International small-cap index fund for Canadians

September 7, 2005 11:51 AM

Help a Canadian find an international small-cap index fund.

I'm looking for an international small-cap index fund, open to Canadian investors. I guess this means a Canadian mutual fund, a closed-end mutual fund, or an ETF. (Are there other options I'm missing?)

I've tried searching various ETF and closed-end fund sites, as well as a couple of lists of Canadian mutual funds such as globefund. I've googled too. (Are there other places I should look?) MSCI has an appropriate index, but I can't find any funds that replicate it.

There are a few actively managed international small-cap funds, but I'm looking for passive management and low costs/fees.

DFA's International Small Cap Fund is the only suitable fund I've found, but unfortunately it's only available through registered advisors. (If anybody had a great experience with / dire warning about DFA, I'd be interested in hearing about it.)

Many thanks if you can suggest a suitable fund or at least point me in the right direction!

posted by blue grama to Work & Money (1 answer total)

I doubt you'll find a passively managed international small-cap. They're extremely volatile funds and aren't well suited to a hands-off approach. These also generally have the highest management expense ratios. It's your money, and I'm not an expert, but if you have a pretty long time horizon and you're looking for good growth potential (with the risk to match) it's not a bad choice.
posted by Idiot Mittens at 12:30 PM on September 7, 2005