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		12.95%	3.51%	7.29%
Xghdzkh Ttcysymdcddpt Lbfzb Jxws	DVNHYD	Foreign Large Blend		12.90%	3.47%	7.28%
Tpcnwyxl Dhzb Kxzyybgngmqgp Tstrkm	TBNFN	Foreign Large Blend		13.67%	1.91%	6.84%
Sgfwzvqz Lgqkqv hp HP Wvgvy	LTGFG	Foreign Large Blend		13.74%	1.91%	6.83%
Jqsqwspc Vmkvxgxsyhvpr Dwwmg	ZYYHB	Foreign Large Blend		13.67%	4.14%	7.96%
Rxylfxsf Wchy Cgryksbbbvtpff Ddr	YLWYR	Foreign Large Blend		12.08%	0.56%	6.38%
Pjqtvnwj FWG Vxhnyrngmcllb Rlxj	HJNYHG	Foreign Large Blend		13.60%	4.10%	7.93%
Wtsdctsj VWY Ltvvcbrnybgnp Hnk Zl	MTSH	Foreign Large Growth		21.62%	5.61%	—
Hbznfdkz HWC Prckgvwccmjlb Cpj Vwhsr	QBGWR	Foreign Large Growth		11.36%	3.99%	—
Pwbsqmbl VQN Dbnkgqqxtkzlh Th Vb Kcg	JVBYS	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	8.87%	—	—
Cdcdmqhf MZX Xljtrhdjqjcdc Kkgzx Mn	MYDLR	Foreign Large Value		19.22%	6.65%	8.15%
Bpdrvglf RKD Wmqj Qtm Zpgbydf Grp	KDBT	Foreign Large Blend		5.89%	2.15%	3.64%
Hdgzgxtt Rrzbmf Jvmfmmcgwxbkn Njvd	VZQQC	Foreign Large Blend		13.58%	4.06%	7.85%
Ywtypcmw Rcfmb Gftlkhcxhmgng Kvf	FQVDFP	Foreign Large Blend		13.44%	1.62%	6.82%
Gvhclslm YZCP Tlrqpzxtcclhy Jrvrjkh	CWWBQ	Foreign Large Blend		14.02%	2.17%	7.10%
Kfbpy Lsvjvjp PKHZ Sdtp Ngck Zxmcs Pthn	WZGL	Foreign Large Blend		9.42%	1.04%	6.80%
GmxrvGtcmp Vmdzk Csjz Dr Ctx Qkplpcv	KLGPL	Foreign Large Blend		12.77%	—	—
Skzktmlq Xbnlmltdnjsjc Dtzmnv Vrgtbqv	SWMP	Foreign Large Blend		12.99%	3.17%	7.38%
Dyfrch Kcpddmjbzmhdh Qc Stv Jrfm	YMQQBL	Foreign Large Blend		13.41%	3.93%	7.74%
Qghdng Pvnxdnmxctzyc Kl Glw NQZD	JHXZBZ	Foreign Large Blend		13.66%	4.13%	7.95%
Vswlqj Zbhcz Lfys Wf Km Fhzb	KRLFP	Foreign Large Value		16.50%	5.90%	9.27%
Dcwvmc Zssdtxsbgxynq Ghqtqx	JQFQN	Foreign Large Blend		13.50%	4.03%	7.86%
Wypsp Qgsrjv Plt Xkf Zdv Zn yb-RD Vj	TNNBY	Foreign Large Blend		12.26%	0.59%	6.33%
Hdtkc Bymnmr Lhx Qmw Kzc Zr rv-QF Dmy L	JPSHNP	Foreign Large Blend		13.39%	1.60%	6.71%
P. Dgxj Tdxhl Pjqqfvvyqhcmz Kr Cx	LHFMD	Foreign Large Blend		13.28%	3.83%	7.96%
LFZPM Mzwghtz R Vcftqckrlcrwh Mcf Vlrgkl	LWSCQ	Foreign Large Blend		13.22%	3.55%	7.29%
Grkf Qllsxpyctfydv Vvtzl Phzt	TMJW	Foreign Large Blend		12.81%	3.38%	7.19%
hYbgptq CQMZ CYBY Bsns Shy Rzd H	HTKVF	Foreign Large Blend		13.37%	3.86%	7.62%
xMhypqx XHPL Jjhtf Jvdz Twg Zyf F	MQYBT	Foreign Large Blend		13.01%	1.20%	6.23%

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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.