What Is The Bond Index?

The bond index is a list used in investing to track and monitor owned bonds by a given investor or mutual bond fund.  Typically found in general stock portfolio, the bond index or bond market index, will include all the types of bonds which exist, including:


Government Bonds: these can be municipal or local government bonds, treasury bonds, treasury notes, or any other bond issued by or on behalf of a government entity.

Corporate Bonds: bonds issued privately by a corporation for the purpose of obtaining capital.

Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS): bonds which represent a loaned amount held in real property.

Bond Index Variances

For many investors and bond funds a simple list of the value, interest amount, and maturation date of one’s bonds is not enough to manage them effectively.  This is especially the case in bond mutual funds where the bond market index takes on many different forms and groupings.  In these cases bonds are not simply listed together as a single group of bonds, but divided based on any number of factors from bond type to credit ratings for given bonds.  In this way the bond index of a given portfolio will provide much more detail based on the bonds characteristics, in turn providing the investor with a more complete overview of their bonds and their worth.  Additionally this information can be organized based on maturity dates and other key factors which can assist in the transfer and sale of bonds.  Bond indexes can be confused with the bond indices.  Bond indices function as a market wide measurement of all types of bonds and their current trading value, coupon amounts, etc.  These bond indices function similarly to the major stock market indices such as the New York Stock Exchange.

Related posts:

1. How To Buy Bonds?
2. What Are Treasury Bonds?
3. What are Government Bonds?
4. What Are Interest Bonds?
5. What Is A Treasury Bond?