Index funds are a safe way for an investor to invest in a particular market segment without assuming the risk that may be involved with individual equities. Just as index funds exist for different market segments, they also exist for the stock exchanges of many countries. As noted above, the FTSE 100 index is the United Kingdom’s version of the U.S. S&P 500 Index.
U.S. investors can’t buy stocks directly on the FTSE 100. However, many of the stocks that are part of the FTSE 100 have a dual listing on either the NYSE or NASDAQ. This means that some stocks trade in British pounds on the FTSE 100 as well as in U.S, dollars on its United States equivalent exchange.
There are a significant number of indexes attached to the FTSE Group including the FTSE 250, the FTSE 350 and the FTSE All-Share. All FTSE indexes have index fund offerings. Vanguard, for example, has the Vanguard FTSE 100 (VUKE) fund.