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		9.48%	6.76%	3.20%
Gbwqcss Yjkqnyqtykyqr Vlgzz Yttbk	PTJY	Foreign Large Blend		9.71%	6.80%	3.15%
Sxpvdhfz® Dxzw Ylkkvvvjdkbhh Hgdmjh	XQCCZ	Foreign Large Blend		5.38%	6.04%	2.80%
Qckpwtgl® Mtsjhy ry SD Lg	SCMYK	Foreign Large Blend		5.43%	6.03%	2.77%
Jrqxfmbt® Bmlnqgvnxmbsh Yr	GTHCL	Foreign Large Blend		10.39%	7.41%	3.80%
Qdwyyflc® Qzdh Qqxngjsfpgytlk Bbwyfn	DBZS	Foreign Large Blend		4.80%	4.90%	2.79%
Bwhjqwmn® JKS Tkxykvcnqzhxm Mx	HDBRG	Foreign Large Blend		10.60%	7.42%	3.78%
Hfpmwvnd® BCZ Vbbjfznvjhfsh Blc Vjhtb	ZFDXV	Foreign Large Growth		9.78%	6.35%	—
Yqvctlcq® BQW Yhtbrfzsplxnq Bmc Hxv	TGBXL	Foreign Large Growth		12.81%	7.84%	—
Qwfjnkkv® NSJ Tvtxrqyxtwtfw Lg Pq	HDXCQ	Foreign Small/Mid Blend	—	2.54%	—	—
Smdpwcmq® LSJ Kwnspjtdflmzd Zpcmm Zxr	JWPZ	Foreign Large Value		7.60%	9.60%	2.28%
Ffqtytvy® LBZ Qgrk Dfs Qxbkmnj Tbcm	LHRLVZ	Foreign Large Blend		7.28%	2.93%	1.93%
Shjdzydf® Ychjns Mmgnljrhvspmb Lpjrqq	GVPRD	Foreign Large Blend		10.26%	7.35%	—
Ptgsvmng® Ctmwb Ytrvbybpqmdbx Hlw	QRQYM	Foreign Large Blend		5.00%	6.14%	2.65%
Xwytwhfz® BHZD Bqgvycrmxdmbh Cz	CXSDZ	Foreign Large Blend		6.00%	6.21%	—
Krhvc Mwdrgwn HVKD Ycss Xjhp Lqtpd	CVSD	Foreign Large Blend		8.65%	4.75%	3.48%
VzsgqStrbs Btvyy Rfrf Hg Kls Rgxjzdnq	MHRRM	Foreign Large Blend		—	—	—
Rchjpbwl Bznvxqwmlcqkz Vnfkbt Mks	XWLPQZ	Foreign Large Blend		10.21%	7.28%	3.61%
Vjhzfnj HhdbdXwnbbr Jwhmtbhf Npdv	PRKKC	Foreign Large Blend		1.65%	4.78%	3.26%
Vxskyc Mnztt Ldbx Gb Dw Fwvzbn	KWGT	Foreign Large Value		7.13%	11.44%	4.25%
Tgqjxm Cpffsspvhbxxq Dhtfz	WDYCXN	Foreign Large Blend		10.28%	7.40%	3.72%
Hvjpk Pzyctm Zty Tgs Jmp Qn cf-YW Bls	KDRQX	Foreign Large Blend		4.72%	6.08%	2.84%
Wdkyh Qshgbp Xwm Hkp Hdf Gw xd-YT Xbw F	XZVQNB	Foreign Large Blend		4.70%	6.06%	2.79%
Z. Nbkj Wjfnd Jsbhmygknbmjz Fs Lmb	VJCV	Foreign Large Blend		10.05%	7.42%	3.48%
GGJC-XSTP Rlnkhhgknygpw Nc Hbg Fcbyxqtxrr	KTVY	Foreign Large Blend		10.15%	7.27%	3.63%
MPCV-HVJY Cxhqyrmxzqtvr Wc Hsp Wgdzfwdwn	RLMLD	Foreign Large Blend		10.17%	7.24%	3.59%
WHFG-WYSM Ckkxlwrpbkgck Qr Qzv BHHK	MJWZZV	Foreign Large Blend		10.36%	7.46%	—
ZRZGL Blfjhgm W Tzlbjyqxnrkwl Fzt	PGZKV	Foreign Large Blend		9.47%	6.90%	3.24%
Lhfz Mlkdqzhnyhtqj Lbhhj Bty	SMJPPS	Foreign Large Blend		9.72%	6.75%	3.11%
xGktttz BFNM ZBTC Ynbc Ykh Wxj F	BSDTP	Foreign Large Blend		10.10%	7.18%	3.46%
sBqspng GKDZ Bmpqq Xlrd Qzf Kkr B	XFTQY	Foreign Large Blend		4.57%	5.46%	2.23%

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.