An investor is considering two alternatives. The first is to buy municipal bonds directly; however, he is concerned that is may be hard for him to be able to sell the bonds, forcing him to sell at very low prices or waiting a long time for the sell to be completed. Alternatively, the investor can purchase a fund that holds municipal bonds that is very easy to sell quickly and at a fair price.

This scenario illustrates which benefit of financial institutions' services?

Group of answer choices

Reduced monitoring costs

Increased liquidity

Maturity intermediation

All of the above