In March 2023, Euronext proudly signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles, a roadmap for business sustainability, innovation, and productivity.

By signing these principles, which result from a collaboration between the UN Global Compact and UN Women, Euronext is committing to the corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, while working collaboratively in multistakeholder networks to foster business practices that empower women.

Equality Means Business

Subtitled “Equality Means Business”, the Principles subscribed by Euronext emphasise the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women's empowerment:

Principle 1: Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality

Principle 2: Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination

Principle 3: Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers

Principle 4: Promote education, training and professional development for women

Principle 5: Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women

Principle 6: Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy

Principle 7: Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality

Euronext sees all forms of diversity as a key success factor of its federal model, while respecting a zero-tolerance policy for any form of discrimination. We believe that successful current and future leaders will be those who are not just able to lead high-performing teams and projects effectively, but also engage diverse teams and empower them with a focus on openness, inclusion, trust and cooperation.

By signing the Principles, Euronext aims to become an inspiration for others in its industry, by encouraging business leaders to join this movement, so that together we shape capital markets for future generations.

Euronext is proud to join the gender equality indices family.



These indices, comprised of European companies that have demonstrated a commitment to improving gender equality evaluated based on their gender-equality score in four categories: gender balance in leadership and workforce, equal compensation and work-life balance, policies promoting gender equality and commitment, transparency, and accountability.



Entering the Euronext Equileap Eurozone 100 and the Euronext Equileap Gender Equality France 40 underlines Euronext’s progress towards gender balance, as we strive to promote diversity and inclusion on an organizational level.



As an official partner of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, we have commited to the UN’s “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Euronext has selected the SDG’s that are most relevant to its impact areas, including SDG5 “Gender Equality” in its strategy.

Euronext’s upgraded SBTi-aligned climate targets were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative:

• By 2030, Euronext will reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 market-based greenhouse gas emissions by 73.5% compared to 2020; (Up from 70% previously announced in June 2022)
• By 2030, Euronext will reduce its Scope 3 business travel emissions by at least 46.2% compared to 2019;
• By 2027, Euronext suppliers, representing 72% of Euronext’s greenhouse gas emissions derived from purchased goods and services, must set targets on their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. (Up from 67% previously announced in June 2022)

How we will achieve it

Scope 1 | Consolidation and energy efficiency upgrades in the building portfolio, energy efficiency investments, de-commissioning of gas-fired boilers and de-commissioning of vehicle fleet

Scope 2 | Moving office space and data centres to renewable energy, including through the move of Euronext’s Core Data Centre

Scope 3 | Implementation of sustainable travel programme

Supplier engagement | Direct engagement and new supplier onboarding platform, which will support the ‘Euronext Supplier Code of Conduct’, including provisions regarding environmental protection, human rights, diversity and inclusion.

What is a bond? 

Nathalie Masset, Head of Fixed Income at Euronext, explains all you need to know about bonds and what are the benefits of investing in them. 

Listen to the full interview. Watch the video.

What is a bond? 

A bond is a financial product representing a fraction of a loan.  

Bonds are issued by:

• a company,
• a bank,
• a state,
• a community,
• or a city.

This fractional loan is freely tradable on the market by both retail and professional investors. 

A bond is a debt issued by an organisation and purchased on the financial market by an investor. 

Coupon and interest rates 

Just like credit given by a bank, a bond pays the investor a monthly, quarterly, or annual return. This brings up the topic of coupons which reflect the bond’s interest rates. An interest rate can be fixed, meaning established in advance, or predictable because its is determined by a formula that is established in advance.

What is the difference between a stock and a bond?

The main differences are in the rights they grant.

• A stock is an equity instrument that gives the investor rights and duties as an owner.
• A bond is a debt instrument that contractually binds the lender (the investor) and the borrower (the company) for a defined period.

Bond holder vs shareholder

Essentially, a bondholder becomes the bank that finances a company’s projects against a return A shareholder becomes a partial owner of a company: the results of their investment are subject to the financial results and performance of the company.

As a bondholder, you receive regular interest payments and reimbursement of your investment at maturity, no matter what happens.

Are there different types of bonds?

There are two main types of bond, depending on the issuer:

• governments and similar bodies,  

• and private companies.  

Govies and Corporates 

In the market, bonds issued by governments such as France, Germany and the United States are commonly called “govies”. Bonds from private companies are known as “corporates”.  

Corporate bonds are issued by entities that are neither governmental nor from the public sector. They are generally industrial companies, national index companies, for instance the CAC 40, or financial institutions.

Investment grade and speculative grade

We also need to draw a distinction between:

• corporate bonds whose financial health is highly rated by rating agencies, which are called “investment grade” bonds;
• and bonds that are less highly rated by agencies, which are called “speculative grade” bonds.

Why invest in bonds?

An investor should always carefully assess the reasons to invest in one asset class over another. It is important to understand risks and possible returns.

The advantages of Bonds:

• Stabilise your income 
  
  Stable prices plus a contractually defined yield (i.e. the amount of return an investor will receive) mean that future earnings can be calculated with varying degrees of accuracy. This is why bonds are also called “fixed income” products. Bonds are some of the only financial instruments that offer such predictability.
• Diversify your portfolio
  
  From a risk diversification perspective, adding bonds to your portfolio tilts your risk away from more common risk factors that tend to impact stocks.

For a second opinion, investors can use rating agencies which are continuously screening and monitoring companies, and tend to be rather conservative in their assessments.

Finance the real economy

The primary reason for investing in bonds remains economic. Bonds are the only financial instruments that directly impact the financing capacity of companies.

A company, state, region, or municipality that issues bonds does so to finance:

• a project,
• an acquisition,
• or construction.

By investing in bonds, you are directly financing the issuer’s projects by acting as the issuer’s bank. In other words, you are financing the real economy.

How do I invest in a bond?

Retail investors cannot access the financial markets directly. They need to create an account with a broker or go through their bank. This intermediary will connect the retail investor to the stock exchange and place their investments.

Are bonds available on Euronext?

Yes, we have over 9 000 tradable instruments on the Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Milan regulated markets. These bonds come from more than 1 000 issuers and include government, credit and financial bonds.

ESG Bonds

Moreover, we have a selection of ESG fixed income instruments that are issued only to finance or refinance new and existing sustainability projects.

Learn more about bonds

Visit our website to discover our wide bond offering and find out more about Fixed Income trading,

Or download our Bond guide for retail investors. Also available in French, Dutch and Portuguese.