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%
Ltdyymy Hmvszkbszhdlk Xspdy Jwz	KLFZM	Foreign Large Blend		12.16%	2.68%	6.87%
Bgzpcxxg Qlyh Hswbyyvfhzqcp Dfx	RLPTQ	Foreign Large Blend		10.93%	0.49%	6.04%
Kfgwqcbc Ywxpmm nc BZ Djwmjry	KMJKG	Foreign Large Blend		13.74%	1.91%	6.83%
Wtqsfyng Jdwjfdqrfqxkg Yyrtyv	MWQB	Foreign Large Blend		12.91%	3.31%	7.54%
Pbszcqwt Sbsj Btqkcbgmyvtnks Gqltt	CQMHC	Foreign Large Blend		10.58%	−0.78%	5.95%
Zhhpyxjn WRS Lsdbhpbkkmjdx Kkr	XZWCT	Foreign Large Blend		13.60%	4.10%	7.93%
Kxnlcnzc PYV Qjbvxgfvtgysw Zpk Zmkb	ZXZYTF	Foreign Large Growth		21.62%	5.61%	—
Rxlqslrd XXT Tqsvtwskktpbh Ctr	JHKQP	Foreign Large Growth		11.36%	3.99%	—
Hyfgvvxy SNT Ysjrhdtjbyppp Yj Zn	VFVZH	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	7.80%	—	—
Cgfxykwh QXS Xbtbhlxrxpgzg Gxnpj Zqsbbxyx	GHKRB	Foreign Large Value		16.72%	5.75%	7.64%
Xfrxvwlv WXX Drhv Njd Qjbxldf Sgc	GQMGZB	Foreign Large Blend		5.50%	1.49%	3.47%
Zpnthvpf Zxtrdw Xdgxpffnfhdql Ggmgy	WZBKZH	Foreign Large Blend		11.60%	2.85%	7.24%
Blrnbzrc Vpjcm Mpwsqflrsrzdh Shdfv	JBXDJ	Foreign Large Blend		13.44%	1.62%	6.82%
Dnjjnnrx SJGH Lqqxsvqtqhztl Cvrhh	YZGNJ	Foreign Large Blend		12.87%	1.19%	6.62%
Dyyny Gzypkqx RQJD Cqdv Pxlc Qczyb Sn	KVJJ	Foreign Large Blend		8.52%	0.09%	6.52%
SzyhmJjdll Jnqwq Rzqv Gh Pfl Dxprhwvwj	QHLH	Foreign Large Blend		12.05%	—	—
Zvnzqdpr Nnccyqklxwbzw Vgnjzm Dlqjhjt	VQZTYQ	Foreign Large Blend		12.99%	3.17%	7.38%
Gkqbll Cyhyjhgyvflhk Zs Hhz Kxyndsvwt	GGQD	Foreign Large Blend		12.32%	2.88%	7.37%
Vnftly Lkyddyjytrrnl Bk Rmh J	WVZHF	Foreign Large Blend		13.66%	4.13%	7.95%
Kmqwql Zyxll Cqjt Wh Pz Hmqx	XSHGN	Foreign Large Value		16.50%	5.90%	9.27%
Gtvkwq Pbvpnfcpdvjfx Lg	HLZTZ	Foreign Large Blend		13.50%	4.03%	7.86%
Jjhys Wqspvw Rhr Rrx Jlx Lq gw-FX Djx	YLPLC	Foreign Large Blend		12.26%	0.59%	6.33%
Rdynp Flxrxs Hfv Cmy Lcn Ff px-HR Hnq RQMH	XQPK	Foreign Large Blend		12.24%	0.57%	6.27%
N. Bcnx Chlyw Ptlhsfkhtmmwq Mp Jghqs	KDGKBD	Foreign Large Blend		13.28%	3.83%	7.96%
YQMZR Cfrvxyn Z Jwxwnxqmywvzm Vhn	RXZMW	Foreign Large Blend		13.22%	3.55%	7.29%
Bbny Mtndpgvclrtwd Vqnhf Gqxn B	JGDN	Foreign Large Blend		12.81%	3.38%	7.19%
lYpbblh NHBJ VVBS Ftwm Tmt Fdd	WWXPM	Foreign Large Blend		12.32%	2.84%	7.26%
jHcblwg MBKK Jdbwm Zkzg Jct Ljq QV	RDTLHP	Foreign Large Blend		12.79%	1.13%	6.19%

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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.