23 Individual investors building their own investment portfolios should take special care to diversify and avoid concentrated exposure to any one investment or issuer. One way for individual investors to gain exposure to a diversified portfolio of bonds in a cost-efficient manner is to invest through bond funds. MAS has for many years promoted the development of index bond funds in the regional markets, through the Asian Bond Fund (ABF) initiative led by the EMEAP Group. Today, there are many such offerings, some of which can be bought and sold through the exchange as exchange-traded funds (ETFs). We encourage fund managers to increase the number and variety of bond funds and ETFs available to individual investors. Supporting secondary market liquidity 24 Let me now turn from our efforts in the primary market to secondary market liquidity. Market participants generally agree that bond market liquidity has become more challenging. This is the case globally but also in Singapore. Banks continue to provide prices for a majority of bonds issued here, although the amounts they are willing to transact in, may be smaller for weaker credits and smaller issuances. 25 A functioning secondary market is critical for the sustainable growth of the bond market. To deepen the secondary market, MAS has been working with the industry on several initiatives over the years. For example, to improve price transparency, we collaborated with banks and service providers, such as Bloomberg and Markit, to make available end-of-day corporate bond prices on 5/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  their platforms.

Total debt issuance last year was USD 1.25 trillion, about 30% lower compared to 20133. Morgan Stanley and Oliver Wyman estimate that industry balance sheets committed to bonds, foreign exchange and commodities contracted 25% over the past five years owing to tighter post-crisis regulations, and could decline another 10% in the next three to four years, with banks looking to trim capacity to improve returns on risk-weighted assets as regulatory costs and challenging markets continue to drag on returns4. 5 However, the story going forward is more upbeat. Infrastructure and sustainable financing offer opportunities for investors. Asia will need USD 8 trillion of infrastructure by 2020 5, and within that, ASEAN will need USD 110 billion a year in infrastructure investment through 20256. The World Bank Group has pledged to support climate-friendly development with USD 16 billion per annum in direct funding and mobilised USD 13 billion in external private sector capital annually by 2020. Technology and innovation will underpin and drive such growth opportunities. The inaugural Singapore FinTech Festival running this week demonstrates the tremendous potential that technology holds for capital markets to seize these opportunities and helps us cope with the market challenges. 6 The ASIFMA conference programme reflects these trends, opportunities and challenges. Tomorrow’s concurrent panels will cover macro and market developments in China, India and ASEAN, as well as opportunities in infrastructure financing, sustainable financing, big data and 1/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  cyber security.