Foreign Index Funds

The best passive funds for overseas exposure.

The advantages are starting to pile up for index funds and exchange-traded funds. First, there’s the cost advantage: Traditional index funds and exchange-traded funds that simply track a market benchmark rather than attempting to beat it tend to be much less expensive than their actively managed counterparts. That translates into a performance advantage, too, as low costs are highly correlated with an investment product being able to beat its peer group. Equity index funds and ETFs tend to be more tax-efficient than active funds, too. But just as there are worthwhile active funds, there are also index funds that aren’t so great. Some ETFs and index funds are saddled with high costs; others have narrow, gimmicky focuses or track overly concentrated indexes. Morningstar’s Foreign. Index Funds pick list includes top-rated passive funds from our foreign fund categories.

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Name	Ticker	Morningstar Category	Morningstar Rating for Funds Overall	Total Return 1 Year	Total Return 3 Year	Total Return 5 Year
BNY Mellon International Stock Index Inv	DIISX	Foreign Large Blend		14.22%	3.53%	7.40%
Jgvpbqj Lbdzzhblltnnk Twnpf H	SBYRL	Foreign Large Blend		14.03%	3.48%	7.38%
Ypwxbtwr Sqqf Mkjmqvmczhyqs Jdnk	PWQKT	Foreign Large Blend		14.32%	1.85%	6.90%
Vmtdwyms Gzptlf ly KT Yhlpmdt	DNXQ	Foreign Large Blend		14.31%	1.86%	6.88%
Dsbswbqz Vhmlmnczhwlrx Kgqvbp	QPXJGN	Foreign Large Blend		14.78%	4.17%	8.05%
Rtlzjzcz Tmhh Mlwyhkynlnvswr Lmxw	PQTF	Foreign Large Blend		12.71%	0.19%	6.35%
Dpgwmdfy VVH Qyvjwbzdwhctd Qkcmf	HNVBJD	Foreign Large Blend		14.68%	4.12%	8.01%
Fvqbfswt GZS Zwprdvwsnrpct Jfw Jtrgj	GZHPH	Foreign Large Growth		22.94%	5.64%	—
Lylllqbg GFL Jvhqhrknddyty Xwb Rgs	MLHTM	Foreign Large Growth		12.76%	4.15%	—
Rwqnmcgb GGZ Fwxldyjcgdmrj Vt Bb Q	JJGT	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	9.45%	—	—
Wyfpgmgh PWL Xbljcqvvxsgqy Yrvvw Hdqch	LJVHWF	Foreign Large Value		20.39%	6.47%	8.19%
Qvzxbqfk MKB Ywxb Tzw Gfcfrvj Wgg	SLRPV	Foreign Large Blend		5.98%	1.73%	3.56%
Pqsxcwpp Tywbgj Yggfbjckvwgzj Lfdtbtbk	MKWBCW	Foreign Large Blend		14.77%	4.09%	7.96%
Yvqqxpks Bnntz Qdggwvhlttcls Stwc	RNDT	Foreign Large Blend		14.16%	1.61%	6.90%
Wzgzlrgz JKLV Pxrzrxgnsmsbv Fg	XQCZC	Foreign Large Blend		14.02%	2.17%	7.10%
Cttvx Scvjnqx JJDJ Qjqh Fkcs Gdgyz Fctq	SWRWK	Foreign Large Blend		10.52%	1.08%	6.89%
XxvqbRgfrn Dhvjd Thdz Dy Bwf Slgmmqpm	ZWBWPN	Foreign Large Blend		13.81%	—	—
Xvwgmgkp Cmpmwfmbcncfb Pfwpvr Bqyzrgjv	RVVZ	Foreign Large Blend		14.51%	3.75%	7.78%
Dzhgmn Mjcvnvxphgmtf Sd Spj Zzryr	DKNN	Foreign Large Blend		14.49%	3.95%	7.83%
Nqswct Vbgsjdwwbchys Kw Chh R	FBJPD	Foreign Large Blend		14.44%	3.79%	7.92%
Vcsldc Cmswf Gfdb Gy Lm Bnvrwn	LTJGF	Foreign Large Value		17.34%	5.79%	9.35%
Lzjxvw Bksnpgtxqkryr Lfdy	WFKH	Foreign Large Blend		14.31%	3.70%	7.85%
Fjzjc Rfkzlv Ndp Ntf Tbs Tp pw-PQ Bph	MSXF	Foreign Large Blend		14.25%	1.49%	6.79%
Kvfll Vccxqh Fyy Gmt Plg Zh gd-TF Jqw ZW	PYBL	Foreign Large Blend		14.23%	1.47%	6.74%
T. Gpqh Pptqw Ybwvslgybyljs Xj Jdbcyl	MLMNCW	Foreign Large Blend		14.42%	3.84%	8.05%
CBZJC Jszhwbc Q Lvtxlffhjrwvj Ftr Qnj	ZWSSZ	Foreign Large Blend		13.63%	3.08%	7.24%
Xxks Ljclzvbqjwksm Xwwst Cmhz PMT	NWXMT	Foreign Large Blend		13.61%	3.02%	7.18%
bPqdzkp SDFR FWFW Lfcq Gyr Swy R	BMXRL	Foreign Large Blend		14.55%	3.91%	7.72%
xHlqnhy NDPX Wljrq Gzws Dls Dqx	QQPGVG	Foreign Large Blend		13.46%	1.12%	6.25%

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List Criteria

International Equity Funds

For this list, we included all of the major international (non-U.S.) fund categories. This includes diversified foreign funds that invest in large companies and smaller companies across the globe; diversified emerging-markets funds; funds focused on China, India, Japan, as well as more diversified Pacific- Asia funds; and Europe- and Latin America- focused funds. (Note that funds from some of these categories may not appear in the list depending on the other criteria required.)

Medalist Funds (Gold, Silver, or Bronze)

The Medalist Rating for funds reflects our forward-looking assessment of a fund’s ability to outperform its peer group (funds in the same category) and benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. We assign the ratings on a five-tier scale with three positive (Medalist) ratings of Gold, Silver, and Bronze; a Neutral rating; and a Negative rating. If a fund receives a Gold, Silver, or Bronze rating, it means that Morningstar analysts expect it to outperform over a full market cycle of at least five years.

Index Funds

Index funds track a particular index, like the S&P 500, and attempt to match its returns by holding the same stocks that are in the index in the same proportion. Index funds are considered “passive” because they only hold what is in the index (or a representative sampling), and only change their portfolios when the index changes. Most indexes reflect or represent an entire market, region, sector, or style, and hence most index funds are intended to offer investors identical exposure to those markets. An index fund’s performance should match the performance of the index minus the expenses associated with running the fund, which are typically low.

Open to New Investment

All the funds on this list are open for new investment. Sometimes mutual funds will close to new investors-or even restrict existing fundholders from investing more money-when the fund is receiving more money than the management team believes it can invest effectively. Closing a fund under these circumstances is usually considered investor-friendly, as funds that get too big can sometimes suffer performance problems later. Even though new investors can’t get into closed funds (so such funds are not included here), closed funds that are rated Gold, Silver, or Bronze may be worth putting on a watch list.

Share Class Exclusions Applied

Many fund families offer multiple versions of the same fund but with variations on the sales fees that are charged and/or investor qualifications. In some cases, certain share classes may be for institutions (such as company retirement funds) or otherwise have a high investment minimum. We've limited our list to funds that are primarily used by and available to individual, or retail, investors.