VIRTUS TOTAL RETURN FUND INC 
By NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of The Zweig Fund, Inc. (NYSE: ZF) declared a distribution of $0.208 per share to shareholders of record on December 31, 2012, payable January 9, 2013, under the current Managed Distribution Plan that pays 6 percent of the fund's net asset value ("NAV") on an annualized basis.
The following is a required Section 19A notice:
You should not draw any conclusions about the fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the fund's Managed Distribution Plan.
This notice discloses information on the sources of the distribution as required by SEC Rule 19(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the fund's SEC Exemptive Order under Section 19(b) as follows:
Distribution Estimates December 2012 (QTD) Year-to-date (YTD) (1)
---------------------- ------------------ ----------------------
Per Share Amount Percentage Per Share Amount Percentage
of Current Distribution of Current Distribution
(Sources)
-------- ---
Net Investment Income $0.032 15.4% $0.085 12.4%
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Net Realized Foreign Currency Gains 0.014 6.9% 0.013 1.9%
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Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gains 0.162 77.7% 0.277 40.6%
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Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gains - 0.0% - 0.0%
------------------------------------ --- --- --- ---
Return of Capital (or other Capital Source) - 0.0% 0.307 45.1%
------------------------------------------ --- --- ----- ----
Total Distribution $0.208 100.0% $0.682 100.0%
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(1) YTD February 1, 2012 to January 9, 2013. (The distribution paid on January 9, 2012 was reportable for tax on Form 1099 in 2011)
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The fund estimates that it has distributed more than its income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income."
The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.
Information regarding the fund's performance and distribution rates is set forth below. Please note that all performance figures are based on the fund's NAV and not the market price of the fund's shares. Performance figures are not meant to represent individual shareholder performance.
Average Annual Total Return on
NAV for the 5-year period ended
December 31, 2012 (2) 1.01%
-------------------------------- ----
Current Fiscal YTD Annualized
Distribution Rate (3) 6.96%
----------------------------- ----
YTD Cumulative Total Return on
NAV (4) 11.41%
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YTD Cumulative Distribution Rate
(5) 6.96%
-------------------------------- ----
(2) Average Annual Total Return on
NAV is the annual compound
return for the five year
period. It reflects the change
in the fund's NAV and
reinvestment of all
distributions.
(3) Current Fiscal YTD Annualized
Distribution Rate is the
Cumulative Distribution Rate
annualized as a percentage of
the fund's NAV as of December
31, 2012.
(4) YTD Cumulative Total Return on
NAV is the percentage change in
the fund's NAV from January 1,
2012 to December 31, 2012,
including distributions paid
and assuming reinvestment of
those distributions.
(5) YTD Cumulative Distribution Rate
is the dollar value of
distributions from January 1,
2012 to December 31, 2012 as a
percentage of the fund's NAV as
of December 31, 2012.
The Zweig Fund, Inc. is a closed-end fund advised by Zweig Advisers LLC. For more information on the fund, please contact Shareholder Services at 800.272.2700, by email at zweig@virtus.com, or visit us on the web at www.virtus.com.
ZF Cusip: 989834205
SOURCE The Zweig Fund, Inc.
