Key Takeaways
- • Virtus AlphaSimplex Managed Futures Strategy Fund Class I shares delivered 2.42% returns in Q2 2026, demonstrating the strategy's ability to generate positive absolute returns during the period.
- • Total fund assets reached $953.77 million as of September 18, 2026, indicating stable capital base supporting the systematic trend-following investment approach.
- • The fund employs a pure trend-following strategy across global liquid futures and forward contracts spanning equity, fixed income, currency, and commodity markets, with capacity for both long and short positioning to profit from identifiable market trends.
- • AlphaSimplex Group's investment team includes four senior portfolio managers with deep quantitative expertise, led by Chief Investment Officer Alexander D. Healy (CIO since 2014) and Chief Research Strategist Kathryn M. Kaminski, supported by recently added Senior Portfolio Manager Tansu Demirbilek (since 2025).
- • Managed futures strategies historically exhibit low long-term correlation to traditional stock and bond markets, positioning the fund as a potential diversification tool for institutional portfolios seeking differentiated return sources.
Summary
The Virtus AlphaSimplex Managed Futures Strategy Fund pursues an absolute return investment mandate centered on long-term capital appreciation through a systematically disciplined, trend-following approach. During the second quarter of 2026, the fund's Class I shares generated 2.42% returns, reflecting the strategy's performance during a period of market activity. As of mid-September 2026, the fund maintained total assets of approximately $953.77 million, providing a substantial capital base for implementation of its quantitative investment framework.
The fund's investment approach is built on identifying and capitalizing on momentum signals across a diversified global opportunity set. Rather than maintaining static directional exposures, AlphaSimplex dynamically takes long and short positions in liquid futures and forward contracts spanning global equity markets, fixed income, currencies, and commodities. This flexibility enables the strategy to generate returns from both rising and falling market environments, provided detectable trends exist. The pure trend-following methodology is designed to operate independently of traditional market cycles, historically demonstrating low long-term correlation to stocks and bonds—a characteristic that positions the strategy as a complementary component within diversified institutional portfolios.
The fund is managed by AlphaSimplex Group, LLC, a systematic alternatives manager founded in 1999 and now operating as part of Virtus Investment Partners. The investment team comprises four experienced portfolio managers: Alexander D. Healy, Ph.D. (Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager since 2014, with 19 years of industry experience), Kathryn M. Kaminski, Ph.D., CAIA (Chief Research Strategist and Portfolio Manager since 2018, with 18 years of experience), Philippe P. Lüdi, Ph.D., CFA (Senior Research Scientist and Portfolio Manager since 2014, with 20 years of industry tenure), and Tansu Demirbilek (Senior Research Scientist and Senior Portfolio Manager, who joined the fund's portfolio management team in 2025). The fund employs extensive use of derivative instruments, including futures, options, forward contracts, swaps, and foreign exchange contracts, both exchange-listed and over-the-counter.
The strategy's appeal lies in its differentiated return source and pattern relative to conventional asset classes. By systematically exploiting trend persistence across multiple market regimes—equity rallies, bond bear markets, currency shifts, and commodity cycles—the managed futures framework offers institutional investors and family offices an alternative portfolio building block with inherent diversification benefits. The fund is available in multiple share classes, including Class A, Class C, and Class R6, accommodating varying investor preferences and fee structures.
The fund's investment approach is built on identifying and capitalizing on momentum signals across a diversified global opportunity set. Rather than maintaining static directional exposures, AlphaSimplex dynamically takes long and short positions in liquid futures and forward contracts spanning global equity markets, fixed income, currencies, and commodities. This flexibility enables the strategy to generate returns from both rising and falling market environments, provided detectable trends exist. The pure trend-following methodology is designed to operate independently of traditional market cycles, historically demonstrating low long-term correlation to stocks and bonds—a characteristic that positions the strategy as a complementary component within diversified institutional portfolios.
The fund is managed by AlphaSimplex Group, LLC, a systematic alternatives manager founded in 1999 and now operating as part of Virtus Investment Partners. The investment team comprises four experienced portfolio managers: Alexander D. Healy, Ph.D. (Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager since 2014, with 19 years of industry experience), Kathryn M. Kaminski, Ph.D., CAIA (Chief Research Strategist and Portfolio Manager since 2018, with 18 years of experience), Philippe P. Lüdi, Ph.D., CFA (Senior Research Scientist and Portfolio Manager since 2014, with 20 years of industry tenure), and Tansu Demirbilek (Senior Research Scientist and Senior Portfolio Manager, who joined the fund's portfolio management team in 2025). The fund employs extensive use of derivative instruments, including futures, options, forward contracts, swaps, and foreign exchange contracts, both exchange-listed and over-the-counter.
The strategy's appeal lies in its differentiated return source and pattern relative to conventional asset classes. By systematically exploiting trend persistence across multiple market regimes—equity rallies, bond bear markets, currency shifts, and commodity cycles—the managed futures framework offers institutional investors and family offices an alternative portfolio building block with inherent diversification benefits. The fund is available in multiple share classes, including Class A, Class C, and Class R6, accommodating varying investor preferences and fee structures.
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