Knowledge Base

Bond attribute (or reference) data is information about a bond, such as the issuer, date issued, coupon rate, whether it is callable, etc.

For Browsing & Small Datasets

If you're looking for information about individual bonds, an individual entities' bonds, or charts and bond analytics, we recommend:

• LSEG Workspace – see LSEG Workspace access help
  • To see a list of bonds issued by an entity, go to their profile and in the tabs go to Debt & Credit > Debt Structure.
  • To create a list of bonds, use the Screener app, limiting the Universe to Deals and limiting the Asset Class to Bonds.
  • For more tools go to the Fixed Income Guide app.
• Capital IQ – see Capital IQ access help
  • To see a list of bonds issued by an entity, go to their profile and in the left navigation go to the Fixed Income section.
  • To create a list of bonds, in the top navigation go to Screening > Fixed Income.

For a Large Academic Project

These sources are often used in papers. You can Ask Us to discuss your project so we can help identify the best options. Notes:

• geographic coverage improves over time (emerging markets have less history than the U.S.)
• while the U.S. distinguishes between sovereign and municipal bonds, not all countries do (many won't have what we think of as muni bonds and instead all government issuances will come from a central entity and so may be classified as sovereign bonds)

Corporate Bonds

• Mergent FISD – see WRDS access help
  • Go to source for US corporate bonds from the 1990s.
• Datastream – see Datastream access help or SDC Platinum – see SDC Platinum access help
  • Go to source for global corporate bond data from the 1960s.
  • Both products are from LSEG (formerly Refinitiv) and have much of the same information, except Datastream will also have bond price/trading data.
• Capital IQ Capital Structure – see WRDS access help (Our subscription expires June 29, 2024. Learn more.)
  • Global coverage from 2001.
  • Linking to other datasets will be challenging as there are no unique IDs like CUSIPs attached to the issue.
• Bloomberg Terminals* – see Bloomberg access help
  • See * for tips. Coverage is global and while there are earlier bonds, coverage picks up in the 1950s.

Municipal Bonds

• Mergent Municipal Bonds Database
  • Go to source for US muni bonds from the 1990s.
• Datastream – see Datastream access help or SDC Platinum – see SDC Platinum access help
  • Another good option for US muni bonds from the 1960s.
  • Both products are from LSEG (formerly Refinitiv) and have much of the same information, except Datastream will also have bond price/trading data.
  • In SDC, use the Global Public Finance module for municipal bonds and sub-sovereign public finance offerings.
• Bloomberg Terminals* – see Bloomberg access help
  • See * for tips. Coverage is global and while there are earlier bonds, coverage picks up in the 1950s.

Sovereign Bonds

• Datastream – see Datastream access help
  • Go to source for global soveriegn bonds from the 1960s.
• Bloomberg Terminals* – see Bloomberg access help
  • See * for tips. Coverage is global and while there are earlier bonds, coverage picks up in the 1950s.
• CRSP: Treasuries – see WRDS access help
  • Specifically covers US Treasuries from the 1960s (data is updated annually).

*Bloomberg Terminals have bond data but download limits make large projects infeasible. If the other sources don't meet your needs we encourage you to Ask Us so we can explore any other options.