11-bond index
Also known as: bond buyer 11-bond index
The 11-bond index is a benchmark published by The Bond Buyer that tracks the average yield of 11 high-grade general obligation municipal bonds with 20-year maturities. It gauges borrowing costs for top-quality municipal issuers.
The 11-bond index is a municipal bond yield benchmark published weekly by The Bond Buyer, the trade publication of the municipal securities market. It measures the average yield of 11 general obligation (GO) bonds with roughly 20-year maturities, drawn from higher-grade issuers.
The index is a subset of the broader 20-bond index, which tracks 20 GO bonds of the same maturity. Because the 11 bonds selected carry stronger credit ratings than the full group, the 11-bond index carries a higher average rating — and therefore typically shows a slightly lower yield — than the 20-bond index. Comparing the two gives a quick read on the quality spread within the GO market.
Issuers, underwriters, and analysts use these Bond Buyer indexes to track the direction of municipal interest rates over time. A municipality planning a new GO offering can compare current index levels against past weeks to judge whether borrowing costs are rising or falling, and syndicate members use them as context when bidding on competitive underwritings.
The Series 7 exam covers the Bond Buyer indexes within municipal underwriting. Know the lineup: the 11-bond index (11 higher-grade GO bonds), the 20-bond index (20 GO bonds), and the Revdex (revenue bonds with 30-year maturities), and remember that higher credit quality means a lower index yield.
Key takeaways
- The 11-bond index tracks the average yield of 11 high-grade, 20-year general obligation municipal bonds.
- It is published weekly by The Bond Buyer and is a subset of the 20-bond index.
- Its higher average credit quality means its yield typically sits below the 20-bond index.
- Series 7 questions pair it with the 20-bond index and the Revdex as municipal market benchmarks.