Virtus (VRTS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Motley Fool Transcribing, The Motley Fool

Fri, February 6, 2026 astatine 11:23 AM CST 27 min read

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Feb. 6, 2026 astatine 10 a.m. ET

• President and Chief Executive Officer — George Aylward

• Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer — Michael Angerthal

• Operator

George Aylward: Thank you, Sean, and bully morning, everyone. I'll commencement with an overview of the results we reported this morning, and past Michael volition supply much detail. The 4th fourth reflected a challenging situation for america fixed the quality-oriented equity strategies, which correspond fractional of our AUM, remained retired of favor, resulting successful an accrued level of nett outflows. As we person antecedently noted, our quality-oriented equity strategies person delivered beardown semipermanent show crossed cycles and person antecedently been our largest drivers of maturation erstwhile successful favor. However, the marketplace backdrop continued to favour much momentum-driven stocks resulting successful near-term underperformance.

Importantly, the interaction from our prime equity strategies has overshadowed areas of spot crossed the business, which successful the 4th see affirmative nett flows and strategies from respective managers, including successful maturation equity, emerging markets debt, listed existent assets, and event-driven. Continued beardown affirmative nett flows successful ETFs, merchandise introductions of differentiated actively managed ETFs, enlargement into backstage markets with 2 strategical investments, coagulated semipermanent concern performance, with fixed income and alternatives besides having beardown near-term show continued instrumentality of capital, with $10 cardinal of stock buybacks successful the quarter, and a coagulated equilibrium expanse meaningful liquidity, and de minimis nett leverage astatine year-end.

We proceed to execute our strategical priorities successful the quarter, including broadening our merchandise offerings, with respective ETF introductions and enlargement into the backstage markets. For ETFs, we launched 3 caller actively managed funds successful the quarter, including a maturation opportunities ETF from Silvent, and U.S. and planetary dividend strategies from our systematic team. We expect respective further progressive ETF launches implicit the adjacent 2 quarters crossed managers, including Stone Harbor, Duff and Phelps, and Silvent. We present person 25 ETFs spanning a scope of strategies and proceed to absorption connected broadening entree to them successful organisation channels. In addition, we person respective different caller offerings successful process oregon filing including interval funds and further retail abstracted relationship strategies.

And arsenic mentioned, we besides person expanded into backstage markets with the antecedently announced pending acquisition of a bulk involvement successful Keystone National Group, an asset-centric backstage recognition manager, and a number concern successful Crescent Cove, a task maturation manager. I volition sermon some successful much item shortly. Looking astatine our 4th fourth results, assets nether absorption were $159 cardinal astatine December 31, down from $169 cardinal owed to nett outflows and the interaction of marketplace performance. Total income of $5.3 cardinal compared with $6.3 cardinal successful the 3rd quarter, which included a $400 cardinal CLO issuance. Total nett outflows were $8.1 cardinal and crossed products, the outflows were astir wholly driven by equities.