Bloomberg BHD function with ISIN

Q: Which Excel VBA pattern ranks just above this one at #224?

The pattern one rank above is “Insert text into the background of a cell”. If your use case overlaps, compare both before committing.

The Problem (Q-score 7, ranked #225th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive)

The scenario as originally posted in 2013

I have to download historical end of day data for a huge list of stocks. I found on the bloomberg excel add-in the function BDH that is very useful. That is what I need but there is an issue: my stocks are identified by ISINs and i have tried in many way to put the ISINs in the first field of the function but it doesn’t work. The function isn’t able to identify the security by the ISIN despite the fact that is reported as security identifier in the bloomberg formula syntax: look at slide 24 here http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/205/56376/bloomberg%20excel%20desktop%20guide.pdf

Why community consensus is tight on this one

Across 303 Excel VBA entries in the archive, the accepted answer here holds niche answer (below median) status — meaning voters are unusually aligned on the right fix.

The Verified Solution — niche answer (below median) (+6)

Verbal answer — walkthrough without a code block

Note: the verified answer is a prose walkthrough. If you need a runnable sample, check Excel VBA entries ranked in the top 10 of the same archive.

The problem is that an isin does not identify the exchange, only an issuer.

Let’s say your isin is US4592001014 (IBM), one way to do it would be:

get the ticker (in A1):

=BDP("US4592001014 ISIN", "TICKER") => IBM

get a proper symbol (in A2)
```
=BDP("US4592001014 ISIN", "PARSEKYABLE_DES") => IBM XX Equity
```
where XX depends on your terminal settings, which you can check on CNDF <Go>.
get the main exchange composite ticker, or whatever suits your need (in A3):
```
=BDP(A2,"EQY_PRIM_SECURITY_COMP_EXCH") => US
```

and finally:

=BDP(A1&" "&A3&" Equity", "LAST_PRICE") => the last price of IBM US Equity

When to Use It — classic (2013–2016)

Ranked #225th in its category — specialized fit

This pattern sits in the 98% tail relative to the top answer. Reach for it when your scenario closely matches the question title; otherwise browse the Excel VBA archive for a higher-consensus alternative.

What changed between 2013 and 2026

The answer is 13 years old. The Excel VBA object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.

help
Frequently Asked Questions

This is a below-median answer — when does it still fit?
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Answer score +6 vs the Excel VBA archive median ~4; this entry is niche. The score plus 7 supporting upvotes on the question itself (+7) means the asker and 5 subsequent voters all validated the approach.

The answer has no code block — how do I turn it into a snippet?
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Use the walkthrough above as a checklist, then open a top-10 Excel VBA archive entry for a concrete starting template you can adapt.

Published around 2013 — what’s changed since?
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Published 2013, which is 13 year(s) before today’s Office 2026 build. The Excel VBA object model has had no breaking changes in that window. Three things to re-test: (1) blocked macros on downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), (2) 64-bit API declarations (PtrSafe, LongPtr), (3) any shift toward Office Scripts for web scenarios.

Which Excel VBA pattern ranks just above this one at #224?
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The pattern one rank above is “Insert text into the background of a cell”. If your use case overlaps, compare both before committing.

Data source: Community-verified Q&A snapshot. Q-score 7, Answer-score 6, original post 2013, ranked #225th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive. Last regenerated April 14, 2026.