Kelleher Named Head of Institutional Asset Management at Newfleet

HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Newfleet Asset Management, a boutique asset management company that has $10.7 billion of assets under management in an array of distinctive fixed income strategies, today announced that Christopher J. Kelleher, CFA, CPA, has been named senior managing director and head of institutional asset management.

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In this new position, Kelleher will oversee implementing the management of Newfleet's mandates, including its multi-sector core plus, multi-sector short duration, multi-sector opportunistic, high yield, and bank loans strategies, to institutional clients and consultants.

"The Newfleet team has a long and very successful history managing assets for mutual fund clients, and we believe there are considerable opportunities to offer these differentiated fixed income strategies to institutional clients as well," said David L. Albrycht, CFA, Newfleet's president and chief investment officer. "Chris has strong client relationship skills and extensive knowledge of our strategies, and his expertise will be essential as we grow our institutional platform."

Kelleher joined Newfleet in 2012 as managing director and senior portfolio manager and is co-manager of the Virtus Balanced Fund (Class A: PHBLX), the Virtus Bond Fund (Class A: SAVAX), and the Virtus Low Duration Income Fund (Class A: HIMZX). He has more than 25 years of investment experience in all bond market sectors, including both publicly traded and private placements. He previously was a senior managing director and senior portfolio manager at Goodwin Capital Advisers, where he managed approximately $1 billion in multi-sector bond portfolios, and was instrumental in managing institutional client relations for Taft-Hartley plans and public retirement plans.

Kelleher is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a B.S. degree in accounting, and earned a master's degree in accounting from the University of Hartford. He holds Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Financial Analyst^®, Certified Financial Planner^TM (CFP^®) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU^®) professional designations.

About Newfleet Asset Management
Newfleet Asset Management, an affiliated manager of Virtus Investment Partners, provides comprehensive fixed income portfolio management, including multi-sector, enhanced core, and core plus strategies and dedicated sector strategies such as emerging markets debt, bank loans and high yield. Newfleet leverages the knowledge and skill of a team of investment professionals with expertise in every sector of the bond market, including evolving, specialized, and out-of-favor sectors.

About Virtus Investment Partners
Virtus Investment Partners (NASDAQ: VRTS), which had $45.5 billion of assets under management at December 31, 2012, is a distinctive partnership of boutique investment managers singularly committed to the long-term success of individual and institutional investors. Virtus offers access to a variety of investment styles across multiple disciplines to meet a wide array of investor needs, and provides products and services through affiliated managers and select subadvisers, each with a distinct investment style, autonomous investment process and individual brand. 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 can be found at www.virtus.com.

Debt securities are subject to various risks, the most prominent of which are credit and interest rate risk. The issuer of a security may fail to make payments in a timely manner. Values of debt securities may rise and fall in response to changes in interest rates. This risk may be enhanced with longer-term maturities. There is a greater level of credit risk and price volatility involved with high yield securities than investment grade securities. There may be no ready market for bank loan participation interests. The fund may have to sell the interests at a substantial discount. Such interests are subject to the credit risk of the underlying corporate borrower.

Please consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information about the fund. Call 1-800-243-4361 or visit Virtus.com for a prospectus and summary prospectus. The prospectus and summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

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

SOURCE Newfleet Asset Management