 In Australia there are two markets for direct ownership of bonds. There's the OTC or over-the-counter market or on the ASX, which is smaller and has a limited range. The OTC market in Australia is valued at approximately $1.6 trillion and there are over 250 separate issuers. In the over-the-counter market there is no central exchange like you would find with the ASX. What that means is that you need a broker or dealer like FIG Securities to access that market for you. When you trade bonds in the OTC market there is what's called the bid-offer spread. This means that dealers will buy a bond at a lower price from you and sell it to you at a higher price. Typically these brokers also provide extra services such as custodial services, reporting and research. Traditionally in the OTC market bonds have been available in only $500,000 minimum parcels. However brokers such as FIG have made these bonds available in smaller parcels. For example we have over 300 bonds available in parcel sizes from $10,000. On the ASX bonds don't have a minimum parcel size but the range of bonds available to purchase is very limited.