Morningstar's five-step approach is all you need to find the right foreign fund for your portfolio.

Step 3: Identify the right fund(s) for you.

Once you've determined your target allocation, turn your attention to determining the type of fund that best suits your goals. (Refer back to Step 1.)

If you're seeking a core foreign-stock fund because it provides exposure to high-quality global companies, your best bet is to look for those offerings that hail from Morningstar's foreign large-cap categories. True, such funds may tend to behave a lot like U.S.-focused large-cap offerings. But foreign large-cap funds tend to be well diversified across regions and sectors; many also include a smattering of high-growth emerging-markets stocks. And as in the U.S., foreign large-cap offerings have tended to lag smaller-cap-focused funds over the past several years, potentially giving them more near-term upside potential than their smaller-cap counterparts might have. Finally, the large-cap space is home to some of the best overseas stock-pickers, with luminaries such as Mark Yockey (Artisan International (ARTIX)) and Hakan Castegren (Harbor International (HAINX)) running topnotch large-cap offerings.