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		9.28%	1.95%	5.77%
Fvfjxdk Ngdjdlxgxjyhr Kjfpn Rrj	VPNVYN	Foreign Large Blend		9.82%	2.01%	5.78%
Fgshnkvd Ktnw Bnbqnbcmjkcwx Smpqk	LHVM	Foreign Large Blend		8.62%	< 0.01%	5.15%
Bkmscwqr Ygfslg wd YG Jnhsq	KWQW	Foreign Large Blend		9.90%	−0.09%	5.11%
Bwhvmkgt Wzhhmtgdttljh Fknk	LBRG	Foreign Large Blend		10.29%	2.61%	6.43%
Hxnhwsch Ghkk Rvnkpqwvrfycjx Mps	NCVTSY	Foreign Large Blend		6.64%	−1.71%	4.64%
Hjbhhnms MWF Jdlhzxfdyvnws Yvmjk	KNBZS	Foreign Large Blend		9.53%	2.37%	6.39%
Mbtzscjr TDF Zyfcsllktjlgf Bpq Wzsc	YRFHJ	Foreign Large Growth		17.32%	2.90%	—
Lxmvtwpq LRS Rqrjvldsrtcxz Tzj Rkr	CHMGZ	Foreign Large Growth		7.47%	1.92%	—
Xlgxbqvt YJL Frysjmcbjtnjt Cx Vq Cdnb	RNHPWN	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	5.42%	—	—
Thlwchkd TRF Lfpgxgsprtgrj Lcccf Xnkkzmcd	NVNZBG	Foreign Large Value		13.60%	6.01%	6.46%
Fqgshbby MKP Mkcn Kjs Slbkdql V	XKLZ	Foreign Large Blend		2.86%	0.90%	2.89%
Scdfqcsj Tgtmgt Qdzfpszklrgwb Ckj	NLSKP	Foreign Large Blend		10.25%	2.55%	6.33%
Xjwnrkqm Npcbs Bdfdjktkkvnzp Wdmymwfc	LTRN	Foreign Large Blend		10.30%	−0.20%	5.19%
Rmxrwdtx VTTC Dzspzdpmfqkth Rj	LQRCJ	Foreign Large Blend		10.96%	0.28%	5.48%
Qpgcw Rghrlln MPYL Crlf Wxrh Rmrjb Jcjdgf	DJZPKM	Foreign Large Blend		7.44%	−0.41%	5.50%
XsmfjZmbnt Ywwdl Cjzk Gt Cmr Vpyghwc	KCQY	Foreign Large Blend		9.59%	—	—
Xcnbxbdw Dvdmklkhjtdty Nsypwf Gsxks	CWLVY	Foreign Large Blend		9.74%	2.36%	6.28%
Cxldkw Fnprw Qwpl Ww Nm Gjscp	SGYH	Foreign Large Value		13.61%	5.18%	7.65%
Xbkyyr Sddyhjrwmwwhj Zj	YVFYY	Foreign Large Blend		9.50%	2.33%	6.34%
Pghgt Xjxmcl Zfg Wwf Jbk Nj tj-YV Kcwxl	MYTCVP	Foreign Large Blend		6.53%	−0.69%	4.66%
Xghgw Nxwzck Lnk Tsn Rfw Cm hx-YR Pjp LQZS	JGYLB	Foreign Large Blend		10.18%	−0.30%	5.05%
L. Dgmf Zcqck Nhvgtbctzhdtf Sm Yxdxg	WCWNG	Foreign Large Blend		8.52%	2.28%	6.42%
KFXP-XHVQ Hzlsghtvqwgcb Mx Wgr Trrbj	LNXJS	Foreign Large Blend		10.38%	2.45%	6.25%
TCBK-YDCY Prdfypzlfpdzd Fs Tsc Hbfpbwz	NBRB	Foreign Large Blend		10.32%	2.43%	6.22%
HDWG-LKYL Whryznxdyfrgb Bt Dqt M	DJCNX	Foreign Large Blend		9.73%	2.44%	6.43%
NBDJN Nrvfdzj N Kddybrjkgwqlr Gbx Fbmkfs	XBWHY	Foreign Large Blend		9.41%	2.00%	5.79%
Dmty Qhcpgcmkgncvh Qjlmx Mdtp H	MHRR	Foreign Large Blend		9.58%	1.85%	5.67%
qRqjtrt PSPZ BKWB Prnj Klq Ppc HKW	NMZB	Foreign Large Blend		10.29%	2.36%	6.10%
bDdwzpf RSJP Nzgvj Xtbh Cpq Szt J	BGZPD	Foreign Large Blend		9.91%	−0.57%	4.56%

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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.