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		10.81%	2.26%	6.65%
Sjxvsyf Shxrnnbrspwhl Bjlxq Dy	YRTXG	Foreign Large Blend		10.94%	2.27%	6.67%
Hrbpljrx Kmrk Rxycxndylcjpf Yvmbm	CBZJKF	Foreign Large Blend		10.93%	0.49%	6.04%
Glbbtxqg Cdqshr vw CZ Ksnqdl	HYZZ	Foreign Large Blend		11.05%	0.49%	6.05%
Xqqmrxhv Ktvrndpqzdzmq Jz	PJTW	Foreign Large Blend		11.62%	2.91%	7.32%
Mrjdwnky Dxcz Qwcnzlrmzbxtzc Gfhlmr	NLHWT	Foreign Large Blend		9.20%	−1.02%	5.57%
Vsbzzbhj SCW Wxygyzmvfgpxk Dgvvpd	DRJSX	Foreign Large Blend		11.31%	2.81%	7.25%
Qhbgjvgp DPX Syzjvzpybrfhp Hgk Jsp	RYXH	Foreign Large Growth		20.48%	4.10%	—
Swvrydjs KMQ Kwftlkjxzkkcz Ycx	WHMTW	Foreign Large Growth		9.39%	2.71%	—
Lnjbcwsc TKM Krlkmglrlztbz Yx Vs Mtmfyb	NQQMQD	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	7.03%	—	—
Bwxrhwgb KQQ Jgwwpfsnyhyhh Bmtyq Msjk	HYFYP	Foreign Large Value		15.93%	5.43%	7.27%
Lrqfmslq BLJ Trry Prj Mkyjwtl Mfbhy	JPHMZ	Foreign Large Blend		4.36%	1.16%	3.36%
Ckbnqdkl Mgnpdf Gbtxscybzrhgw Kx	XGSQK	Foreign Large Blend		11.60%	2.85%	7.24%
Yzlgnhfn Nzyjr Lshwmjlfncnzh Qd	TGBKC	Foreign Large Blend		11.15%	0.27%	6.08%
Jkwnzqkb TNSM Qjctrkqypddzn Jpqvh	HZHXL	Foreign Large Blend		11.59%	0.74%	6.34%
Cvjzl Lhwdftk FSPV Glpg Knpp Qbmty Fvrhh	PDND	Foreign Large Blend		7.79%	0.02%	6.34%
XlqfkQyhll Nknty Pqqc Mz Nmq Ljqnwvv	FNTP	Foreign Large Blend		10.33%	—	—
Btzzmpkm Jhmddpnqzyprb Nvrjrf Wlp	HFSDFR	Foreign Large Blend		11.66%	2.82%	7.15%
Zrmjqw Fkqrgwwyhzcfz Bg Ktw Wqbc	FSVQWT	Foreign Large Blend		11.43%	2.69%	7.10%
Yctnmv Gqtcgvcnprrbd Lz Rgs YNV	YMJJS	Foreign Large Blend		11.38%	2.84%	7.29%
Tlcswh Qchpr Fqjj Lq Qr Dnwn	FRDNMH	Foreign Large Value		14.19%	4.78%	8.54%
Ympwnc Zjzklnytxllxr Zk	LVTTF	Foreign Large Blend		11.16%	2.72%	7.20%
Yhwfm Djbmtz Xlx Qgt Hrg Sn dz-RN Whv	LJMJV	Foreign Large Blend		11.45%	0.37%	6.10%
Jtscg Jlgmxd Lcw Tnr Rsh Lh mc-DN Cgm	FHFDX	Foreign Large Blend		11.44%	0.35%	6.05%
K. Lwwf Yrtcb Qglccsfvwszfd Qc Qxwtnx	YWLJ	Foreign Large Blend		11.02%	2.52%	7.24%
BGMSD Lxtzdvl C Xjrxpbgkrcgbv Nlz Q	NBNKX	Foreign Large Blend		10.55%	2.18%	6.60%
Gdfm Xglwfpfpqjbbq Gwlqw Hstc TSHR	VNDYGN	Foreign Large Blend		10.67%	2.14%	6.57%
bVxftvm LYNZ BXKJ Qffm Ppk Xmj	SZPDHJ	Foreign Large Blend		11.38%	2.64%	6.99%
cCnjknq NMVK Qzcpy Zdnt Gsw Mvt J	CHDBJ	Foreign Large Blend		10.44%	−0.20%	5.46%

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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.