With a bond mutual fund, you own literally hundreds of funds, and this is particularly important when you're talking about corporate bonds. Bond funds are professionally managed by experienced portfolio managers, traders, and credit analysts. Lower transaction costs. Individual bonds, on the other hand, have that spread, which is often significant. In addition, bond funds can be traded more efficiently because of their size.
Bond funds pay monthly dividends, while individual bonds pay semiannually.
Also, bond funds offer you easy and partial access to your funds through exchanges and checkwriting privileges. Stable risk profile. The passage of time doesn't change your risk for bond funds as it does for individual bonds where the risk is reduced with the passage of time. Easy income reinvestment. With bond funds, you can reinvest the income in the fund.