Compare Vanguard international funds

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These are Vanguard's three broad international index funds. Any of the three is a good core international holding, and all are eligible for the foreign tax credit, should have very low capital gains, and are thus suitable for taxable accounts. You might also add Vanguard Emerging Markets Index Fund if you hold Developed Markets Index (or a non-Vanguard international fund) which has no emerging markets.

2010
On September 24th, 2010, Vanguard announced a change in the index tracked by the Total International fund to the MSCI All Country World ex USA Investable Market Index, and introduced five additional share classes with lower expense ratios for larger holdings. The index change and introduction of admiral shares was completed in December 2010. . On June 3, 2013 the fund switched the tracking index to the FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index.

As of 2018, the share class breakdown for the Vanguard Total International Fund is tabulated below. The change in index means that Total International has regional coverage similar to FTSE All-World Ex-US, but with an added mixture of small-capitalization stocks not present in FTSE All-World Ex-US.

Small cap additions to funds
On June 02, 2015, Vanguard announced that four international equity index funds and ETFs would broaden their diversification by adding small-capitalization stocks to their investment portfolios. The funds included the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund (VWO and VEMAX), the Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund (VEA and VTMGX), the Vanguard European Stock Index Fund (VGK and VEUSX), and the Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Fund (VPL and VPADX). According to Vanguard the transition to more broadly diversified FTSE all-capitalization benchmarks, completed in the fourth quarter of 2015, increased the allocation to small-cap stocks to approximately 9% to 11% of each fund and brought the funds closer to global market-cap weightings.