can be explained by movements in a benchmark index. Beta is a quantitative measure of the volatility of a given portfolio to the overall market. Alpha is a risk adjusted measure of an investment's excess return relative to a benchmark. A positive Alpha indicates that the investment produced a return greater than expected for the risk (as measured by Beta) taken. Standard Deviation measures variability of returns around the average return for an investment fund. Higher standard deviation suggests greater risk. Risk Statistics are calculated using 36 monthly returns.

4 Characteristics: For Equity Funds: Avg. Weighted Market Cap (bn): The sum of each security's weight within the fund (or index) multiplied by the security's market capitalization. Trailing P/E Ex-Negative Earnings: Per-share stock price divided by the latest 12-months Earnings per Share; Price/Cash Flow: Per-share stock price divided by the per-share operating cash flow; Price/Book: Per-share stock price divided by the latest 12-month per-share Book Value; 3-Year EPS Growth Rate: Average of earnings per share growth for latest 3-year period. The 3-Year EPS Growth Rate is not a forecast of the fund's performance.

4 Characteristics: For Fixed Income Funds: Effective Duration represents the interest rate sensitivity of a fixed income fund. For example, if a fund's effective duration is five years, a 1% increase in interest rates would result in a 5% decline in the fund's price. Similarly, a 1% decline in interest rates would result in a 5% gain in the fund's price.

Morningstar Disclosures:
The Morningstar Rating for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product 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 for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Ratings do not take into account the effects of sales charges and loads.

© Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.