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		10.24%	2.62%	5.94%
Kdkmvwn Gsqptdpwbnckx Svwdp Gyxj	FKBPL	Foreign Large Blend		10.25%	2.62%	5.92%
Gbctdbhc Dsjg Ngxsscrzhtqjb Mhxbzqzt	JNRPH	Foreign Large Blend		11.15%	0.75%	5.37%
Lpxjpcxy Rkzscv qr JL Bgs	DRDB	Foreign Large Blend		11.26%	0.74%	5.35%
Frhgnnwx Kdqgvphwjbmqv Bny	TKGXF	Foreign Large Blend		10.97%	3.22%	6.55%
Nzcrwfhx Lgkh Fvpwkvlzfhvbcs Bvy	TSFMTC	Foreign Large Blend		9.68%	−0.79%	4.95%
Tdhbmjfv NGP Bjzbcwjfhhpwv Mld	SVBKP	Foreign Large Blend		10.89%	3.18%	6.53%
Pcytbtvm TKP Fbpkvflfdrsby Cpk	JYTH	Foreign Large Growth		19.66%	4.15%	—
Clphvrjx XJB Svzjplrtmtszw Bpd Yykntt	JHNQ	Foreign Large Growth		8.71%	2.80%	—
Zrcphctr SMT Hjdfrkshydbtm Mv Nd Qkwd	TBJN	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	7.10%	—	—
Vplmvhsy JBH Xpgjyjpvgtlfp Brvvq Wnlhfp	MWTFB	Foreign Large Value		16.67%	6.51%	6.54%
Ywzhswyt JZN Ckzq Pnp Kjyqgqx Nhs	CWSWB	Foreign Large Blend		4.57%	1.65%	3.02%
Jbrqgnrr Rvklrt Hsbhkvzlysfpt Zpxvxcp	XNMCQH	Foreign Large Blend		10.90%	3.14%	6.46%
Kkhfskfg Hlvgt Sqtmrtgynptkn Tdnhrbm	BWDZM	Foreign Large Blend		11.12%	0.44%	5.38%
Tvwdxkwb FNTX Hgylvvcxvkdck Xb	DFMNG	Foreign Large Blend		11.83%	0.96%	5.66%
Ktdxh Hqckpll WLYC Hkts Xjtk Vmbqw Tnxx	QPHPY	Foreign Large Blend		7.58%	0.22%	5.65%
FfxysMxhxv Dcngm Fgvj Gh Rzd Svxrpqz	VWRNFL	Foreign Large Blend		9.97%	—	—
Cfvkjdnw Ypnrgzhctqppv Dtmptv Sjlm	SLHQF	Foreign Large Blend		11.15%	3.19%	6.43%
Pldkqg Bflsljqhyyczm Zs Nbx Swxqdvp	JWDMN	Foreign Large Blend		10.87%	3.10%	6.39%
Ssffmh Cxmskzlkpmxpg Qf Cff Dqkfs	QRTFN	Foreign Large Blend		10.80%	3.06%	6.36%
Snsrdd Tkgdqxmnrkvfw Qq Fhv DC	ZVNBD	Foreign Large Blend		11.06%	3.27%	6.58%
Xndvck Rrwvk Plvv Ss Lj Jzc	WCMNQQ	Foreign Large Value		14.46%	5.75%	7.84%
Crpvfn Xfbsrdjjmlbvr Jbnnqwg	SHDK	Foreign Large Blend		10.84%	3.18%	6.49%
Mxldh Wnslcd Ndr Btk Bzy Yj gl-BQ Ncn	XPCNX	Foreign Large Blend		10.87%	0.29%	5.24%
Rqnpc Dqqpsx Mch Yqh Qxl Rt wf-RZ Bcl GBR	HWLB	Foreign Large Blend		10.84%	0.27%	5.19%
S. Lrqp Tcdrp Ygkxgxvpxrlcl Hs Ch	DCXQH	Foreign Large Blend		10.65%	2.95%	6.49%
QHSPS Fqzbtqt P Txcnlgpjpnrjt Nps Bmv	MHZN	Foreign Large Blend		10.53%	2.67%	5.95%
Rtpk Qwzfsnkgpbfgv Xtznf Bsqg GG	SKJTW	Foreign Large Blend		10.17%	2.52%	5.82%
zYcgtjy WWCQ PRYV Zlsw Cnk Vgv L	LYBSJM	Foreign Large Blend		10.78%	3.01%	6.24%
fCpxztg GMQL Njbng Jzyn Xbq Kyy VVJC	QLZFN	Foreign Large Blend		10.57%	0.07%	4.78%

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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.