IG is a global online broker established in 1974 by IG Group plc; a publicly-traded company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
IG offers spread betting, stockbroking, and CFD trading across a wide variety of asset classes including forex, shares, indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, options, bonds, interest rates, sectors, and ETFs with over 17,000+ instruments available to trade.
IG offers an exceptional brokerage service, with trading solutions suitable for retail and institutional clients such as hedge funds, family offices, private investment vehicles, asset managers, brokers, banks, and introducing brokers.
With IG, traders can get access to an extensive list of exceptional brokerage services such as deep liquidity, superior trade execution, volume-based rebates, industry-standard trading platforms (proprietary & third-party), competitive spreads & low commissions, expert customer support service, and much more.
Table of Contents
At a Glance
| Broker | IG |
|---|---|
| Established | 1974 |
| Head Office | Cannon Bridge House 25 Dowgate Hill London |
| Regulations | CFTC (U.S.), FCA (U.K.), ASIC (Australia), FCA (United Kingdom), FINMA (Switzerland), FMA (New Zealand), MAS (Singapore), FSA (Japan), FSCA (South Africa), DFSA (UAE), BMA (International) |
| Trading Platforms | ProRealTime, L2 Dealer, MetaTrader 4 |
| PC Trading | Available |
| Mobile Trading | Available |
| Available Products | CFDs, Spreadbetting, Barriers and Vanilla Options |
| Asset Classes | Forex, Indices, Shares, Commodities, Futures |
| Minimum Deposit | $0 |
| Leverage | Retail – 1:30 US Traders – 1:50 Professional Traders – 1:222 |
| Minimum Trade Size | 0.01 |
| Demo Account | Available |
| Deposit & Withdrawal Methods | Card Payments and Bank Wire Transfer. |
| Account Base Currencies | USD, GBP, AUD, EUR, SGD, HKD |
| Scalping | Yes |
| Hedging | Yes |
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Fully licensed and regulated globally.
- Access to industry-standard proprietary and third-party trading platforms.
License and Regulation.
IG is licensed and regulated by multiple top-tier financial regulatory bodies around the world, these include;
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
- Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
- Autorité des Marchés Financiers and Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Resolution (Banque de France)
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
- Financial Markets Authority (FMA)
- Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
- Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA)
Account Types
IG provides clients with separate account types for all products offered on their platform. The account types offered include;
- CFD Trading Account
- Spread Betting Account and
- Share Dealing Account (Can be used to buy and sell actual shares of companies).
Product Offering
IG offers over 17,000+ markets that can be traded through the different financial products offered on the platform.
- CFDs – Forex, Indices, Shares CFDs, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies CFDs.
- Spread betting – Forex, Indices, Shares, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies.
- Vanilla Options – Forex Indices, Commodities.
- Barriers – Forex, Indices, Commodities, and Shares.
Spreads and Commissions
With IG, traders pay a spread on every non-share CFD and pay a commission on every share CFD trade. Below are examples of how spreads, commission and margins are charged by IG. For more information please refer to their website here.
Shares
| Region | Commission per side from | Min charge (online) | Margin required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 0.08% | $7 | From 10% |
| US | 2 cents per share | US$15 | From 10% |
| Euro | 0.10% | €10 | From 10% |
| UK | 0.10% | £10 | From 10% |
| HK | 0.18% | HKD50 | from 10% |
Forex
| Market (Spot) | Value per pip | Min spread | Average spread | Margin required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | US$10 | 0.6 | 1.13 | 0.5% |
| AUD/USD | US$10 | 0.6 | 1.33 | 0.5% |
| USD/JPY | Y1000 | 0.7 | 1.26 | 0.5% |
| GBP/USD | US$10 | 0.9 | 2.38 | 0.5% |
Indices
| Market name | Value of one contract | Best available spread | Margin per contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia 200 24 hours | AUD25 | 1 | 0.5% |
| Wall Street 24 hours | US$10 | 1.8 | 0.5% |
| FT100 24 hours | £10 | 1 | 0.5% |
| US500 24 hours | US$250 | 0.4 | 0.5% |
Commodities
| Market name | Value of one contract | Spread | Margin per contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spot Gold | US$100 | 0.3 | 0.5% |
| Spot Silver | US$50 | 2 | 2.0% |
| Oil – US Crude | US$10 | 2.8 | 1.5% |
| Oil – Brent Crude | US$10 | 2.8 | 1.5% |
Trading Fees
When picking a broker, it is important to know what fees are charged by the broker in order to avoid paying unnecessary fees. IG offers a very transparent fee structure with no hidden fees charged. Fees charged by the broker can be seen in the table below.
| Fee Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Direct Market Access (DMA) | IG does not charge for using DMA to trade forex, CFDs and shares, although in order to access live DMA prices for certain shares you’ll need to pay a monthly exchange fee. |
| Live Price Data Feeds | To obtain live share prices from an exchange via a share dealing account incurs a monthly fee. |
| ProRealTime Charts | Subscribing to the broker ProReal-time charts costs $40 per month which is refunded if you place four or more trades a month. |
| Inactivity Fee | An inactivity fee of $18 is charged if there is no trading activity performed on the trader account in the space of two years or more. |
| Account Documentation Fee | IG Charges a $50 (US) fee on accounts that have not supplied a mandatory W-8 or W-9 form prior to the dividend ex-date of a qualifying trade on a US-incorporated stock. |
Account Deposit and Withdrawals
IG provides traders with fast deposits and withdrawals at no cost, as there are no fees charged for deposit and withdrawal conditions.
It offers flexible deposit and withdrawal options as traders have the options to process payment through a variety of popular funding methods which includes debit cards, credit cards, Paypal and Bank transfers.
In addition, the minimum initial deposit required by IG is £250 or the equivalent in other currencies.
Also, if funding by a credit card, a maximum of £30,000 can be deposited per day and up to £99,999, if funding is done with a debit card and larger payments can be processed via bank transfers.
Trading Platforms
IG offers three advanced trading platform which consists of their proprietary trading platforms and a third-party trading platform. Trading platforms available on IG include;
- ProRealTime
- L2 Dealer
- MetaTrader 4
ProRealTime
The ProRealTime (PRT) trading platform offered by IG is an advanced web-based charting package offering powerful monitoring tools, flexible access and advanced analysis resources. The trading platform is suitable for technical chart traders. Also, it comes with a $40 monthly fee, but if you trade CFDs at least four times a month then you would be refunded.
L2 Dealer
The L2 Dealer trading platform offered by IG is a free downloadable platform that offers direct market access (DMA) with access to trade forex and share CFDs. The trading platform comes with great trading features including helpful monitoring tools such as watchlists, price alerts, orders, and more.
IG Trading Platforms At a Glance
| Broker | IG |
|---|---|
| Proprietary Trading Platform | Yes |
| PC Platform | Yes |
| Mobile Platform | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| Social Trading | Yes |
| Copy Trading | No |
| MetaTrader 4 | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 | Yes |
| TradingView | Yes |
| cTrader | Yes |
| ZuluTrade | Yes |
Customer Support
IG provides their traders with a multi-lingual customer support team, available 24 hours from 8 am on Saturday to 10 pm on Friday.
The customer support team can be reached via live chat, e-mail and telephone and has a fairly average response rate when compared to other industry-standard brokers, as they are room for improvements, especially with their response rate.
Summary
IG has been around for more than four decades and has maintained a wonderful reputation in the trading industry, which is evident from the number of worldwide active traders they’ve amassed over the years. The broker is suitable for all types of traders (beginner, intermediate and professional) due to its advanced but easy to use interface.
IG is also considered safe and reliable as it is fully licensed and regulated by top-tier regulatory bodies across the globe. They are also listed on a stock exchange which means they disclose their financials, making them a very transparent broker to work with.