What do you think the best bond index is

Context

You asked about the “best bond index,” but the screener is built for stocks, not for bond indices directly. Your colleague has interpreted this as:
“Find stock-like bond proxies — equities that behave more like bond holdings: lower risk, steady income, defensive profile — similar to what you’d seek in a broad bond index.”

So the filters are aiming to approximate bond-like characteristics within the stock universe.

Screening Filters

1. Market Cap ≥ $15,000,000,000 (Large-Cap Only)

   • Purpose: Focus on large, established companies.
   • Rationale:
     • Large caps tend to have more stable earnings, better access to credit markets, and lower default/solvency risk — traits you want in a bond issuer or bond index constituent.
     • A broad bond index (like the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate) is dominated by sizable, established issuers; this filter tries to mirror that “high-quality, big issuer” aspect in the equity world.

2. Beta: LowRisk

   • Purpose: Select stocks with relatively low volatility versus the overall market.
   • Rationale:
     • Bonds are generally much less volatile than stocks; a bond index is typically used to dampen overall portfolio volatility.
     • By restricting to low-beta equities, the screener looks for stocks that move less aggressively than the market, making them equity analogs to bond-like stability.

3. Sector: Utilities, Consumer Non-Cyclicals, Telecommunications Services, Real Estate

   • Purpose: Tilt toward defensive, income-oriented sectors.
   • Rationale:
     • These sectors often have stable, predictable cash flows and are known for paying consistent dividends—closer to a “coupon-like” income stream:
       • Utilities: Regulated, stable demand, often high payout ratios.
       • Consumer Non-Cyclicals (Staples): People buy food, household items, etc. in all economic conditions.
       • Telecom Services: Recurring subscription revenues.
       • Real Estate: Rental income; many REITs distribute a large share of cash flow as dividends.
     • That stability and income orientation makes these sectors equity equivalents of bond-heavy exposures.

4. is_index_component: GSPC (S&P 500 constituents only)

   • Purpose: Restrict to widely followed, high-quality, highly liquid names.
   • Rationale:
     • Major bond indices consist of liquid, broadly held issues that institutions can trade efficiently.
     • Limiting to the S&P 500 mirrors that idea on the equity side: established companies, better governance/financial standards, and tighter bid–ask spreads — similar to how a flagship bond index is built from large, liquid bonds.

5. Dividend Yield (TTM): 3% to 6%

   • Purpose: Target stocks with a moderate, bond-like income stream.
   • Rationale:
     • Bond indices are primarily used for their yield/coupon income.
     • A 3–6% dividend yield is:
       • High enough to be meaningfully “income-generating,” similar to many investment-grade bond yields across cycles.
       • Not so high that it usually implies distress or unsustainability (which would contradict the goal of a bond-like, stable profile).
     • This range is meant to approximate the role of bond coupons via equity dividends.

Why Results Match Your Intent

• You asked about “the best bond index”; the screener can’t select bond indices directly, so it instead finds stocks that behave like bond holdings: lower volatility, steady income, in defensive sectors, and with large, high-quality profiles.
• Each filter works toward replicating the key functions of a bond index within the stock universe:
  • Capital stability → large-cap, low-beta.
  • Reliable income → 3–6% dividend yield.
  • Defensive behavior → utilities, staples, telecom, real estate.
  • Institutional-quality and liquidity → S&P 500 constituents.

So while these filters don’t pick a bond index per se, they are designed to surface equity “bond proxies” that aim to fulfill a similar role in a portfolio to what a core bond index would.