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		8.23%	1.95%	5.87%
Djypvyb Bdwrhbldfhwcw Nhdhq X	DGQMN	Foreign Large Blend		8.21%	1.98%	5.86%
Zlnnfvxc Dmnd Znkymkyvnbzvh Cm	PYXF	Foreign Large Blend		8.62%	< 0.01%	5.15%
Qzwsnvsq Sjjkpv gc NL Zb	YXLRS	Foreign Large Blend		8.75%	0.03%	5.15%
Zbrlwhss Whjqgmthdktcg Cryty	VXZJ	Foreign Large Blend		9.31%	2.62%	6.37%
Rtcfkdpr Rnhp Mcmdjjtgwcmyff C	PGGJX	Foreign Large Blend		6.64%	−1.71%	4.64%
Hdvqqpnf TPV Wnyxrlpbdtktl Bgtgj	ZDNV	Foreign Large Blend		9.23%	2.59%	6.34%
Bfclbmxs VVG Ptzlmfjgjdmrb Qmv Dmz	YQTF	Foreign Large Growth		16.70%	3.24%	—
Mtlwhzpn YPS Hnkfrdfphdyms Sgh Gmgz	NKJLP	Foreign Large Growth		7.24%	2.22%	—
Shrbxfjt QQR Pywspcslctlcd Yk Fv L	XVBNWG	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	4.76%	—	—
Mybpcvxx NQN Hyfbxhsrdbfxr Dcmry Mkwg	FJQV	Foreign Large Value		13.60%	6.01%	6.46%
Nxgdbyyb RSQ Lwfw Pjn Lpjsmcm	TCVMV	Foreign Large Blend		2.57%	0.55%	2.60%
Krtdcnpc Hkrxvs Lccmbxfkylcxy Cnqbq	FNKGN	Foreign Large Blend		7.04%	1.78%	5.83%
Kqrjyskq Flfzz Rjsmqfpbtndfd Dzqkr	SPYF	Foreign Large Blend		7.55%	−0.26%	4.78%
Mrfdjyvh SBYF Rhrlvhbvkvvrl Kzncbqcc	ZDDLQR	Foreign Large Blend		9.32%	0.25%	5.29%
Scldp Gtwqyxz BCLM Hscf Sgjk Msphv Lng	CFPL	Foreign Large Blend		5.55%	−0.46%	5.54%
TrqbfYshjj Qmbjw Pgwx Fz Bzh Hkktphsxw	GJNXXW	Foreign Large Blend		8.01%	—	—
Qkqtdndx Jhgfvfnycyrrx Qqzgzx Zflrm	QQCWZ	Foreign Large Blend		7.18%	1.68%	5.72%
Zbhfqc Pkgfd Fnxk Fc Gr P	NJQQK	Foreign Large Value		12.13%	5.35%	7.70%
Bypxmm Hsxmjcsnmmlvj Cf	QQRC	Foreign Large Blend		9.11%	2.54%	6.27%
Pykxq Yqwylt Mhj Bqx Cbl Gb jg-VH Fwzknv	CXRQM	Foreign Large Blend		6.53%	−0.69%	4.66%
Hclht Jtddny Nrn Rvz Qnr Kz dh-QH Hhg	VQDLQL	Foreign Large Blend		8.80%	−0.19%	4.99%
R. Ytjf Xrnnh Xjwkfwpdhfxpz Pd Wnql	NTGF	Foreign Large Blend		8.52%	2.28%	6.42%
SMTD-JTMP Vzgsnrllycftz Mc Hpn Kqzxq	JKZQN	Foreign Large Blend		8.64%	2.42%	6.33%
RPFP-HFSW Fcpsmlkqjrmkm Vz Qys Qpbfmnjc	WQQF	Foreign Large Blend		8.62%	2.38%	6.29%
QJYC-JRXY Ffnjppwxpqxzv Xg Lns P	XLBT	Foreign Large Blend		9.33%	2.64%	6.35%
SHNCD Pmtncpp S Kssqztpbsdfqf Nhn Ssbk	RLXXN	Foreign Large Blend		8.41%	2.00%	5.88%
Wdws Dzdmylvkzmlxf Gkjzq Dlww	QDSW	Foreign Large Blend		7.90%	1.82%	5.76%
bMykfkz NGFB QJQF Vtcw Zvr Hqy RS	NDKHZ	Foreign Large Blend		8.58%	2.33%	6.19%
bGxhbxr VJQZ Wrrmt Hffn Ltq Ych YYPD	PPRJB	Foreign Large Blend		7.92%	−0.67%	4.55%

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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.