Nationwide Variable Insurance Trust

04/24/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/24/2026 14:10

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497K)

 
NVIT Government Bond Fund
Summary Prospectus April 30, 2026
Class I / Class II / Class IV / Class P / Class Y
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's Prospectus, which contains information about the Fund and its risks. This Summary Prospectus is intended for use in connection with variable insurance contracts, and is not intended for use by other investors. The Fund's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated April 30, 2026 (as may be supplemented or revised), are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. For free paper or electronic copies of the Fund's Prospectus and other information about the Fund, go to nationwide.com/mutualfundsnvit, email a request to [email protected] or call 800-848-0920, or ask any variable insurance contract provider who offers shares of the Fund as an underlying investment option in its products.
Objective
The NVIT Government Bond Fund seeks as high a level of current income as is consistent with preserving capital.
Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. Sales charges and other expenses that may be imposed by variable insurance contracts are not included. If these charges were reflected, the expenses listed below would be higher. See the variable insurance contract prospectus, which may impose sales charges and other additional contract-level expenses.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 
Class I
Shares
Class II
Shares
Class IV
Shares
Class P
Shares
Class Y
Shares
Management Fees
0.50%
0.50%
0.50%
0.50%
0.50%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees
None
0.25%
None
0.25%
None
Other Expenses
0.23%
0.23%
0.23%
0.08%
0.08%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses
0.73%
0.98%
0.73%
0.83%
0.58%
Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement(1)
(0.04)%
(0.04)%
(0.04)%
(0.04)%
(0.04)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement
0.69%
0.94%
0.69%
0.79%
0.54%
(1)  Nationwide Variable Insurance Trust (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting annual fund operating expenses to 0.54% until at
least April 30, 2027. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, compensation payable
to parties not affiliated with the Adviser for the recovery of tax reclaims, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, acquired fund fees and expenses, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other nonroutine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. The Adviser may request and receive reimbursement from the Fund for advisory fees waived or other expenses reimbursed by the Adviser pursuant to the expense limitation agreement at a date not to exceed three years from the date on which the corresponding waiver or reimbursement to the Fund was made. However, no reimbursement may be made unless: (i) the Fund's assets exceed $100 million and (ii) the total annual expense ratio is no higher than the amount of the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and does not cause the expense ratio to exceed the current expense limitation. Reimbursement by the Fund of amounts previously waived or reimbursed by the Adviser is not permitted except as provided for in the expense limitation agreement.
Example
This Example is intended to help you to compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example, however, does not include charges that are imposed by variable insurance contracts. If these charges were reflected, the expenses listed below would be higher.
This 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 time periods. It assumes a 5% return each year and no change in expenses, and any expense limitation or fee waivers
NSP-GB (4/26)
Summary Prospectus April 30, 2026
1
NVIT Government Bond Fund
that may apply for the periods indicated above under "Fees and Expenses." 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
Class I Shares
$70
$229
$402
$903
Class II Shares
96
308
538
1,198
Class IV Shares
70
229
402
903
Class P Shares
81
261
457
1,022
Class Y Shares
55
182
320
722
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 39.79% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in bonds and other debt securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities. Many of these securities include mortgage-backed securities. The Fund's subadviser seeks to achieve the Fund's objective by investing in securities offering the highest level of expected income while simultaneously minimizing market price fluctuations. In selecting securities, the subadviser typically maintains an average portfolio duration that is up to one year greater than or less than the average portfolio duration of the Bloomberg U.S. Government/Mortgage Index. As of December 31, 2025, the average portfolio duration of the Bloomberg U.S. Government/Mortgage Index was 5.70 years, although this will change or fluctuate over time.
The Fund's subadviser may sell securities in order to buy others that it believes will better serve the Fund's objective.
Principal Risks
The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.
As with any fund, the value of the Fund's investments-and therefore, the value of Fund shares-may fluctuate. These changes may occur because of:
Interest rate risk - generally, when interest rates go up, the value of debt securities goes down. Prices of longer-term securities generally change more in response to interest rate changes than prices of shorter-term securities. To the extent the Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in debt securities with longer-term maturities, rising interest rates are more likely to cause periods of increased volatility and redemptions, and will cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline significantly. The Federal Reserve Board continued to lower interest rates following a period of consistent rate increases, though it is unclear if such lowering will continue. The interest earned on the Fund's investments in debt securities may decline when prevailing interest rates fall. Declines in interest rates increase the likelihood that debt obligations will be pre-paid, which, in turn, increases these risks. Very low or negative interest rates will impact the yield of the Fund's investments in debt securities and increase the risk that, if followed by rising interest rates, the Fund's performance will be negatively impacted. The Fund is subject to the risk that the income generated by its investments in debt securities may not keep pace with inflation. Recent and potential future changes in government policy may affect interest rates.
The interest rate of fixed-rate securities is fixed at the time of purchase and does not fluctuate with general market conditions. Floating-rate securities have interest rates that vary with changes to a specific measure, such as the Treasury bill rate. Variable-rate securities have interest rates that change at preset times based on changes on the specific measure.
Credit risk - U.S. government securities generally have the least credit risk, but are not completely free from credit risk. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer will default if it is unable to pay the interest or principal when due. If an issuer defaults, the Fund will lose money. Changes in a bond issuer's credit rating or the market's perception of an issuer's creditworthiness also affect the value of a bond. Any downgrade of securities issued by the U.S. government may result in a downgrade of securities issued by its agencies or instrumentalities.
Summary Prospectus April 30, 2026
2
NVIT Government Bond Fund
Market risk - the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value, including the possibility that the markets will go down sharply and unpredictably. This occurs due to numerous factors, including interest rates, the outlook for corporate profits, the health of the national and world economies, and the fluctuation of other securities markets around the world. These risks may be magnified if certain social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts, trade disputes and social unrest or rapid technological developments such as artificial intelligence) adversely interrupt the global economy.
Selection risk - the risk that the securities selected by the Fund's subadviser will underperform the markets, the relevant indexes or the securities selected by other funds with similar investment objectives and investment strategies.
U.S. government securities risk - not all obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Some obligations are backed only by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality, and in some cases there is some risk of default by the issuer. Even if a security is backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States, such guarantee applies only to the timely payment of interest and principal. Neither the U.S. government nor its agencies guarantee the market value of their securities, and interest rate changes, prepayments and other factors will affect the value of U.S. government securities. It is possible that issuers of U.S. government securities will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future.
Liquidity risk - when there is little or no active trading market for specific types of securities or instruments, it can become more difficult to sell the securities or instruments at or near their perceived value. An inability to sell a portfolio position can adversely affect the Fund's value or prevent the Fund from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities. Liquidity risk also includes the risk that the Fund will experience significant net redemptions of its shares at a time when it cannot find willing buyers for its portfolio securities or instruments or can sell its portfolio securities or instruments only at a material loss. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell other securities or instruments that are more liquid, but at unfavorable times and conditions. Investments in foreign securities and high-yield bonds tend to have more exposure to liquidity risk than domestic securities and higher-rated bonds.
Prepayment and call risk - certain bonds will be paid off by the issuer more quickly than anticipated. If this happens, the Fund may be required to invest the proceeds in securities with lower yields.
Mortgage-backed securities risk- mortgage-backed securities generally are subject to the same types of risk that apply to other debt securities, such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and
prepayment and call risk. Mortgage-backed securities also are subject to extension risk, which is the risk that when interest rates rise, certain mortgage-backed securities will be paid in full by the issuer more slowly than anticipated. This can cause the market value of the security to fall because the market may view its interest rate as low for a longer-term investment. Through its investments in mortgage-backed securities, the Fund may have some exposure to subprime loans, as well as to the mortgage and credit markets generally. Subprime loans, which are loans made to borrowers with weakened credit histories, generally have higher default rates than loans that meet government underwriting requirements.
Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows the volatility or variability of the Fund's annual total returns over time and shows that Fund performance can change from year to year. The table shows the Fund's average annual total returns for certain time periods compared to the returns of a broad-based securities market index and an additional index. The additional index has characteristics relevant to the Fund's investment strategy. Remember, however, that past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The returns shown in the bar chart and table do not include charges that will be imposed by variable insurance contracts. If these amounts were reflected, returns would be less than those shown.
The Fund compares its performance to the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index to satisfy a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure requirement.
Summary Prospectus April 30, 2026
3
NVIT Government Bond Fund
Annual Total Returns- Class I Shares
(Years Ended December 31,)
  
Highest Quarter:
6.34%
-
4Q 2023
Lowest Quarter:
-5.24%
-
1Q 2022
The Fund has not commenced offering Class P shares as of the date of this Prospectus. Pre-inception historical performance for Class P shares is based on the previous performance of Class I shares. Performance for Class P shares has been adjusted to reflect that share class's higher expenses than those of Class I shares.
Average Annual Total Returns
(For the Periods Ended December 31, 2025) 
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Class I Shares
7.00%
-0.62%
1.17%
Class II Shares
6.80%
-0.85%
0.93%
Class IV Shares
7.13%
-0.60%
1.18%
Class P Shares
6.90%
-0.72%
1.07%
Class Y Shares
7.18%
-0.47%
1.32%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index
(reflects no deduction for fees or expenses)
7.30%
-0.36%
2.01%
Bloomberg U.S. Government/Mortgage Index
(reflects no deduction for fees or expenses)
7.09%
-0.53%
1.46%
Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser
Nationwide Fund Advisors
Subadviser
Nationwide Asset Management, LLC
Portfolio Managers  
Portfolio Manager
Title
Length of Service
with Fund
Chad W. Finefrock, CFA
Senior Investment
Professional
Since 2016
Nicholas J. Kern, CFA
Senior Investment
Professional
Since 2023
Tax Information
The dividends and distributions paid by the Fund to the insurance company separate accounts will consist of ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both. Because shares of the Fund must be purchased through separate accounts used to fund variable insurance contracts, such dividends and distributions will be exempt from current taxation by contract holders if left to accumulate within a separate account. Consult the variable insurance contract prospectus for additional tax information.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
This Fund is only offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The Fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance companies (or their affiliates) for distribution and/or other services, and to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries that distribute the variable insurance contracts. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the insurance companies to include the Fund as an underlying investment option in the variable insurance contracts, and by influencing the broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries to distribute variable insurance contracts that include the Fund as an underlying investment option over other variable insurance contracts or to otherwise recommend the selection of the Fund as an underlying investment option by contract owners instead of other funds that also may be available investment options. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.
Summary Prospectus April 30, 2026
4
NVIT Government Bond Fund
Nationwide Variable Insurance Trust published this content on April 24, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via EDGAR on April 24, 2026 at 20:11 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]