PROSPECTUS | February 28, 2023

Virtus Private Credit Strategy Etf
(Ticker: VPC)

Virtus Real Asset Income Etf
(Ticker: VRAI)

each a series of
ETFIS SERIES TRUST I

Each of the Virtus Private Credit Strategy ETF and the Virtus Real Asset Income ETF
(each a “
Fund” and, together, the “Funds”) is an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”).
Shares of each Fund are listed on
NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange”) and trade at market prices.
The market price for each Fund’s shares may be different from its net asset value per share.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

RISK/RETURN SUMMARY INFORMATION

3

VIRTUS PRIVATE CREDIT STRATEGY ETF (TICKER: VPC)

3

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

3

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND

3

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

3

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY

4

PRINCIPAL RISKS

5

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

10

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

11

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

11

TAX INFORMATION

11

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

11

VIRTUS REAL ASSET INCOME ETF (TICKER: VRAI)

12

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

12

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND

12

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

12

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY

12

PRINCIPAL RISKS

13

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

17

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

18

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

18

TAX INFORMATION

18

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

18

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE FUNDS’ INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND RISKS

19

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS

20

INVESTMENT ADVISER

20

MANAGER OF MANAGERS STRUCTURE

21

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

21

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

22

OPERATIONAL ADMINISTRATOR

22

ACCOUNTING SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR, CUSTODIAN AND TRANSFER AGENT

22

DISTRIBUTOR

22

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

22

LEGAL COUNSEL

22

EXPENSES OF THE FUNDS

23

INVESTING IN THE FUNDS

23

DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN

23

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

23

PREMIUM/DISCOUNT INFORMATION

24

FREQUENT TRADING

24

DISTRIBUTIONS

24

FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

25

FUND DISTRIBUTIONS

25

SALE OF FUND SHARES

25

TAX TREATMENT OF FUND SHAREHOLDERS

25

WITHHOLDING

26

CREATION UNITS

26

DISCLAIMERS

27

FUND WEBSITE AND DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

27

OTHER INFORMATION

27

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

28

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Back Cover

3

RISK/RETURN SUMMARY INFORMATION

VIRTUS PRIVATE CREDIT STRATEGY ETF (TICKER: VPC)

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Virtus Private Credit Strategy ETF (the “Fund”) seeks investment results that correspond, before fees and expenses, to the price and yield performance of the Indxx Private Credit Index (the “Underlying Index”).

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may incur customary brokerage commissions, and may pay other fees to financial intermediaries, when buying or selling Shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in the table or example set forth below.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):

None

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses 
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):

       

Management Fee1

0.75

%

Other Expenses

0.00

%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses

5.97

%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses2

6.72

%

  

(1) The management fee is structured as a “unified fee,” out of which the Fund’s adviser pays all of the ordinary operating expenses of the Fund, except for the following expenses, each of which is paid by the Fund: the Fund’s management fee; payments under any 12b-1 plan; taxes and other governmental fees; brokerage fees, commissions and other transaction expenses; interest and other costs of borrowing; litigation or arbitration expenses; acquired fund fees and expenses; and extraordinary or other non-routine expenses of the Fund.
(2) The Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses may not correlate to the ratio of expenses to average net assets as reported in the “Financial Highlights” section of the Prospectus, which reflects the operating expenses of the Fund and does not include Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses.

Example.

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$666

$1,964

$3,218

$6,170

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or other instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 27% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

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PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest not less than 80% of its assets in component securities of the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is designed to track the performance of U.S.-listed, registered closed-end investment companies that have elected to be regulated as “business development companies” (“BDCs”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”), as well as U.S.-listed, non-BDC registered closed-end funds (“closed-end funds” and, together with BDCs, “Underlying Funds”), that provide significant exposure (i.e., at least 50%) to private credit, as defined by Indxx, LLC (“Indxx”), the index provider of the Underlying Index. Indxx is not affiliated with the Fund or the Fund’s investment adviser, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC (the “Adviser”).

To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, securities must (i) be U.S.-listed, (ii) have a market capitalization of more than U.S. $100 million, (iii) have a six-month average daily turnover greater than or equal to U.S. $250,000, (iv) have traded for at least 90% of the total trading days over the last six months, and (v) must have paid dividends consistently over the previous three years. Securities within this universe are then classified as either closed-end funds or BDCs, and are eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index depending upon their exposure to private credit:

1.For closed-end funds: The closed-end fund’s portfolio must (i) include investments in floating or variable loan interests, collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), senior loans, and/or other investment vehicles that have private credit exposure, and (ii) have private credit exposure of at least 50%.

2.For BDCs: The BDC must have an investment objective of generating both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments in small or middle-market companies by employing private credit strategies. Private credit strategies include providing capital through (i) direct origination of senior secured loans, (ii) unsecured debt, (iii) first/second lien debt, (iv) subordinate debt, (v) mezzanine financing, (vi) preferred equity, (vii) rescue financing, (viii) specialty lending, and (ix) distressed credit. These private credit strategies generally include the origination of loans by non-bank lenders to small- to middle-market companies who have below investment grade credit ratings, or the investment in debt or equity securities of those companies.

All BDCs that meet the selection criteria above will be included in the Underlying Index, and the closed-end fund universe will be screened to eliminate the quartile with the largest absolute value of premiums or discounts. Underlying Index constituents are weighted by dividend yield, with the weight of a single security capped at 5% and a floor of 0.3% at each rebalance, although each BDC with a market capitalization of less than $250 million will be capped at 1% at each rebalance. All BDCs and closed-end funds included in the Underlying Index will be listed on U.S. stock exchanges.

The Underlying Index is reconstituted annually and rebalanced quarterly. The Fund is generally reconstituted and rebalanced in accordance with the Underlying Index.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest not less than 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of U.S.-listed BDCs and closed-end funds that employ private credit strategies by investing a majority of their assets in private credit instruments. Private credit instruments include floating or variable loan interests, CLOs, senior loans, and BDCs and other investment vehicles that employ private credit strategies as described above. The Underlying Funds will invest in private credit instruments that are rated below investment grade.

The Fund will not seek to “beat” the performance of the Underlying Index and will not seek temporary defensive measures when markets decline or appear overvalued. Instead, the Fund uses a “passive” or indexing investment approach to try to approximate the investment performance of the Underlying Index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the Underlying Index; however, there may be times when the Fund does not hold every security in the Underlying Index. The Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance before fees and expenses and that of the Underlying Index will be 95% or better. A figure of 100% would indicate perfect correlation.

 

5

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries approximately to the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. As of October 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was concentrated in the financial sector.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risks; therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be successful in meeting its investment objective. Generally, the Fund will be subject to the following principal risks:

Risks of Investing in Private Credit Funds. There are certain risks inherent in investing in closed-end funds and BDCs that provide exposure to private credit, in particular the risks of their underlying investments, which include liquidity risk, industry risk, foreign security risk, currency risk, valuation risk and credit risk. Private credit securities also carry risks associated with unclear ownership and market access constraints. In addition, at times, the Underlying Funds may hold a significant portion of their assets in cash or cash equivalents (e.g., after divesting their interests in a portfolio company upon the portfolio company’s initial public offering, merger or recapitalization). This may result in lower returns than if the Underlying Fund had invested such cash or cash equivalents in successful portfolio companies. Closed-end funds and BDCs that provide exposure to private credit may also have concentrated investment portfolios, consisting of a relatively small number of holdings, which may be adversely impacted by the poor performance of a small number of investments.

Investments in Closed-End Funds Risk. Investing in closed-end funds subjects the Fund to those risks affecting the closed-end fund, including the possibility that the value of the underlying securities held by the closed-end fund could decrease or the portfolio becomes illiquid. The shares of closed-end funds may trade at a discount or premium to, or at, their net asset value (“NAV”). Moreover, the Fund and its shareholders will incur its pro rata share of a closed-end fund’s expenses, which will reduce the Fund’s performance. Closed-end funds are also able to utilize leverage to a greater degree than other investment companies, such as open-end funds or ETFs. As a result, the Fund may be exposed indirectly to leverage through an investment in closed-end funds, which may expose the Fund to higher volatility in the market value of such securities and the possibility that the Fund’s long-term returns on such securities (and, indirectly, the long-term returns of the Shares) will be diminished. In addition, investments by the Fund in a closed-end fund are subject to, among other risks, the risk that the listing exchange may halt trading of the closed-end fund’s shares.

In addition to the general risks above for closed-end funds, the 1940 Act imposes certain restraints upon the operations of a BDC. For example, BDCs are required to invest at least 70% of their total assets primarily in securities of private companies or thinly traded U.S. public companies, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less.

Additionally, a BDC may incur indebtedness only in amounts such that the BDC’s asset coverage equals at least 200% after such incurrence. These limitations on asset mix and leverage may prohibit the way that the BDC raises capital. BDCs generally invest in less mature private companies, which involve greater risk than well-established, publicly traded companies. The Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any management fees and other operating expenses incurred by the BDCs and of any performance-based or incentive fees payable by the BDCs in which it invests, in addition to the management fees paid by the Fund. Incentive fees may create an incentive for a BDC’s manager to make investments that are risky or more speculative than would be the case in the absence of such compensation arrangements, and may also encourage the BDC’s manager to use leverage to increase the return on the BDC’s investments. The use of leverage by BDCs, while subject to the limitations discussed above, magnifies gains and losses on amounts invested and increases the risks associated with investing in BDCs. A BDC may make investments with a larger amount of risk of volatility and loss of principal than other investment options and may also be highly speculative and aggressive.

The Underlying Funds may from time to time be engaged in proxy contests with activist investors who are attempting to influence the Underlying Fund to take actions that the activist investors believe will increase the price of the company’s securities. There is a risk that, if the activist investors are successful, the market price of the company’s

6

securities will fall or be diluted. In addition, the Underlying Fund may no longer be viable after taking the actions advocated by the activist investors, and if liquidated may generate significant capital gains that may ultimately be passed on to the Fund’s shareholders.

Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual issuers, industries or the stock market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles which may cause stock prices to fall over a short and extended periods of time. In a declining stock market, stock prices for all companies (including those in the Fund’s portfolio) may decline, regardless of their long-term prospects. Common stock is subordinated to preferred stocks, bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure, in terms of priority to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater dividend risk than preferred stocks or debt instruments of such issuers.

Senior Loan Risk. The risks of investing in senior loans are similar to the risks of investing in junk bonds, although senior loans may be senior and secured, whereas junk bonds often are subordinated and unsecured. Investments in senior loans are generally below investment grade and are considered speculative because of the credit risk of their issuers. Companies issuing senior loans are more likely to default on their payments of interest and principal owed, and such defaults could reduce the Underlying Fund’s NAV and income distributions. An economic downturn generally leads to a higher non-payment rate, and a senior loan may lose significant value before a default occurs. Although senior loans may be secured by collateral, there can be no assurance that such collateral would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of non-payment of interest or principal, or that such collateral could be readily liquidated. In the event of the bankruptcy of a borrower, an Underlying Fund’s access to the collateral may be limited by and, therefore, the Underlying Fund could experience delays or limitations with respect to its ability to realize the benefits of the collateral securing a loan. Economic and other events (whether real or perceived) can reduce the demand for certain senior loans or senior loans generally, which may reduce market prices. Senior loans are also subject to the risk of price declines and to increases in prevailing interest rates, although floating-rate instruments, such as the senior loans in which the Underlying Funds generally invest, are substantially less exposed to this risk than fixed-rate debt instruments. No active trading market may exist for certain senior loans, which may impair the ability of an Underlying Fund to realize full value of a loan in the event of it needs to sell the loan. Such senior loans may therefore be considered illiquid. To the extent that a secondary market does exist for certain loans, the market may be subject to volatility, irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads, decreased liquidity and extended trade settlement periods, any of which may impair the Underlying Fund’s ability to sell loans within its desired time frame or at an acceptable price and its ability to accurately value existing and prospective investments. Extended trade settlement periods for certain loans may result in cash not being immediately available to an Underlying Fund upon sale of the loan. As a result, the Underlying Fund may have to sell other investments with shorter settlement periods or engage in borrowing transactions to raise cash to meet its obligations.

Collateralized Loan Obligations. CLOs are normally privately offered and sold (that is, they are not registered under the securities laws) and may be characterized as illiquid securities; however, an active dealer market may exist for CLOs that qualify for Rule 144A transactions. The risks of an investment in a CLO depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the CLO invested. Some CLOs have credit ratings, but are typically issued in various classes with various priorities, offering investors various maturity and credit risk characteristics, often categorized as senior, mezzanine and subordinated/equity according to their degree of risk. If there are defaults or the relevant collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches of such securities take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches, and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches have a priority in right of payment to subordinated/equity tranches. As a result, CLOs may present risks similar to those of other types of debt securities, although such risks may be of greater significance for CLOs depending upon the ranking in the capital structure held by the investor in the CLO. In addition to the general risks associated with investing in debt securities, CLOs carry additional risks, including, without limitation, the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments, the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default, the CLO may be subordinate to other classes, values may be volatile, and disputes with the issuer may produce unexpected investment results.

 

7

Debt Securities Risks. Risks of investments in debt securities include, without limitation, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, maturity risk and prepayment risk. These risks could affect the value of investments in which the Underlying Funds may invest, possibly causing an Underlying Fund’s share price and total return to be reduced and fluctuate more than other types of investments.

Credit Risk. The value of debt securities is dependent on the creditworthiness of their issuers. A deterioration in the financial condition or credit rating of an issuer, changes in the market’s perception of the issuer’s financial strength, or a deterioration in general economic conditions may have an adverse effect on the value of the investment and may cause an issuer to fail to pay principal and interest when due.

Interest Rate Risk. Certain of the debt securities in which an Underlying Fund invests will have variable interest rates that reset periodically based on benchmarks such as the prime rate, so an increase in interest rates from their present levels may make it more difficult for issuers to service their obligations under the debt securities that the Underlying Fund may hold. In general, rising interest rates will negatively impact the price of a fixed rate debt instrument and falling interest rates will have a positive effect on price. Adjustable rate instruments also react to interest rate changes in a similar manner, although generally to a lesser degree (depending, however, on the characteristics of the reset terms, including the index chosen, frequency of reset and reset caps or floors, among other factors). Interest rate sensitivity is generally more pronounced and less predictable in instruments with uncertain payment or prepayment schedules.

Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk is the risk that a debt security may be difficult to sell at an advantageous time or price due to limited market demand (resulting from a downgrade, a decline in price, or adverse conditions within the relevant market).

Maturity Risk. The value of an Underlying Fund’s debt investments is dependent on their maturity. Generally, the longer the maturity of a debt security, the greater its sensitivity to changes in interest rates.

Prepayment Risk. This is the risk that the issuers of debt securities will prepay them at a time when interest rates have declined. Because interest rates have declined, an Underlying Fund may have to reinvest the proceeds in debt securities with lower interest rates, which can reduce the Underlying Fund’s returns.

Junk Bonds or High Yield Securities Risk. High yield securities and unrated securities of similar credit quality are considered to be speculative with respect to the issuer’s continuing ability to make principal and interest payments and are generally subject to greater levels of credit quality risk than investment grade securities. High yield securities are usually issued by companies, including smaller and medium capitalization companies, without long track records of sales and earnings, or with questionable credit strength. These companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying floating rate loans. These fixed income securities are considered below “investment-grade.” The retail secondary market for these “junk bonds” may be less liquid than that of higher-rated fixed income securities, and adverse conditions could make it difficult at times to sell these securities or could result in lower prices than higher-rated fixed income securities. These risks can reduce the value of the shares of an Underlying Fund and the income it earns.

Small and Micro Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in the securities of small and micro capitalization companies generally involves greater risk (and substantially greater risk for micro capitalization companies) than investing in larger, more established companies. The securities of small and micro capitalization companies usually have more limited marketability and therefore may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of larger, more established companies or the market averages in general. Because small and micro capitalization companies normally have fewer shares outstanding than larger companies, it may be more difficult to buy or sell significant amounts of their shares without an unfavorable impact on prevailing prices. Small and micro capitalization companies often have limited product lines, markets, or financial resources and lack management depth, making them more susceptible to market pressures. Small and micro capitalization companies are typically subject to greater changes in earnings and business prospects than larger, more established companies. Small and micro capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans which are floating rate. The foregoing risks are generally increased for smaller capitalization companies as compared to companies with larger capitalizations.

 

8

Liquidity Risk. Liquidity risk exists when a particular investment is difficult to purchase or sell. If the Fund invests in illiquid securities or current portfolio securities become illiquid, it may reduce the returns of the Fund because the Fund may be unable to sell the illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Additionally, closed-end funds and BDCs are not limited in their ability to invest in illiquid securities. In the event that an Underlying Fund voluntarily or involuntarily liquidates its portfolio assets during periods of infrequent trading of its securities, the Underlying Fund may not receive full value for those assets, which will reduce the value of the Underlying Fund’s shares, and in turn, the value of the Fund’s investment in such shares.

Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of the issuers of the individual securities in which Fund invests. Poor performance by any issuer may cause the value of its securities, and the value of the Shares, to decline.

Concentration Risk. A fund concentrated in an industry or sector is likely to present more risks than a fund that is broadly diversified over several industries or sectors. Compared to the broad market, an individual industry or sector may be more strongly affected by changes in the economic climate, broad market shifts, moves in a particular dominant stock or regulatory changes.

Financial Sector Risk. The Fund may be susceptible to adverse economic or regulatory occurrences affecting the financial sector. Companies in the financial sector are subject to extensive government regulation and, as a result, their profitability may be affected by new regulations or regulatory interpretations. Unstable interest rates can have a disproportionate effect on companies in the financial sector, which could adversely affect the profitability of such companies. Companies in the financial sector whose securities the Fund may purchase may themselves have concentrated portfolios, which makes them especially vulnerable to unstable economic conditions.

Market Risk. The value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio may decline due to daily fluctuations in the securities markets that are generally beyond the Fund’s control, including the quality of the Fund’s investments, economic conditions, adverse investor sentiment, poor management decisions, lower demand for a company’s goods or services, and general market conditions. In a declining market, the prices for all securities (including those in the Fund’s portfolio) may decline, regardless of their long-term prospects. Security values tend to move in cycles, with periods when securities markets generally rise and periods when they generally decline. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, natural or environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illnesses or other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund, its investments and the trading of its Shares. For example, an outbreak of an infectious respiratory illness, COVID-19 caused adverse effects on many companies, sectors, nations, regions and the markets in general. The ongoing effects of COVID-19 its investments, are unpredictable and may adversely impact the value and performance of the Fund and its ability to buy and sell investments at appropriate valuations and/or achieve its investment objective .

Passive Strategy/Index Risk. The Fund is managed with a passive investment strategy that seeks to track the performance of the Underlying Index. This differs from an actively managed fund, which typically seeks to outperform a benchmark index. As a result, the Fund may hold constituent securities of the Underlying Index regardless of the current or projected performance of a specific security or the relevant sector as a whole. Maintaining investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of individual securities could cause the Fund’s returns to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy. The Fund will seek to track the Underlying Index in all market conditions, including during adverse market conditions when other funds may seek to take temporary defensive measures (such as investing significantly in cash or cash equivalents). Accordingly, unless the Underlying Index allocates significant portions of its assets to cash and cash equivalents during times of adverse market or economic conditions, the Fund may be subject to a higher level of market risk during such times than other funds.

 

9

Index Tracking Risk. While the Adviser seeks to track the performance of the Underlying Index closely (i.e., to achieve a high degree of correlation with the Underlying Index), it will not seek to beat the performance of the Underlying Index. Further, the Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the returns of the Underlying Index due to operating expenses, transaction costs, cash flows, regulatory requirements and operational inefficiencies. Additionally, the Fund generally rebalances its portfolio in accordance with the Underlying Index, and, therefore, any changes to the Underlying Index’s rebalance schedule will result in corresponding changes to the Fund’s rebalance schedule.

Calculation Methodology. The Underlying Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. The Fund, the Adviser, and Indxx cannot offer assurances that the Underlying Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers.

Authorized Participant Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants, none of which are obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent these Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable or unwilling to process creation and/or redemption orders (either because of valuation difficulties or for other reasons), and no other Authorized Participant is able or willing to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, in either of these cases, Shares of the Fund may trade like closed-end fund shares at a discount to NAV and possibly face delisting.

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by those brokers. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

Fluctuation of NAV; Unit Premiums and Discounts. The NAV of the Shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s securities holdings. The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the Fund’s NAV and supply and demand of Shares on the Exchange or any other exchange on which Shares are traded. It cannot be predicted whether Shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for Shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the securities of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. The market prices of Shares may deviate significantly from the NAV of the Shares during periods of market volatility. While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that Shares normally will trade close to the Fund’s NAV, disruptions to creations and redemptions and/or market volatility may result in trading prices that differ significantly from the Fund’s NAV. If an investor purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV of the Shares or sells at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV of the Shares, then the investor may sustain losses that are in addition to any losses caused by a decrease in NAV. For example, during a “flash crash,” the market prices of the Shares may decline suddenly and significantly. Such a decline may not reflect the performance of the portfolio securities held by the Fund. Flash crashes may cause Authorized Participants and other market makers to limit or cease trading in the Shares for temporary or longer periods. Shareholders could suffer significant losses to the extent that they sell Shares at these temporarily low market prices.

 

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PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

The bar chart and table shown below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the performance of the Fund from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for one year and since inception compare with a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information for the Fund may be obtained by calling the Fund at (888) 383-0553.

During the period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a calendar quarter was 22.33% (quarter ended 06/30/2020).

During the period shown in the bar chart, the lowest return for a calendar quarter was (39.33)% (quarter ended 03/31/2020).

Average Annual Total Returns – 
(For the Period Ended December 31, 202
2)

1 Year

Since Inception(1)

Before taxes

(11.32

)%

4.22

%

After taxes on distributions(2)

(14.83

)%

0.42

%

After taxes on distributions and sale of shares(2)

(6.65

)%

1.57

%

Indxx Private Credit Index

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

(11.46

)%

4.98

%

  

(1) The Fund commenced operations on February 7, 2019.
(2) After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not relevant if you hold your shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit from any losses on a sale of Shares at the end of the measurement period.

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MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

Investment Adviser

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”). The Adviser is responsible for managing the Fund’s investments, subject to the oversight and supervision of the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of ETFis Series Trust I (the “Trust”).

Portfolio Managers

The Fund’s portfolio managers are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund’s portfolio management team is comprised of Seth Kadushin and Matthew B. Brown, each of whom is a Portfolio Manager with the Adviser and has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since the inception of its operations in February 2019.

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

Unlike conventional investment companies, the Fund generally issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at NAV, in blocks of 50,000 Shares or whole multiples thereof (“Creation Units”). The Fund’s Creation Units may be issued and redeemed only by certain large institutions, referred to as “Authorized Participants”, that enter into agreements with the Fund’s principal underwriter. Retail investors may acquire and sell Shares only on the Exchange through a broker-dealer. Shares of the Fund will trade on the Exchange at market price rather than NAV. As such, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). Investors may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund’s website at www.virtusetfs.com.

TAX INFORMATION

The Fund’s distributions generally are taxed as ordinary income, capital gains or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from such arrangement.

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

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VIRTUS REAL ASSET INCOME ETF (TICKER: VRAI)

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

Virtus Real Asset Income ETF (the “Fund”) seeks investment results that correspond, before fees and expenses, to the price and yield performance of the Indxx Real Asset Income Index (the “Underlying Index”).

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (“Shares”). You may incur customary brokerage commissions, and may pay other fees to financial intermediaries, when buying or selling Shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in the table or example set forth below.

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):

None

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses 
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):

         

Management Fee1

0.55

%

Other Expenses

0.00

%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

0.55

%

  

(1) The management fee is structured as a “unified fee,” out of which the Fund’s adviser pays all of the ordinary operating expenses of the Fund, except for the following expenses, each of which is paid by the Fund: the Fund’s management fee; payments under any 12b-1 plan; taxes and other governmental fees; brokerage fees, commissions and other transaction expenses; interest and other costs of borrowing; litigation or arbitration expenses; acquired fund fees and expenses; and extraordinary or other non-routine expenses of the Fund.

Example.

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain at current levels. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

1 Year

3 Years

5 Years

10 Years

$56

$176

$307

$689

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities or other instruments (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 70% of the average value of its portfolio.

PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest not less than 80% of its assets in component securities of the Underlying Index. The Underlying Index is designed to track the performance of U.S.-listed “Real Asset” companies, as defined by Indxx, LLC (“Indxx”), the index provider of the Underlying Index. Indxx is not affiliated with the Fund or the Fund’s investment adviser, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC (“the Adviser”). The Underlying Index includes common stock, real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), master limited partnerships (“MLPs”), and American depositary receipts (“ADRs”).

 

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Indxx considers Real Asset companies to be those that are classified under certain real estate-related industries, such as real estate development or REITs (“Real Estate”); natural resources-related industries, such as oil, coal, precious metals, steel, agricultural commodities, or forest products (“Natural Resources”); or infrastructure-related industries, such as electric utilities, telecommunications, transportation, or MLPs (“Infrastructure”); each as defined by FactSet Research Systems Inc. (“FactSet”).

To be eligible for inclusion in the Underlying Index, securities must (i) be U.S.-listed, (ii) have a market capitalization of at least U.S. $250 million, (iii) be classified within one of the Real Estate, Natural Resources or Infrastructure industries by FactSet, (iv) have six-month average daily turnover greater than or equal to U.S. $500,000, (v) have traded for at least 90% of the total trading days over the last six months, and (vi) have paid dividends during the trailing 12 months prior to selection as well as the trailing 12 months three years prior to selection. The top 30 securities by three-year dividend growth rate from each of the Real Estate, Natural Resources and Infrastructure industries will be selected for inclusion in the Underlying Index, for a total of 90 securities.

Securities within the portfolio are equally weighted at each rebalance and reconstitution. The total weight of MLPs is capped at 20% of the overall portfolio (and the total number of MLPs is limited to 15) at each rebalance, and any excess weight over 20% is proportionally distributed among other Infrastructure securities.

The Underlying Index is reconstituted annually and rebalanced quarterly. The Fund is generally reconstituted and rebalanced in accordance with the Underlying Index.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest not less than 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in Real Asset companies. The Adviser expects that, over the long term, the Fund’s investments in Real Asset companies should provide some protection against the impact of inflation because the values of the Fund’s Real Asset investments are generally linked or correlated to the rate of inflation.

The Fund will not seek to “beat” the performance of the Underlying Index and will not seek temporary defensive measures when markets decline or appear overvalued. Instead, the Fund uses a “passive” or indexing investment approach to try to approximate the investment performance of the Underlying Index by investing in a portfolio of securities that generally replicates the Underlying Index; however, there may be times when the Fund does not hold every security in the Underlying Index. The Adviser expects that, over time, the correlation between the Fund’s performance before fees and expenses and that of the Underlying Index will be 95% or better. A figure of 100% would indicate perfect correlation.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., invest more than 25% of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries approximately to the same extent that the Underlying Index is concentrated. As of October 31, 2022, the Underlying Index was concentrated in industries within Real Estate and Natural Resources.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

An investment in the Fund is subject to investment risks; therefore, you may lose money by investing in the Fund. There can be no assurance that the Fund will be successful in meeting its investment objective. Generally, the Fund will be subject to the following principal risks:

Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual issuers, industries or the stock market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles which may cause stock prices to fall over a short and extended periods of time. In a declining stock market, stock prices for all companies (including those in the Fund’s portfolio) may decline, regardless of their long-term prospects. Common stock is subordinated to preferred stocks, bonds and other debt instruments in a company’s capital structure, in terms of priority to corporate income, and therefore will be subject to greater dividend risk than preferred stocks or debt instruments of such issuers.

Real Estate Companies/REITs Risk. Investments in REITs and other securities of Real Estate companies subject the Fund to, among other things, risks similar to those of direct investments in real estate and the real estate sector in general. These include risks related to general and local economic conditions, possible lack of availability of financing and changes in interest rates or property values. REITs are entities that either own properties or make construction or

14

mortgage loans, and also may include operating or finance companies. The Fund is subject to the risk that the value of stocks of REITs will decline because of adverse developments affecting the real estate sector and real property values. Such a decline could be precipitated by, among other things, general economic decline, deterioration in the real estate rental market, declines in real estate property demand, changes in interest rates, declines in the availability of real estate financing, increases in borrower defaults, overbuilding, or other developments that reduce credit and cash positions of REITs and REIT operators on a local, regional or national level. REITs may also be adversely affected by poor management, failure to quality as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), environmental problems, property tax increases or changes in federal, state or local regulations. In addition to the above, Mortgage REITs are subject to the following risks: credit risk of the borrowers under the underlying mortgages, insufficient insurance, risks of investments in subprime mortgages, foreclosure risk, interest rate risk, risks of borrowing and leverage, and prepayment risk.

Natural Resources Companies Risk. Investments in securities of Natural Resources companies enhances the Fund’s exposure to adverse economic, regulatory, political, legal, and other conditions or events affecting the issuers of such securities. Natural Resources companies are subject to certain risks, including legislative or regulatory changes, adverse market conditions and increased competition. Performance of such companies may be affected by factors including, among others, fluctuations in prices of natural resources, and supply and demand of natural resources fuels, energy conservation, the success of exploration projects, local and international politics, and events occurring in nature. For instance, natural events (such as earthquakes, hurricanes or fires in prime natural resources areas) and political events (such as government instability or military confrontations) can affect the value of companies involved in natural resources-related business activities. Other risks may include liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities, depletion of resources, and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control.

Infrastructure Companies Risk. Investments in securities of Infrastructure companies enhances the Fund’s exposure to adverse economic, regulatory, political, legal, and other conditions or events affecting the issuers of such securities. Infrastructure-related businesses are subject to a variety of factors that may adversely affect their business or operations including high interest costs in connection with capital construction programs, costs associated with environmental and other regulations, the effects of an economic slowdown and surplus capacity, increased competition, uncertainties concerning availability of fuel at reasonable prices, the effects of energy conservation policies and other factors. Additionally, infrastructure-related entities may be subject to regulation by various governmental authorities and may also be affected by governmental regulation of rates charged to customers, service interruption and/or legal challenges due to environmental, operational or other conditions or events and the imposition of special tariffs and changes in tax laws, regulatory policies and accounting standards. There is also the risk that corruption may negatively affect publicly funded infrastructure projects, especially in foreign markets, resulting in work stoppage, delays and cost overruns.

Inflation-Linked Investment Risk. Although the values of the Fund’s Real Asset investments are generally linked or correlated to the rate of inflation, there is no guarantee that the Fund’s investments will provide any protection against the impact of inflation. In addition, while these investments are expected to be protected from long-term inflationary trends, short-term increases in inflation may lead to a decline in their value. Further, when inflation and expectations of inflation are low or declining, the Fund’s Real Asset investments are likely to underperform the overall stock markets. 

Small and Micro Capitalization Companies Risk. Investing in the securities of small and micro capitalization companies generally involves greater risk (and substantially greater risk for micro capitalization companies) than investing in larger, more established companies. The securities of small and micro capitalization companies usually have more limited marketability and therefore may be more volatile and less liquid than securities of larger, more established companies or the market averages in general. Because small and micro capitalization companies normally have fewer shares outstanding than larger companies, it may be more difficult to buy or sell significant amounts of their shares without an unfavorable impact on prevailing prices. Small and micro capitalization companies often have limited product lines, markets, or financial resources and lack management depth, making them more susceptible to market pressures. Small and micro capitalization companies are typically subject to greater changes in earnings and business prospects than larger, more established companies. Small and micro capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans which are floating rate. The foregoing risks are generally increased for smaller capitalization companies as compared to companies with larger capitalizations.

 

15

American Depositary Receipts Risk. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates will affect the value of ADRs and, therefore, may affect the value of the Fund’s portfolio. There is no guarantee that a financial institution will continue to sponsor a depositary receipt, or that the ADR will continue to trade on an exchange, either of which could adversely affect the liquidity, availability and pricing of the ADR.

Issuer Risk. The performance of the Fund depends on the performance of the issuers of the individual securities in which Fund invests. Poor performance by any issuer may cause the value of its securities, and the value of the Shares, to decline.

Concentration Risk. A fund concentrated in an industry or sector is likely to present more risks than a fund that is broadly diversified over several industries or sectors. Compared to the broad market, an individual industry or sector may be more strongly affected by changes in the economic climate, broad market shifts, moves in a particular dominant stock or regulatory changes.

MLP Risk. Investments in securities of MLPs involve risks that differ from investments in common stock including risks related to limited control and limited rights to vote on matters affecting the MLP, risks related to potential conflicts of interest between the MLP and the MLP’s general partner and cash flow risks. MLP common units and other equity securities can be affected by macroeconomic and other factors affecting the stock market in general, expectations of interest rates, investor sentiment towards MLPs or the energy infrastructure sector, changes in a particular issuer’s financial condition or unfavorable or unanticipated poor performance of a particular issuer (in the case of MLPs, generally measured in terms of distributable cash flow). Prices of common units of individual MLPs and other equity securities also can be affected by fundamentals unique to the partnership or company, including earnings power and coverage ratios.

MLP Tax Risk. MLPs taxed as partnerships, subject to the application of certain partnership audit rules, generally do not pay U.S. federal income tax at the partnership level. Rather, each partner is allocated a share of the MLP’s income, gains, losses, deductions and expenses. A change in current tax law, or a change in the underlying business mix of a given MLP, could result in an MLP being treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which would result in such MLP being required to pay U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income. The classification of an MLP as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes would have the effect of reducing the amount of cash available for distribution by the MLP. Thus, if any of the MLPs owned by the Fund were treated as corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it could result in a reduction in the value of your investment in the Fund and lower income.

Market Risk. The value of securities in the Fund’s portfolio may decline due to daily fluctuations in the securities markets that are generally beyond the Fund’s control, including the quality of the Fund’s investments, economic conditions, adverse investor sentiment, poor management decisions, lower demand for a company’s goods or services, and general market conditions. In a declining market, the prices for all securities (including those in the Fund’s portfolio) may decline, regardless of their long-term prospects. Security values tend to move in cycles, with periods when securities markets generally rise and periods when they generally decline. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, natural or environmental disasters, the spread of infectious illnesses or other public health issues, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund, its investments and the trading of its Shares. For example, an outbreak of an infectious respiratory illness, COVID-19 caused adverse effects on many companies, sectors, nations, regions and the markets in general. The ongoing effects of COVID-19 are unpredictable and may adversely impact the value and performance of the Fund and its ability to buy and sell investments at appropriate valuations and/or achieve its investment objective.

Passive Strategy/Index Risk. The Fund is managed with a passive investment strategy that seeks to track the performance of the Underlying Index. This differs from an actively managed fund, which typically seeks to outperform a benchmark index. As a result, the Fund may hold constituent securities of the Underlying Index regardless of the current or projected performance of a specific security or the relevant sector as a whole. Maintaining investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of individual securities could cause the Fund’s returns to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy. The Fund will seek to track the Underlying Index in all market conditions, including during adverse market conditions when other funds may seek to take temporary defensive measures (such as investing significantly in cash or cash equivalents). Accordingly, unless the Underlying Index allocates significant portions of its assets to cash and cash equivalents during times of adverse market or economic conditions, the Fund may be subject to a higher level of market risk during such times than other funds.

16

Index Tracking Risk. While the Adviser seeks to track the performance of the Underlying Index closely (i.e., to achieve a high degree of correlation with the Underlying Index), it will not seek to beat the performance of the Underlying Index. Further, the Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the returns of the Underlying Index due to operating expenses, transaction costs, cash flows, regulatory requirements and operational inefficiencies. Additionally, the Fund generally rebalances its portfolio in accordance with the Underlying Index, and, therefore, any changes to the Underlying Index’s rebalance schedule will result in corresponding changes to the Fund’s rebalance schedule.

Calculation Methodology. The Underlying Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Underlying Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. The Fund, the Adviser, and Indxx cannot offer assurances that the Underlying Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers.

Authorized Participant Risk. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that may act as Authorized Participants, none of which are obligated to engage in creation or redemption transactions. To the extent these Authorized Participants exit the business or are unable or unwilling to process creation and/or redemption orders (either because of valuation difficulties or for other reasons), and no other Authorized Participant is able or willing to step forward to process creation and/or redemption orders, in either of these cases, Shares of the Fund may trade at a discount to its NAV and possibly face delisting.

Costs of Buying or Selling Shares. Investors buying or selling Shares in the secondary market will pay brokerage commissions or other charges imposed by brokers as determined by those brokers. Brokerage commissions are often a fixed amount and may be a significant proportional cost for investors seeking to buy or sell relatively small amounts of Shares. In addition, secondary market investors will also incur the cost of the difference between the price that an investor is willing to pay for Shares (the “bid” price) and the price at which an investor is willing to sell Shares (the “ask” price). This difference in bid and ask prices is often referred to as the “spread” or “bid/ask spread.” The bid/ask spread varies over time for Shares based on trading volume and market liquidity, and is generally lower if the Shares have more trading volume and market liquidity and higher if the Shares have little trading volume and market liquidity. Further, increased market volatility may cause increased bid/ask spreads. Due to the costs of buying or selling Shares, including bid/ask spreads, frequent trading of Shares may significantly reduce investment results and an investment in Shares may not be advisable for investors who anticipate regularly making small investments.

Fluctuation of NAV; Unit Premiums and Discounts. The NAV of the Shares will generally fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund’s securities holdings. The market prices of Shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the Fund’s NAV and supply and demand of Shares on the Exchange or any other exchange on which Shares are traded. It cannot be predicted whether Shares will trade below, at or above their NAV. Price differences may be due, in large part, to the fact that supply and demand forces at work in the secondary trading market for Shares will be closely related to, but not identical to, the same forces influencing the prices of the securities of the Fund trading individually or in the aggregate at any point in time. The market prices of Shares may deviate significantly from the NAV of the Shares during periods of market volatility. While the creation/redemption feature is designed to make it likely that Shares normally will trade close to the Fund’s NAV, disruptions to creations and redemptions and/or market volatility may result in trading prices that differ significantly from the Fund’s NAV. If an investor purchases Shares at a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV of the Shares or sells at a time when the market price is at a discount to the NAV of the Shares, then the investor may sustain losses that are in addition to any losses caused by a decrease in NAV. For example, during a “flash crash,” the market prices of the Shares may decline suddenly and significantly. Such a decline may not reflect the performance of the portfolio securities held by the Fund. Flash crashes may cause Authorized Participants and other market makers to limit or cease trading in the Shares for temporary or longer periods. Shareholders could suffer significant losses to the extent that they sell Shares at these temporarily low market prices.

 

17

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

The bar chart and table shown below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the performance of the Fund from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for one year and since inception compare with a broad measure of market performance. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information for the Fund may be obtained by calling the Fund at (888) 383-0553.

During the periods shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a calendar quarter was 22.97% (quarter ended 12/31/20).

During the periods shown in the bar chart, the lowest return for a calendar quarter was (35.96)% (quarter ended 03/31/20).

Average Annual Total Returns – 
(For the Period Ended December 31, 202
2)

1 Year

Since Inception(1)

Before taxes

(9.36

)%

2.86

%

After taxes on distributions(2)

(10.40

)%

1.74

%

After taxes on distributions and sale of shares(2)

(5.00

)%

1.98

%

Indxx Real Asset Income Index
(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

(9.07

)%

3.55

%

  

(1) The Fund commenced operations on February 7, 2019.
(2) After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on your tax situation and may differ from those shown and are not relevant if you hold your shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. In some cases, the return after taxes may exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit from any losses on a sale of Shares at the end of the measurement period.

18

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

Investment Adviser

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC is the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”). The Adviser is responsible for managing the Fund’s investments, subject to the oversight and supervision of the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of ETFis Series Trust I (the “Trust”).

Portfolio Managers

The Fund’s portfolio managers are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio. The Fund’s portfolio management team is comprised of Seth Kadushin and Matthew B. Brown, each of whom is a Portfolio Manager with the Adviser and has served as portfolio manager of the Fund since the inception of its operations in February 2019.

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

Unlike conventional investment companies, the Fund generally issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis, at NAV, in blocks of 50,000 Shares or whole multiples thereof (“Creation Units”). The Fund’s Creation Units may be issued and redeemed only by certain large institutions, referred to as “Authorized Participants”, that enter into agreements with the Fund’s principal underwriter. Retail investors may acquire and sell Shares only on the Exchange through a broker-dealer. Shares of the Fund will trade on the Exchange at market price rather than NAV. As such, Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). Investors may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Shares (ask) when buying or selling Shares in the secondary market (the “bid-ask spread”). Information regarding the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund’s website at www.virtusetfs.com.

TAX INFORMATION

The Fund’s distributions generally are taxed as ordinary income, capital gains or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an IRA, in which case your distributions may be taxed as ordinary income when withdrawn from such arrangement.

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of Shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

19

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE FUNDS’ INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES, STRATEGIES AND RISKS

Additional Information Regarding the Funds’ Objectives. The investment objective of each of the Virtus Private Credit Strategy ETF (the “Private Credit Strategy ETF”) and the Virtus Real Asset Income ETF (the “Real Asset Income ETF” and, together with the Private Credit Strategy ETF, the “Funds” and, each, a “Fund”) may be changed by the Board without shareholder approval upon 60 days’ notice to the shareholders. There is no guarantee that a Fund will achieve its objective.

Additional Information Regarding each Fund’s Investments. As noted above, the Real Asset Income ETF may invest in MLPs. MLPs are publicly traded partnerships and limited liability companies taxed as partnerships under the Code. MLPs are generally engaged in the gathering, transportation, storage, processing, refining, treating, marketing, exploration, production and mining of minerals and natural resources. The MLP securities in which the Fund may invest are generally equity units representing limited or general partnership or limited liability company interests of MLPs. The interests, or units, of MLPs are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and trade on public securities exchanges.

To the extent that a Fund is not invested in securities of its Underlying Index as disclosed in the Funds’ principal investment strategies, which are discussed in the “Risk/Return Summary Information” sections above, the Fund may invest in other investments that the Adviser believes will help the Fund track its Underlying Index, including ETFs, options and futures contracts; and cash, cash equivalents and money market funds.

In addition, although each Fund generally intends to replicate the component securities of its Underlying Index as disclosed in the Funds’ principal investment strategies, which are discussed in the “Risk/Return Summary Information” sections above, the Fund may utilize a representative sampling strategy when a replication strategy might be detrimental to its shareholders, such as when there are practical difficulties or substantial costs involved in compiling a portfolio of securities to follow its Underlying Index. When utilizing a representative sampling strategy, a Fund will invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities in its Underlying Index. Under the representative sampling technique, each security is selected for inclusion in a Fund through the application of quantitative analytical procedures to give the Fund’s portfolio an investment profile similar to that of its Underlying Index. Securities are selected for inclusion if they have aggregate investment characteristics (such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability, earnings valuation and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of its Underlying Index taken in its entirety. If the representative sampling technique is used, a Fund will not be expected to track the performance of its Underlying Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle that invested in every component security of the Underlying Index with the same weightings as the Underlying Index. A Fund may also use representative sampling to exclude less liquid component securities contained in its Underlying Index in order to create a more tradable portfolio and improve arbitrage opportunities.

There also may be instances in which the Adviser may choose to (i) overweight or underweight a security in an Underlying Index, (ii) purchase securities not contained in the Underlying Index that the Adviser believes are appropriate to substitute for certain securities in the Underlying Index, or (iii) utilize various combinations of other available investment techniques in seeking to track the Underlying Index.

Each Fund may sell securities included in its Underlying Index in anticipation of their removal from the Underlying Index, or purchase securities not included in the Underlying Index in anticipation of their addition to the Underlying Index.

Additional Information Regarding each Fund’s Investment Risks. In addition to the principal risks discussed in the “Risk/Return Summary Information” sections above, an investment in a Fund is also subject to the following risks:

Derivatives Risk. The value of a derivative instrument, such as an option or futures contract, depends largely on (and is derived from) the value of an underlying security, currency, commodity, interest rate, index or other asset or market factor (collectively, “reference assets”). In addition to risks relating to the reference assets, the use of derivatives may include other, possibly greater, risks, including counterparty, leverage and liquidity risks. Derivatives create leverage risk because they do not require payment up front equal to the economic exposure created by owning the derivative.

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As a result, an adverse change in the value of the reference asset could result in the Fund sustaining a loss that is substantially greater than the amount invested in the derivative, which may make the Fund’s returns more volatile and increase the risk of loss. Derivatives may also be harder to value, less tax efficient and subject to changing government regulation that could impact the Fund’s ability to use certain derivatives or their cost.

Early Closing Risk. An unanticipated early closing of the Exchange may result in a shareholder’s inability to buy or sell Shares of the Fund on that day.

Exchange-Traded Funds Risk. In addition to the risks associated with the underlying assets held by an ETF, investments in ETFs are subject to the following additional risks: (1) an ETF’s shares may trade above or below its NAV; (2) an active trading market for the ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained; (3) trading an ETF’s shares may be halted by the listing exchange; (4) a passively managed ETF may not track the performance of the reference asset; and (5) a passively managed ETF may hold troubled securities or other investments. Investments in ETFs may involve duplication of management fees and certain other expenses, as the Fund indirectly bears its proportionate share of any expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests.

Fund Shares Liquidity Risk. Trading in Shares of the Fund may be halted because of market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in Shares inadvisable. In addition, trading in Shares is subject to trading halts caused by extraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules. There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to maintain the listing of the Shares will continue to be met or will remain unchanged. During stressed market conditions, the liquidity of Shares may be less than the liquidity of the securities in the Fund’s portfolio, which may be significantly less than the liquidity of other ETFs.

No Assurance of Active Trading Market. Although the Shares in the Fund are approved for listing on the Exchange, there can be no assurance that an active trading market will develop and be maintained for the Shares of the Fund. Further, market makers (other than lead market makers) have no obligation to make markets in the Shares and may discontinue doing so at any time without notice. As a new fund, there can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size, in which case the Fund may ultimately liquidate.

Redeeming Risk. Shares in the Fund generally may be redeemed only in Creation Units and only by Authorized Participants. All other persons or entities transacting in Shares must generally do so in the secondary market.

Sampling Risk. To the extent the Fund utilizes a representative sampling approach, the Fund will be subject to an increased risk of tracking error because the securities selected for the Fund in the aggregate may vary from the investment profile of the Underlying Index. Additionally, if using a representative sampling approach, the Fund will typically hold a smaller number of securities than the Underlying Index and, as a result, an adverse development to an issuer of securities that the Fund holds could result in a greater decline in NAV than would be the case if the Fund held all of the securities in the Underlying Index.

Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings. Each Fund’s portfolio holdings are disclosed on the Trust’s website (www.virtusetfs.com) daily after the close of trading on the Exchange and prior to the opening of trading on the Exchange the following day.

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS

INVESTMENT ADVISER

The Adviser is Virtus ETF Advisers LLC, located at 31 West 52nd Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10019. The Adviser was organized as a Delaware limited liability company in August 2013 and is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (Ticker: VRTS) (together with its affiliates, “Virtus”). Virtus is a public company that operates a multi-manager asset management business and has substantial experience in the investment management and investment company industries. As of December 31, 2022, on a collective basis, Virtus-affiliated registered investment advisers managed approximately $149.4 billion in assets.

21

The Adviser has served as each Fund’s investment adviser since inception of the Fund’s operations pursuant to an investment advisory agreement with the Trust on behalf of the Fund. The Adviser is responsible for the oversight and management of all service providers to the Trust. The Adviser also assists with: (a) non-advisory operations of each Fund, (b) the preparation and submission of reports to existing shareholders, (c) the periodic updating of the Funds’ prospectus and statement of additional information, (d) the preparation of reports to be filed with the SEC and other regulatory authorities, and (e) maintaining certain of the Fund’s records.

Adviser Compensation. The Adviser receives a monthly advisory fee (the “Advisory Fee”) from each Fund at the following annual rate of each Fund’s average daily net assets:

Fund

Annual Rate

Virtus Private Credit Strategy ETF

0.75

%

Virtus Real Asset Income ETF

0.55

%

The Advisory Fee is structured as a “unified fee.” Accordingly, in consideration of the fees paid with respect to each Fund, the Adviser has agreed to pay all of the ordinary operating expenses of the Fund, except for the following expenses, each of which is paid by the Fund: the Adviser’s fee; payments under any 12b-1 plan; taxes and other governmental fees; brokerage fees, commissions and other transaction expenses; interest and other costs of borrowing; litigation or arbitration expenses; acquired fund fees and expenses; and extraordinary or other non-routine expenses of the Fund.

Disclosure Regarding Advisory Agreement Approval. A discussion regarding the basis for the Board’s most recent approval of the investment advisory agreements for the Funds is available in the Fund’s semi-annual report for the fiscal period ended April 30, 2022. You may obtain a copy of a Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports, without charge, upon request to the Fund.

MANAGER OF MANAGERS STRUCTURE

The SEC has granted exemptive relief that permits the Adviser, subject to certain conditions, to enter into new sub-advisory agreements with affiliated or unaffiliated sub-advisers on behalf of each Fund without shareholder approval. The exemptive relief also permits material amendments to existing sub-advisory agreements with affiliated or unaffiliated sub-advisers without shareholder approval. Under this structure, the Adviser has ultimate responsibility, subject to oversight by the Board, to oversee such sub-advisers and recommend to the Board their hiring, termination, and replacement. The structure does not permit investment advisory fees paid by a Fund to be increased without shareholder approval, or change the Adviser’s obligations under the investment advisory agreement, including the Adviser’s responsibility to monitor and oversee sub-advisory services furnished to the Fund.

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

The following individuals serve as each Fund’s portfolio managers, each of whom is jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio and has served in such position since the inception of the Fund’s operations in February 2019:

Matthew B. Brown, Portfolio Manager.

Matthew B. Brown serves as Portfolio Manager at the Adviser. Mr. Brown is also executive managing director and chief operating officer at Virtus ETF Solutions LLC (“VES”) since 2012. Before founding VES in 2012, he served as director of operations for Factor Advisors from 2010 to 2012. In 2009, Mr. Brown co-founded ETP Resources, a consulting and data services business that continues to grow and serve the ETF industry. From 2008 to 2009, he headed U.S. operations and served as chief compliance officer for U.K.-based issuer SPA/London & Capital. Mr. Brown earned a B.A. in Economics from Boston College.

22

Seth Kadushin, Portfolio Manager.

Seth Kadushin serves as Portfolio Manager at the Adviser. Mr. Kadushin has also served as director of capital markets at VES since 2013. Prior to joining VES, Mr. Kadushin worked at Euromoney Institutional Investor, Plc where he developed large scale investment management programs focusing on Exchange Traded Instruments and Alternate Investment Strategies. From 2011 through 2012 Mr. Kadushin worked at Wedbush Securities as an Options Desk Strategist. Mr. Kadushin worked at RBS Securities as Head Program Trader from 2009 through 2011. Prior to 2009, Mr. Kadushin held senior level positions at Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns (J.P. Morgan), where he was a member of the firm’s Cross Asset Policy Committee charged with instituting their equity trading division’s guidelines. Mr. Kadushin holds a BBA in Finance from Emory University. He achieved his Master’s in Business from Fordham University with a concentration in Information Systems.

Additional Information. Additional information about the portfolio managers’ compensation, other accounts managed by the portfolio managers and the portfolio managers’ ownership of Shares of each Fund is available in the Funds’ SAI.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Each Fund is a diversified series of the Trust, which is an open-end management investment company organized as a Delaware statutory trust on September 20, 2012. The Board supervises the operations of the Trust and each Fund according to applicable state and federal law, and is responsible for the overall management of the Fund’s business affairs.

OPERATIONAL ADMINISTRATOR

Virtus ETF Solutions, LLC (the “Administrator”), located at 31 West 52nd Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10019, serves as each Fund’s operational administrator. The Administrator supervises the overall administration of the Trust and each Fund including, among other responsibilities, the coordination and day-to-day oversight of the Fund’s operations, the service providers’ communications with the Fund and each other, and assistance with Trust, Board and contractual matters related to the Fund and other series of the Trust. The Administrator also provides persons satisfactory to the Board to serve as officers of the Trust.

ACCOUNTING SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR, CUSTODIAN AND TRANSFER AGENT

The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNY Mellon”), located at 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286, directly and through its subsidiary companies, provides necessary administrative, accounting, tax and financial reporting for the maintenance and operations of the Trust as each Fund’s accounting services administrator. BNY Mellon also serves as the custodian for the Fund’s assets, and serves as transfer agent and dividend paying agent for the Fund.

DISTRIBUTOR

VP Distributors, LLC (the “Distributor”), located at One Financial Plaza, Hartford, CT 06103, serves as the distributor of Creation Units for each Fund on an agency basis. The Distributor does not maintain a secondary market in Shares.

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, located at Two Commerce Square, Suite 1800, 2001 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, serves as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Trust and each Fund.

LEGAL COUNSEL

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP, located at 2005 Market Street, Suite 2600, Philadelphia, PA 19103, serves as legal counsel to the Trust and the Independent Trustees.

23

EXPENSES OF THE FUNDS

Each Fund pays all expenses not assumed by the Adviser. General Trust expenses that are allocated among and charged to the assets of a Fund and other series of the Trust are done so on a basis that the Board deems fair and equitable, which may be on a basis of relative net assets of the Fund and other series of the Trust or the nature of the services performed and relative applicability to the Fund and other series of the Trust.

INVESTING IN THE FUNDS

DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE PLAN

The Board has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with its Rule 12b-1 plan, each Fund is authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets each year to finance activities primarily intended to result in the sale of Creation Units of the Fund or the provision of investor services. No Rule 12b-1 fees are currently paid by either Fund, and there are no current plans to impose these fees. However, in the event Rule 12b-1 fees are charged in the future, they will be paid out of a Fund’s assets, and over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than certain other types of sales charges.

The Adviser and its affiliates may, out of their own resources, pay amounts to third parties for distribution or marketing services on behalf of each Fund. The making of these payments could create a conflict of interest for a financial intermediary receiving such payments.

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

The NAV of the Shares of a Fund is equal to the Fund’s total assets minus the Fund’s total liabilities divided by the total number of Shares outstanding. Interest and investment income on the Trust’s assets accrue daily and are included in the Fund’s total assets. Expenses and fees (including investment advisory, management, administration and distribution fees, if any) accrue daily and are included in the Fund’s total liabilities. The NAV that is published is rounded to the nearest cent; however, for purposes of determining the price of Creation Units, the NAV is calculated to five decimal places.

The pricing and valuation of portfolio securities is determined in good faith in accordance with procedures approved by, and under the direction of, the Board. In determining the value of a Fund’s assets, portfolio securities are generally valued at market using quotations from the primary market in which they are traded. Debt securities (other than short-term investments) are valued on the basis of broker quotes or valuations provided by a pricing service, which in determining value utilizes information regarding recent sales, market transactions in comparable securities, quotations from dealers, and various relationships between securities. Short-term investments having a remaining maturity of 60 days or less are valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Other assets, such as accrued interest, accrued dividends and cash are also included in determining the NAV. Each Fund normally uses third party pricing services to obtain market quotations.

The Board has designated the Adviser to serve as its valuation designee, pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”), to perform the fair value determinations relating to any or all Fund investments. Accordingly, securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily available or which cannot be accurately valued using a Fund’s normal pricing procedures are valued by the Adviser at fair value as determined in good faith under policies approved by the Board. Fair value pricing may be used, for example, in situations where (i) portfolio securities, such as securities with small capitalizations, are so thinly traded that there have been no transactions for that security over an extended period of time; (ii) an event occurs after the close of the exchange on which a portfolio security is principally traded that is likely to change the value of the portfolio security prior to a Fund’s NAV calculation; (iii) the exchange on which the portfolio security is principally traded closes early; or (iv) trading of the particular portfolio security is halted during the day and does not resume prior to the Fund’s NAV calculation. Pursuant to policies adopted by the Board, the Adviser consults with BNY Mellon on a regular basis regarding the need for fair value pricing. Fair value pricing is intended to result in a calculation of the Fund’s NAV that fairly reflects portfolio security values as of the time of pricing. A portfolio security’s “fair value” price may differ from the price

24

next available for that portfolio security using a Fund’s normal pricing procedures, and the fair value price may differ substantially from the price at which the security may ultimately be traded or sold. If the fair value price differs from the price that would have been determined using a Fund’s normal pricing procedures, you may receive more or less proceeds or Shares from redemptions or purchases of Shares, respectively, than you would have otherwise received if the portfolio security were priced using a Fund’s normal pricing procedures, which could result in the market prices for Shares deviating from NAV. The performance of a Fund may also be affected if a portfolio security’s fair value price were to differ from the security’s price using the Fund’s normal pricing procedures. The Board oversees the Adviser in its role as valuation designee in accordance with the requirements of Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act.

To the extent the assets of a Fund are invested in other open-end investment companies that are registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s NAV is calculated based upon the NAVs reported by such registered open-end investment companies, and the prospectuses for these companies explain the circumstances under which they will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing.

Each Fund’s NAV is determined as of the close of regular trading on the Exchange, normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, on each day that the Exchange is open for business. Currently, the Exchange is closed on weekends and in recognition of the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

PREMIUM/DISCOUNT INFORMATION

Information regarding the extent and frequency with which market prices of Shares have tracked a Fund’s NAV for the most recently completed calendar year and the most recently completed calendar quarters since that year is available without charge on the Fund’s website.

FREQUENT TRADING

The Board has not adopted policies and procedures with respect to frequent purchases and redemptions of Shares by Fund shareholders (“market timing”). In determining not to adopt market timing policies and procedures, the Board noted that, unlike traditional mutual funds, Shares can only be purchased and redeemed directly from the applicable Fund in Creation Units by Authorized Participants, and that the vast majority of trading in the Shares occurs on the secondary market. Because secondary market trades do not involve a Fund directly, it is unlikely those trades would cause many of the harmful effects of market timing, including dilution, disruption of portfolio management, increases in the Fund’s trading costs and the realization of capital gains. With respect to trades directly with a Fund, to the extent effected in-kind (namely, for securities), those trades do not cause any of the harmful effects that may result from frequent cash trades. To the extent trades are effected in whole or in part in cash, the Board noted that those trades could result in dilution to a Fund and increased transaction costs (and the Fund may impose higher transaction fees to offset these increased costs), which could negatively impact the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objective. However, the Board noted that direct trading on a short-term basis by Authorized Participants is critical to ensuring that Shares trade at or close to NAV. Each Fund also imposes transaction fees on purchases and redemptions of Creation Units that are designed to offset transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance and redemption of Creation Units of the Fund. Given this structure, the Board determined that it is not necessary to adopt market timing policies and procedures. Each Fund reserves the right to reject any purchase order at any time and reserves the right to impose restrictions on disruptive or excessive trading in Creation Units.

The Board has instructed the officers of the Trust to review reports of purchases and redemptions of Creation Units on a regular basis to determine if there is any unusual trading in Shares. The officers of the Trust will report to the Board any such unusual trading in Creation Units that is disruptive to a Fund. In such event, the Board may reconsider its decision not to adopt market timing policies and procedures.

DISTRIBUTIONS

Each Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment company under the Code. As a regulated investment company, each Fund generally pays no federal income tax on the income and gains it distributes to shareholders. Each Fund expects to distribute substantially all of its net investment income and its net realized capital gains, if any, at least annually. Each Fund may distribute such income dividends and capital gains more frequently, if necessary, in

25

order to reduce or eliminate federal excise or income taxes on the Fund. The amount of any distribution will vary, and there is no guarantee a Fund will pay either an income dividend or a capital gains distribution. Distributions may be reinvested automatically in additional whole Shares only if the broker through whom you purchased Shares makes such option available.

Each year, you will receive an annual statement (Form 1099) of your account activity to assist you in completing your federal, state and local tax returns. Distributions declared in October, November or December to shareholders of record in such month, but paid in January, are taxable as if they were paid in December. Each Fund makes every effort to search for reclassified income to reduce the number of corrected forms mailed to you. However, when necessary, you will receive a corrected Form 1099 to reflect reclassified information.

At the time you purchase your Shares, the price of Shares may reflect undistributed income, undistributed capital gains, or net unrealized appreciation in value of portfolio securities held by a Fund. For taxable investors, a subsequent distribution to you of such amounts, although constituting a return of your investment, would be taxable. Buying Shares in a Fund just before it declares an income dividend or capital gains distribution is sometimes known as “buying a dividend.”

FEDERAL INCOME TAXES

FUND DISTRIBUTIONS

Each Fund expects, based on its investment objective and strategies, that its distributions, if any, will be taxable as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both. This is true whether you reinvest your distributions in additional Shares or receive them in cash. For federal income tax purposes, Fund distributions of short-term capital gains are taxable to you as ordinary income. Fund distributions of long-term capital gains are taxable to you as long-term capital gains no matter how long you have owned your Shares. A portion of income dividends reported by a Fund may be qualified dividend income eligible for taxation by individual shareholders at long-term capital gain rates provided certain holding period requirements are met.

The use of derivatives by a Fund may cause the Fund to realize higher amounts of ordinary income or short-term capital gain, distributions from which are taxable to individual shareholders at ordinary income tax rates rather than at the more favorable tax rates for long-term capital gain.

Under 2017 legislation commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act “qualified REIT dividends” (i.e., ordinary REIT dividends other than capital gain dividends and portions of REIT dividends designated as qualified dividend income) are treated as eligible for a 20% deduction by noncorporate taxpayers. A Fund may choose to pass through the special character of “qualified REIT dividends” to its shareholders, provided the shareholder meets certain holding period requirements with respect to their shares.

SALE OF FUND SHARES

A sale of Shares is a taxable event and, accordingly, a capital gain or loss may be recognized. Currently, any capital gain or loss realized upon a sale of Shares generally is treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as short-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for one year or less. The ability to deduct capital losses may be limited.

TAX TREATMENT OF FUND SHAREHOLDERS

An additional 3.8% Medicare tax is imposed on certain net investment income (including ordinary dividends and capital gain distributions received from a Fund and net gains from taxable dispositions of Shares) of U.S. individuals, estates and trusts to the extent that such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds a threshold amount. This Medicare tax, if applicable, is reported by you on, and paid with, your federal income tax return.

Fund distributions and gains from the sale of your Shares generally are subject to state and local taxes.

26

Non-U.S. investors may be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a 30% or lower treaty rate and U.S. estate tax and are subject to special U.S. tax certification requirements to avoid backup withholding and claim any treaty benefits. Exemptions from U.S. withholding tax are provided for certain capital gain dividends paid by a Fund from net long-term capital gains, interest-related dividends and short-term capital gain dividends, if such amounts are reported by the Fund. However, notwithstanding such exemptions from U.S. withholding at the source, any such dividends and distributions of income and capital gains will be subject to backup withholding at a rate of 24% if you fail to properly certify that you are not a U.S. person.

Under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”), a 30% withholding tax is imposed on income dividends paid by a Fund to certain foreign entities, referred to as foreign financial institutions or nonfinancial foreign entities, that fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the U.S. Department of the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts. After December 31, 2018, FATCA withholding also would have applied to certain capital gain distributions, return of capital distributions and the proceeds arising from the sale of Shares; however, based on proposed regulations issued by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), which can be relied upon currently, such withholding is no longer required unless final regulations provide otherwise (which is not expected). Information about a shareholder in a Fund may be disclosed to the IRS, non-U.S. taxing authorities or other parties as necessary to comply with FATCA. Withholding also may be required if a foreign entity that is a shareholder of a Fund fails to provide the appropriate certifications or other documentation concerning its status under FATCA.

WITHHOLDING

By law, if you do not provide your proper taxpayer identification number and certain required certifications, you may be subject to backup withholding on any distributions of income, capital gains or proceeds from the sale of your Shares. Withholding is also imposed if the IRS requires it. When withholding is required, the amount will be 24% of any distributions or proceeds paid.

CREATION UNITS

An Authorized Participant who exchanges equity securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time of purchase (plus any cash received by the Authorized Participant as part of the issue) and the Authorized Participant’s aggregate basis in the securities surrendered (plus any cash paid by the Authorized Participant as part of the issue). An Authorized Participant who exchanges Creation Units for equity securities generally will recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the Authorized Participant’s basis in the Creation Units (plus any cash paid by the Authorized Participant as part of the redemption) and the aggregate market value of the securities received (plus any cash received by the Authorized Participant as part of the redemption). The IRS, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing “wash sales,” or on the basis that there has been no significant change in economic position. Persons exchanging securities should consult their own tax advisor with respect to whether the wash sale rules apply and when a loss might be deductible.

Under current federal tax laws, any capital gain or loss realized upon redemption of Creation Units is generally treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for more than one year and as a short-term capital gain or loss if the Shares have been held for one year or less, assuming such Creation Units are held as a capital asset.

If a Fund redeems Creation Units in cash, it may recognize more capital gains than it will if it redeems Creation Units in-kind.

This discussion of “Federal Income Taxes” is not intended or written to be used as tax advice. Because everyone’s tax situation is unique, you should consult your tax professional about federal, state, local or foreign tax consequences before making an investment in a Fund. For additional information, see the “Taxation” section of the Statement of Additional Information.

27

DISCLAIMERS

“Indxx” is a service mark of Indxx and has been licensed for use for certain purposes by the Adviser. The Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Indxx. Indxx makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the Funds or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Funds particularly. Indxx has no obligation to take the needs of the Adviser or the shareholders of the Funds into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Underlying Indices. Indxx is not responsible for and has not participated in the determination of the timing, amount or pricing of the Shares to be issued or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the Shares are to be converted into cash. Indxx has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Funds.

The Adviser does not guarantee the accuracy and/or the completeness of the Underlying Indices or any data included therein, and the Adviser shall not have any liability for any errors, omissions or interruptions therein. The Adviser does not make any warranty, express or implied, as to results to be obtained by a Fund, owners of the Shares of a Fund or any other person or entity from the use of an Underlying Index or any data included therein. The Adviser makes no express or implied warranties, and expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or use with respect to the Underlying Indices or any data included therein. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall the Adviser have any liability for any special, punitive, direct, indirect or consequential damages (including lost profits) arising out of matters relating to the use of an Underlying Index, even if notified of the possibility of such damages.

FUND WEBSITE AND DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS

The Trust maintains a website for the Funds at www.virtusetfs.com. The website for the Funds contains the following information, on a per-Share basis, for each Fund: (i) the prior Business Day’s NAV and market price; (ii) the 30-day median bid-ask spread; (iii) the reported midpoint of the bid-ask spread at the time of NAV calculation (the “Bid-Ask Price”); (iv) a calculation of the premium or discount of the Bid-Ask Price against such NAV; and (v) data in chart format displaying the frequency distribution of discounts and premiums of the Bid-Ask Price against the NAV, within appropriate ranges, for each of the four previous calendar quarters (or for the life of the Fund if, shorter). In addition, on each Business Day, before the commencement of trading in Shares on the Exchange, the Trust discloses on each Fund’s website the identities and quantities of the portfolio securities and other assets held by the Fund that will form the basis for the calculation of NAV at the end of the Business Day.

A description of the Trust’s policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of each Fund’s portfolio securities is available in the SAI.

OTHER INFORMATION

The Funds are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by the Exchange. The Exchange makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of Shares or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the Fund particularly or the ability of each Fund to achieve its objective. The Exchange has no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the Funds.

For purposes of the 1940 Act, each Fund is a registered investment company, and the acquisition of Shares by other registered investment companies and companies relying on exemption from registration as investment companies under Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act is subject to the restrictions of Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act, except as permitted by SEC rule or an exemptive order that permits registered investment companies to invest in the Funds beyond those limitations.

28

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights tables below are intended to help you understand the Funds’ financial performance for the period of the Funds’ operations. Certain information reflects financial results for a single Share. The total returns in the table represent the rate that an investor would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions). The information for each of the fiscal years has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, whose report, along with the Funds’ financial statements, are included in the Funds’ Annual Report, which is available upon request, at no charge, by calling the Funds at (888) 383-0553.

Virtus Private Credit Strategy ETF

For the
Year Ended
October 31, 2022

For the
Year Ended
October 31, 2021

For the
Year Ended
October 31, 2020

For the Period
February 7, 2019
(1)
Through
October 31, 2019

Per Share Data for a Share Outstanding
throughout each period presented:

Net asset value, beginning of period

$25.99

$17.37

$24.72

$24.85

Investment operations:

Net investment income(2)

2.13

1.71

1.89

1.70

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

(5.33

)

8.62

(7.20

)

(0.45

)

Total from investment operations

(3.20

)

10.33

(5.31

)

1.25

Less Distributions from:

Net investment income

(2.09

)

(1.71

)

(2.04

)

(1.38

)

Total distributions

(2.09

)

(1.71

)

(2.04

)

(1.38

)

Net Asset Value, End of period

$20.70

$25.99

$17.37

$24.72

Net Asset Value Total Return(3)

(12.75

)%

61.32

%

(21.70

)%

5.03

%

Net assets, end of period (000’s omitted)

$21,735

$31,189

$19,109

$211,344

RATIOS/SUPPLEMENTAL DATA:

Ratios to Average Net Assets:

Expenses

0.75

%

0.75

%

0.75

%(4)

0.75

%(5)

Net investment income

8.97

%

7.27

%

8.59

%

9.24

%(5)

Portfolio turnover rate(6)

27

%

34

%

24

%

22

%(7)

  

(1) Commencement of operations.

(2) Based on average shares outstanding.

(3) Net Asset Value Total Return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value on the first day of the period, reinvestment of dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, and redemptions at net asset value on the last day of the period. Total return calculated for a period of less than one year is not annualized.

(4) The ratios of expenses to average net assets includes tax expense fees of less than 0.01%.

(5) Annualized.

(6) Portfolio turnover excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital shares.

(7) Not annualized.

29

Virtus Real Asset Income ETF

For the
Year Ended
October 31, 2022

For the
Year Ended
October 31, 2021

For the
Year Ended
October 31, 2020

For the Period February 7, 2019(1)
Through
October 31, 2019

Per Share Data for a Share Outstanding
throughout each period presented:

Net asset value, beginning of period

$26.84

$18.67

$24.72

$24.79

Investment operations:

Net investment income(2)

0.93

0.57

0.64

0.58

Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)

(3.61

)

8.66

(5.95

)

(0.12

)

Total from investment operations

(2.68

)

9.23

(5.31

)

0.46

Less Distributions from:

Net investment income

(0.87

)

(1.06

)

(0.74

)

(0.53

)

Total distributions

(0.87

)

(1.06

)

(0.74

)

(0.53

)

Net Asset Value, End of period

$23.29

$26.84

$18.67

$24.72

Net Asset Value Total Return(3)

(10.25

)%

50.16

%

(21.53

)%

1.87

%

Net assets, end of period (000’s omitted)

$45,420

$139,583

$100,810

$244,751

RATIOS/SUPPLEMENTAL DATA:

Ratios to Average Net Assets:

Expenses

0.55

%

0.55

%

0.55

%(4)

0.55

%(5)

Net investment income

3.52

%

2.30

%

2.93

%

3.20

%(5)

Portfolio turnover rate(6)

70

%

66

%

91

%

15

%(7)

  

(1) Commencement of operations.

(2) Based on average shares outstanding.

(3) Net Asset Value Total Return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net asset value on the first day of the period, reinvestment of dividends and distributions at net asset value during the period, and redemptions at net asset value on the last day of the period. Total return calculated for a period of less than one year is not annualized.

(4) The ratios of expenses to average net assets includes tax expense fees of less than 0.01%.

(5) Annualized.

(6) Portfolio turnover excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind creations or redemptions of the Fund’s capital shares.

(7) Not annualized.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

If you would like more information about the Trust, the Funds and the Shares, the following documents are available free upon request:

Annual and Semi-Annual Reports

Additional information about a Fund’s investments is available in the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. You will find in a Fund’s annual report a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance during the prior fiscal year.

Statement of Additional Information

Additional information about a Fund and its policies is also available in the Fund’s SAI. The SAI is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus (and is legally considered part of this Prospectus).

To receive a free copy of the Funds’ SAI, annual and semi-annual reports or other information about a Fund, or to make inquiries about the Fund, please call the Fund toll-free at (888) 383-0553. You can also access and download the SAI and the most recent annual and semi-annual reports without charge at the Trust’s website at www.virtusetfs.com or by written request to the Trust at the address below.

To obtain other information and for shareholder inquiries:

 

By telephone:

(888) 383-0553

 

 

By mail:

ETFis Series Trust I
31 West 52nd Street, 16th Floor
New York, NY 100
19

 

 

On the Internet:

SEC Edgar database: http://www.sec.gov; or www.virtusetfs.com

Only one copy of a Prospectus or an annual or semi-annual report will be sent to each household address. This process, known as “householding,” is used for most required shareholder mailings. (It does not apply to confirmations of transactions and account statements, however.) You may, of course, request an additional copy of a Prospectus or an annual or semi-annual report at any time by calling or writing the Fund. You may also request that householding be eliminated from all your required mailings.

Reports and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies of this information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following e-mail address: [email protected].

No person is authorized to give any information or to make any representations about the Fund or its Shares not contained in this Prospectus, and you should not rely on any other information. Read and keep this Prospectus for future reference.

Dealers effecting transactions in the Shares, whether or not participating in this distribution, may be generally required to deliver a Prospectus. This is in addition to any obligation dealers have to deliver a Prospectus when acting as underwriters.

ETFis Series Trust I: Investment Company Act file number 811-22819