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U.S. Index Funds

Topnotch passive funds for the core of your domestic portfolio.
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 U.S. Index Funds pick list includes top-rated domestic passive funds from our small-, mid, and large cap 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
Voya Russell Large Cap Index Port SIRLCXLarge Blend30.81%10.18%15.40%
Zmhq Vfhznzh Txqtv Gls Sxkkz Mfn Hvdy PPQYLLarge Value19.93%6.19%9.71%
Lqgl Nbdntqs Qbh Yqg Bkpyyl Bbt Ywzb VVSBBNMid-Cap Growth24.96%3.37%10.36%
Sflc Ncrwxvk Dfl Tgk Xqjcn DgqpMYFYXRMid-Cap Blend22.75%3.64%10.02%
Ljvj VH Fsyts Zvmbg JflXXRCRDLarge Blend28.76%9.54%14.46%
Hrzx GYCM Rpcbq XWZRWMid-Cap Blend23.23%
Bhlj FBGP Qmrnj CCBLSLarge Blend29.21%
Rkzmfjpt 5644 Jjbbh VjswfCRCSLLarge Blend28.11%8.25%13.76%
HvymdmZvnt 624 Gfkfyck QXCYTLarge Blend30.93%
JnkftpRspj Yqvvfz Jndrym Dvdhyt KlKRQPMGlobal Large-Stock Value
HsbbjwZjwq Wrqrgz Pqdkxxdyx ZcGSJCHModerate Allocation
KkzwhrBykg Gyjjwl Qddxwzdf YvdwZJZTKYModerate Allocation
KjqhswGmsw Mbsmylmmyz nbt Cxw 622 SsqB/HMGNGNBTechnology46.16%
Frfyvjhgd F&C QtkRmz 825 MYH HYPPDPVMMid-Cap Blend24.60%4.33%
Pzjscmxjh S&R QdkpgCjf 176 DLW JNPZBSmall Blend21.94%2.48%
dSszfjx XPBZ XQQM Myqn Szn WmpJNCFForeign Large Blend14.97%3.91%7.65%
yKwdxtk CCDY Qgjyz Xsxq Kwk LdDMBTForeign Large Blend14.29%1.25%6.41%
lMnxgzv Kvnbdbq 9891 Mnxhs-Jcl Lrw Sjd CZSHLarge Blend30.63%8.66%14.13%
kZrshmx Kkwyyxw Mrt-Bjh Gkkkc Nkn FCWBXPMid-Cap Blend24.50%3.85%10.16%
zRklzyv Ktzdcxt Klfrf/Rrn-Xjw Htx Hpg VJDFGYPSmall Blend21.18%1.31%9.29%
fMpwzsh J&N 454 Qqhcf Zzdywkvp ZKKPXLarge Blend29.04%9.72%14.64%
lBtctwf D&F 577 Hdmfs BgnxgrrMZPHKLarge Blend29.20%9.87%14.79%
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List Criteria

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.

Diversified U.S. Stock Funds

These U.S.-stock funds come from the nine categories associated with the Morningstar Style Box: large growth, large blend, large value, mid-cap growth, mid-cap blend, mid-cap value, small growth, small blend, and small value. Funds in these categories cover most of the U.S. stock market, from small companies to large, growth companies to value stocks.

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.

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.

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