Skip to Content

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.
Get Morningstar's unbiased take on where to invest next
Act on your investment ideas with trusted ratings, key metrics, and independent analysis available only with a subscription to Morningstar Investor. Jump-start your research with pre-filtered screens from our seasoned analysts or build custom screens based on your goals.
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%
Cbvn Rdlysns Vcdcw Xnr Slqxp Nfg Mvcr CZCFJMQBSLarge Value19.93%6.19%9.71%
Qllq Nfjpyjp Ngt Gps Hllybx Tmn Ztpv WWRKYMid-Cap Growth24.96%3.37%10.36%
Shbh Fcdbbnh Fhx Tmx Vdfvt Qszf VPPLQGMid-Cap Blend22.75%3.64%10.02%
Qtzb CL Vtdnd Fydgj ZtfJPLBLarge Blend28.76%9.54%14.46%
Hbng LWFJ Ldgjd FXNRTRGRMid-Cap Blend23.23%
Qvsv BWHY TbkpwZJHLCLarge Blend29.21%
Mljxmrjk 8934 Pjgrj VgxprXHSBJLarge Blend28.11%8.25%13.76%
ThvmrmSwky 165 Gjbnwdk X/RBLHVMWFLarge Blend30.93%
KsppytXmrp Sfvkxw Txvgcx Tdwmmt QljlbgyXDZXDHGlobal Large-Stock Value
GxqsgjSrrc Rqlffc Gmswmkxxr MfsxlcyQKYRCXModerate Allocation
WccjkjHbht Cnjtpp Qshbydnc JlpQWDPModerate Allocation
CbkmtfRvkd Plxttyjhkc kgn Hlr 317 LfvDVXDLVTechnology46.16%
Hhmhgltbq H&J RhjYxl 872 GZB BPDRPPQGYVNMid-Cap Blend22.38%4.37%
Txkyrhgzh D&W FylpqTbm 596 RQG MBKHMSmall Blend21.94%2.48%
fCcxrnd PQCZ WPVK Fwlz Bpm Bdk DZYGVYPForeign Large Blend14.97%3.91%7.65%
pLtsxvy TCFB Xcmhp Cbpp Zsb JktSVZVDLForeign Large Blend14.29%1.25%6.41%
fRxyvjw Xxgzmpg 8156 Nlkmd-Thj Lqt Hmk VMKVQNLarge Blend30.63%8.66%14.13%
pZpkcvf Ytbkvtc Qks-Dvs Hwhds Zyn JYJFVXTRMid-Cap Blend24.50%3.85%10.16%
rMbwtzm Vkvppnk Qrfmr/Spr-Kfr Dkd Dbd JQTJWSmall Blend21.18%1.31%9.29%
nVvjkss D&X 114 Cjpyv Tlgdnvwn CYSTFMLarge Blend29.04%9.72%14.64%
wHgbxvx J&X 641 Bpxwc WdcwnwhMCMXHLarge Blend29.20%9.87%14.79%
See which securities made the list. Subscribe to Morningstar Investor today.

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.

Sponsor Center