Bond market participants are either buyers (debt issuer) or sellers (institution) of funds and often both of these. Participants include −

●      Institutional investors

●      Governments

●      Traders

●      Individuals

Since there is a specificity of individual bond issues, and a condition of lack of liquidity in case of many smaller issues, a significantly larger chunk of outstanding bonds are often held by institutions, such as pension funds, banks, and mutual funds. In the United States, the private individuals own about 10% of the market.