The bond market is large, but most investors do not need more data. They need a way to narrow the market down to bonds that fit their own goals. That is what the bond engine is built for.

Instead of starting with bond jargon, the screener starts with the practical questions retail investors usually have:

  • How much risk do I want to take?
  • What region do I want exposure to?
  • How long can I invest for?
  • How much capital do I want to commit?
  • Do I need liquidity?
  • Do I want ESG-compliant bonds only?

Used well, the screener helps you move from a very large bond universe to a shortlist that matches your time horizon, risk appetite, and minimum investment size.

1) How to use the filters on the left-hand side

The filters are designed around the way individual investors typically think about bonds.

Choose your risk tolerance

The first filter lets you decide whether you want to see only investment-grade bonds or all rating grades.

If you choose investment grade only, the results will be limited to higher-quality bonds, which generally have lower default risk but also lower yields.

If you choose All bonds, you will also see lower-rated and unrated bonds. These may offer higher yields, but they usually come with higher credit risk.

Choose the region and issuer type

The region filter lets you choose where you want to screen bonds.

Some investors prefer to start with bonds in their home region because they feel more familiar with the issuers, economic environment, and institutions. Others prefer to broaden the search and compare opportunities across regions. Some investors may prefer the safety of government bonds, while others are looking for higher yield in subordinated bank debt.

Different regions and issuer types can have different issuer mixes, credit quality, liquidity, and yield levels.

Choose your investment period

The investment period filter helps you narrow the results by time horizon.

You can choose:

  • Short term
  • Medium term
  • Long term

Shorter-dated bonds usually offer more visibility and less sensitivity to interest-rate moves. Longer-dated bonds may offer higher yields, but they also tend to be more sensitive to changes in market rates.

A good starting point is simple: filter for the period that best matches how long you can realistically hold the bond.

Choose the minimum denomination / investment amount

This filter helps match the bond universe to your actual investable amount.

For example, if you want to invest €10,000, you can set that as your maximum minimum denomination. The screener will then show bonds whose minimum investment size is €10,000 or less.

This is especially important in bonds because minimum ticket sizes vary.

Some bonds are retail-friendly. Others are clearly designed for larger institutional allocations with minimum denominations of €100,000.

Choose liquidity

The liquidity filter helps you decide whether you want to see:

  • all bonds
  • or only more liquid bonds

On this website, liquid bonds are defined as bonds with €200 million or more outstanding.

That does not guarantee perfect liquidity, but in practice larger issues usually have a more active secondary market and are easier to buy or sell than very small issues.

This filter matters because not every investor uses bonds the same way.

If you might want to sell before maturity, liquidity matters more. If you prefer to buy and hold until maturity, you may be comfortable looking at less liquid issues as well.

Choose ESG bonds only

This filter lets you limit the results to bonds that are ESG-compliant.

In practical terms, these are bonds where the use of proceeds or the bond's performance is linked to sustainable financing frameworks.

This filter is relevant for investors who want their bond allocation to reflect sustainability preferences in addition to financial criteria.

2) How to read the results table

Once you apply the filters, the screener shows a table of bonds that match your criteria.

Each column tells you something different:

Issuer

The first column shows the issuer name.

Under that, you also see:

  • the country of risk
  • the issuer type, such as government, corporate, bank, etc.

This helps you quickly understand who the borrower is and what type of exposure you are looking at.

Credit risk of the issuer

The credit risk field gives a simplified view of the issuer's credit quality — in other words, how financially strong the borrower is and how likely it is to meet its debt obligations.

Where public credit ratings are available, Bonded groups them into broad categories such as (from strongest to weakest):

  • Prime
  • High Grade
  • Upper Medium Grade
  • Lower Medium Grade
  • Speculative
  • Highly Speculative
  • In Default

It is important to remember that credit risk can apply at more than one level. There may be a rating for the issuer and a separate rating for the specific bond. These are not always the same; the bond engine shows you the overall credit rating of the issuer for simplicity.

For example, a bank may have a stronger senior issuer or senior debt rating, while its Tier 2 capital bonds may be rated lower. This is because Tier 2 bonds are subordinated instruments. They rank below senior debt and can absorb losses earlier if the bank comes under stress. As a result, they usually carry higher risk than the same bank's senior bonds, even if the issuer itself is financially sound.

You will also see some bonds where the issuer is not publicly rated.

An unrated issuer is not automatically a bad issuer. Smaller banks, companies, or bond issues may simply not have a public credit rating. However, all else equal, unrated issuers require more independent due diligence because investors have less third-party credit analysis to rely on.

Outstanding amount

This shows how much of that specific bond issue is outstanding in the market.

This matters for two reasons:

  • First, it tells you something about the size of the issue.
  • Second, larger bond issues are often more liquid than smaller ones.

As a rule of thumb, a €200 million issue is usually easier to trade than a €50 million issue.

Coupon

The coupon is the bond's contractual interest rate. This is the interest the issuer pays on the bond's face value.

It is important, but it is not the same thing as your actual return. Your actual return depends on more than the coupon.

It also depends on:

  • the price you pay
  • whether the bond trades at a discount or premium
  • whether the bond is callable
  • how long you hold it

That is why the yield to worst column is often more useful than coupon alone.

Maturity date and average life outstanding

The maturity field shows when the bond is due to be repaid. You will also see the remaining life shown alongside it.

This helps you quickly understand how long your capital is tied up.

Where a bond is callable, the average life shown already reflects the expected life to the call date rather than the final legal maturity date. In other words, the screener is trying to show the more relevant timeline for the investor.

Call date

If the bond is callable, the call date shows when the issuer may have the right to redeem the bond early.

If there is no call feature, no date is shown.

This matters because a callable bond may not remain outstanding until its final maturity. If it is called early, the investor may receive their money back sooner than expected, which can affect the final return.

Yield to worst

Yield to worst is one of the most important numbers in the table.

It is a measure of the annual return an investor can earn, taking into account:

  • the current market price
  • the coupon
  • the time remaining
  • and whether the bond can be called early

In other words, it is a more complete return measure than coupon alone.

If a bond trades below par, the yield may be higher than the coupon.

If it trades above par, the yield may be lower than the coupon.

If it is callable, yield to worst also reflects the more conservative return assumption.

That makes it one of the most useful headline metrics for comparing bonds.

That said, yield should always be read together with:

  • credit risk
  • maturity
  • liquidity
  • and issuer type

A higher yield does not automatically mean a better bond. It usually means some form of higher risk, longer tenor, lower liquidity, or more complex structure.

Minimum investment amount

This shows the minimum denomination for that bond.

It tells you the smallest amount you would normally need to invest in that issue.

This is especially useful for retail investors because minimum ticket sizes vary widely across bonds. Note that your bank or trading platform might place additional restrictions on the required minimum amounts.

ESG

This field shows whether the bond is ESG-compliant.

If it is, the use of proceeds of the bond is either aligned with a sustainability framework, or bond performance (coupon payments) are tied to meeting certain ESG criteria.

Bonded Score

The rightmost column of the table shows the Bonded Score — a proprietary composite score that helps investors quickly compare bonds using Bonded's own evaluation framework. The bonded score is explained separately in the following article.

3) Important note on comparing bonds

One of the most common mistakes investors make is comparing bonds only on yield. That can be misleading for several reasons.

A 7% yield on one bond may not be directly comparable to a 5% yield on another if the bonds differ in:

  • credit quality
  • maturity
  • issuer type
  • liquidity
  • callability

To make yield comparisons meaningful, you ideally want to compare bonds that are as similar as possible.

For example:

  • same issuer
  • similar maturity
  • similar rating
  • similar structure

Only then can you start to judge whether one bond looks "cheap" or "rich" relative to another.

4) Final note

The bond engine is intended as a starting point, not an investment recommendation:

It helps you:

  • narrow the market
  • compare bonds on practical terms
  • and identify instruments that may deserve further research

Data may not always be complete, fully accurate, or fully up to date. Prices, yields, ratings, and assumptions can change; information on this website should not be considered investment advice.

Before investing, investors should always complete your own assessment of all risks and relevant elements, including:

  • verify the final bond terms
  • check current market pricing
  • and make sure the bond fits their own objectives and risk tolerance

Next: what happens when you click on a bond?

When you click on an individual bond, Bonded opens a more detailed view with the issuer description, key bond information, the Bonded Score breakdown, and a short verdict. This detailed view is explained in more detail in a separate article on how the Bonded Score works.