Merrill Lynch Broad US Market Index

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What is it?

The Merrill Lynch Broad US Market Index is a statistical composite tracking the overall performance of the US bond market over time. The index includes representative government securities, investment grade corporate bonds, mortgage pass-throughs and asset-backed securities, weighted according to the relative size of their respective markets. Performance is measured in terms of total return (interest income plus price gains) for different time periods as well as option-adjusted spreads, which show the amount of yield difference or “spread” between the index and a benchmark US Treasury security that is attributable to all bond features—maturity, coupon, credit rating, liquidity, etc.—except for call features or other embedded options.

Why do I care?

Changes and trends in the Merrill Lynch Broad US Market Index over time show you whether the US bond market as a whole is moving up or down. It also allows you to evaluate the performance of your specific bond investments against the performance of the bond market as a whole.