Fund Evaluator:

Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I Overview

Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I (SHLMX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond fund. Virtus launched the fund in 2010.

The investment seeks to maximize total return, which consists of income on its investments and capital appreciation. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings made for investment purposes) in Emerging Markets Investments. It may invest in securities of any credit rating (including unrated securities) and may invest without limit in higher risk, below-investment grade debt securities, commonly referred to as "high yield" securities or "junk bonds." The Adviser normally maintains an average portfolio duration of between 2 and 7 years. The fund is non-diversified.

About Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I (SHLMX)

There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 5.04 years: Steffen Reichold (2026), Stuart Sclater-Booth (2017), Richard Lange (2026), Darin Batchman (2026), James Craige (2010). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg Global Aggregate TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and JPM GBI-EM Global Diversified TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I has 112 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 35.9% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I has 95.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 95.5% (0.0% domestic bond, 95.5% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I has 4.6% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $11 million in total assets, which is below the $141 million average for the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

SHLMX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category. Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I has an expense ratio of 1.00%, which is 15% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I has a portfolio turnover rate of 78%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 93% for the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I returned 0.3%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category had an average return of 0.1%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I has a trailing yield of 9.98%, which is above the 6.47% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Virtus Stone Harbor Local Markets I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 1.8%, 0.4 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 9.5% over the past year (grade of C), 5.3% over the past three years (grade of F) and 1.5% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 1.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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