Losses can exceed deposits
Let’s Take a Look at IG – the largest UK spread betting company.
- IG Review
- IG Spread Betting
- Largest Spread Betting Company
- IG Awards
- IG Mobile
- IG iPad App
- User Ratings & Comments on IG
- IG on Social Media
- IG Charts
- Markets on the IG Platform
- About IG / Contact IG
- Spread Betting on IG Group PLC
- Video on Using the IG Platform
- Video on Using the IG Charts
- Video on Using the IG iPhone App
- Video on Using the IG iPad App
IG Spread Betting Review
You get all the normal advantages of spread betting, i.e.:- Tax Free Investments*, i.e. there is no capital gains tax, income tax or Stamp Duty
- You can buy or sell indices, shares, forex and commodities
- No commission fees
- No brokers’ fees
- A wide range of global markets – for more details see markets on the IG platform
Plus with IG you also get:
- More than 15,000 markets – the IG platform has more than 15,000 spread betting markets covering stock indices, equities, forex, sectors, commodities, bonds, interest rates and house prices. Also see IG Index markets
- 24 hour spread betting – investors can trade a number of popular markets like the FTSE 100, GBP/USD, gold and crude oil, 24 hours a day, from Sunday night to Friday night. IG Index quotes prices on leading stock indices even when the underlying markets are closed. They also offer extended hours for leading us shares.
- A multi-award winning service – IG Index’s web platform, PureDeal, has won numerous awards and offers a combination of high-speed execution, reliability and security. See below for details on IG Index awards
- Mobile spread betting – see below for details on IG Index Mobile spread betting
- Advanced charting – with IG Index’s DealThru charts investors can trade directly from the charts, see below for more details on IG Index charts
- MT4 – Use the popular MetaTrader4 platform (CFDs and forex only)
- Research data and reports – investors are provided with a range of research and analytical studies. The studies include a technical analysis service from independent experts
- Reuters – live streams from the news agency
- Custom trading – you can create your own trades, for details see Custom Spread Bets
- Limited risk trading – you can add Guaranteed Stop orders to your trades. These orders put a limit on your maximum possible loss without limiting your potential profits
“Why Doesn’t Everyone Just Use IG?”
Editor’s comment: friends to ask me the same basic question:Why doesn’t everyone just use IG? The pricing is fine, the platform stable and trustworthy, and they have all the markets you could ever want to trade etc.Well, a lot of people do have an IG account. Apparently 60% of the UK active spread bettors have one. But there are a few downsides:
- User-friendly platform? – IG is one of the best platforms for having all the whistles and bells. That also means they need to squeeze a lot on to your trading screen. They’ve done fairly well with keeping the platform user-friendly but there are more user-friendly platforms.
If you want a really simple platform then you might prefer Core Spreads or Financial Spreads. - “OK” Spreads – IG don’t offer the tightest spreads. E.g. they say “EUR/USD from 0.6”, in reality the average was 0.75 and, as of December 2017, that 0.75 is still be quoted for the “Average spread for the 12 weeks ending 24 February 2017”.
The typical spread is probably closer to 0.9 or 1.0, it’s just a shame they don’t say what it is. This is a poor practice with most brokers with variable spreads. Clarity please IG! Also…don’t be shy, 0.9 or 1.0 isn’t that bad.
If you want tighter spreads, you could use the above firms. InterTrader are also more competitive than IG on many of their markets. - Minimum stakes – IG tend to start at £2/pt. If you want to trade £0.5/pt try ETX or Financial Spreads.
Also: - Sunday Trading – the IG Sunday DAX, FTSE and Dow Jones markets have very wide spreads and can be confusing, make sure you read the full trading rules on these before you spread bet.
Overall, I do like the IG platform and overall service, they are strong across the board. But I will certainly use other platforms depending upon what I am trading.
I guess the above answers the question.
Jacob Wood, Editor, CleanFinancial.com.
Spread betting and CFD trading carry a high level of risk to your capital and you may lose more than your initial investment. Spread betting and CFD trading may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.
Losses can exceed deposits
IG Index Number One Spread Betting Company
Investment Trends, a leading independent research agency, conducted a survey in 2013 that found that just under 60% of ‘active’ UK financial spread bettors have an account with IG Index. This confirmed IG Index as the most popular UK spread betting company.
IG Index Awards (Sorry this list needs updating!)
IG Index regularly wins awards for their spread betting service, more recent awards include:Best Spread Betting Provider
- 2013 – 2010, 2008 Investors Chronicle & Financial Times Investment Awards
- 2013 MoneyAM Awards – Best Investor Education
- 2012, 2009, 2008, 2007 Shares Magazine Awards
- 2011, 2010, 2009 What Investment Magazine Awards
- 2010 Trade2Win Members’ Choice Awards
- 2013, 2012 Shares Magazine Awards
- 2013 MoneyAM Awards – Best Investor Education
- 2012 UK Forex Awards – Best Forex Trading Tools
- 2010 MoneyAM Online Finance Awards – Best Online Service & Best Online Charts
- 2009 MoneyAM Online Finance Awards – Best Online Provider & Best Online Product Innovation)
- 2012, 2011 Investors Chronicle & Financial Times Investment Awards
- 2010 World Finance Telecoms Awards
- 2010 Sunday Times App List, the spread betting app was described as ‘indispensable’
- 2013, Investors Chronicle & Financial Times Investment Awards
- 2013, MoneyAM Awards
Screenshot of the customisable IG platform
User Ratings & Comments on IG
Add Your View – please add any comments and/or questions on IG here.Readers can leave comments by logging in securely to their Facebook, Twitter or Intense Debate accounts (CleanFinancial does not see, or keep a record of, your login details).
IG Account
Below, an overview of the IG spread betting account.IG Index Services |  |
| Average User Rating | 7.3 |
| New Account Offer |  |
| 24 Hour Trading |  |
| Live Charts | |
| iPhone App | |
| iPad App | |
| Android Apps | |
| Web Platform | |
| Stop Loss Available | |
| Automatic Stop Loss | |
| Credit Account | |
| Deposit Account | |
| FCA Authorised and Regulated | |
IG Mobile Apps
The IG ‘mobile dealing app’ has been tailored for iPhone and Android based devices.
The result is that IG account holders can review the latest prices and charts, open and close trades and update trading orders from their mobile phone.
IG iPad App
- Check live prices and charts
- Open and close trades
- Add Limit Orders, Stop Orders and Guaranteed Stops
- Create a Watchlist(s)
- Review their P&L and aggregate trading position
- Customise the layout
IG Charts
The IG Index service covers both basic and advanced technical analysis with their range of live charting options.- Dealing directly from charts – the IG Index ‘DealThru’ technology lets investors ‘drag and drop’ opening orders onto charts. Orders are displayed as lines on the charts and are activated when crossed
- Autochartist – IG Index offers investors the powerful Autochartist pattern recognition tool which can monitor the markets for you. Autochartist will alert investors when the market patterns indicate potential trading opportunities in their chosen markets
- Mobile charting – investors can also access live charts through mobile apps
Autochartist with IG
Autochartist is one of the fastest scanners of technical patterns and IG clients are eligible for a free Autochartist subscription.The Autochartist tool scans more than 10,000 symbols every minute, across five different time frames, from 15-minute graphs to end-of-day graphs. The key benefits of Autochartist include:
- Intraday Scanning: quick notifications regarding potential trade opportunities throughout the day.
- Forecast Zones: once a pattern has been completed, Autochartist can automatically plot a forecast zone of the price level that is expected to be reached. According to the Autochartist website, this feature comes with a 70% success rate†.
- Quality Indicators: automated visual analysis that combines four unique characteristics to assess the quality score of a pattern.
- Pattern Recognition: Autochartist automatically detects predefined patterns and key levels.
- Trade Style: the software automatically plots support and resistance levels in order to help both ‘breakout traders’ and ‘swing traders’.
- ‘PowerStats’: a feature which assesses the risk and volatility of the instruments that you trade.
- Training: the service comes with training videos and guides to help investors maximise the use of the chart patterns and technical analysis.
A Review of the Markets on the IG Platform
Below you will find a sample of the markets offered by IG Index along with their typical in-hours spread size and the minimum stake for that market. See IG Index for full details.Typical In-Hours Index Spread Sizes with IG Index | |
| FTSE 100 (UK 100) Daily | 1 |
| Dow Jones (Wall St) Daily | 1.8 |
| DAX 30 (Germany 30) Daily | 1 |
| S&P 500 (SPX 500) Daily | 4 |
| NASDAQ 100 (US Tech 100) Daily | 1 |
| CAC 40 (France 40) Daily | 1 |
| ASX 200 (Australia 200) Daily | 2 |
| Japan 225 Daily | 6 |
| Hong Kong Daily | 8 |
| Stock market indices minimum stake | £1-5 |
Typical In-Hours Forex Spread Sizes with IG Index | |
| EUR / USD Daily | 0.8 |
| GBP / USD Daily | 1 |
| EUR / GBP Daily | 1 |
| USD / JPY Daily | 0.8 |
| Forex minimum stake | £1 |
- Major FX: EUR/CHF, EUR/JPY, AUD/USD and more
- Minor FX: CHF/JPY, EUR/SEK, GBP/JPY and more
- Exotic FX: USD/HUF, GBP/MXN, EUR/CZK and more
Typical In-Hours Commodities Spread Sizes with IG Index | |
| Gold Daily | 5 |
| Gold Futures | 6 |
| Brent Crude Oil Daily | 4 |
| Brent Crude Oil Futures | 6 |
| US Crude Oil Daily | 4 |
| US Crude Oil Futures | 6 |
| Commodities minimum stake | £1-2 |
- Energies: Natural Gas, Heating Oil, Carbon Emissions and more
- Metals: Silver, Copper, Platinum and more
- Softs: Robusta Coffee, London Sugar No.5, London Wheat, Lean Hogs, Live Cattle and more
Typical In-Hours Interest Rate Spread Sizes with IG Index | |
| Euribor | 1 |
| Euroswiss | 1 |
| Short Sterling | 1 |
| Treasuries minimum stake | £2 |
Typical In-Hours Bonds Spread Sizes with IG Index | |
| BOBL | 2 |
| Bund | 2 |
| Gilt | 2 |
| Schatz | 1 |
| US T Bond 10 Year | 4 |
| US T Bond 30 Year | – |
| Treasuries minimum stake | £2 |
More IG Markets
IG Index also offers prices on a range of other markets and variations such as:- Average UK House Price
- Differentials: eg FTSE / Dow Jones Differential
- Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)
IG on Social Media
IG are very active on Twitter but less so on Youtube these days. A lot of their activity on Facebook and Google+ is identical.If you’re following IG on Twitter, note that some accounts focus more on corporate Tweets and some give more trading updates and analysis, naturally we prefer the latter. To help we’ve separated the accounts below:
Follow IG on Twitter
(more market updates and analysis)- @DavidMadden_IG – David Madden, Market Analyst
- @ChrisB_IG – Chris Beauchamp, Market Analyst
- @IGSquawk – IG Squawk – also useful for following the markets, a 24 hour twitter account that covers live share news and client sentiment
And more corporate tweets on IG PLC: - @IGcom – official IG Twitter account for market updates, corporate updates etc.
IG on other Social Media
Contact IG
And if you don’t like our review of IG, or if this review doesn’t give you what you are looking for then try contacting IG directly:IG Customer Support: 0800 409 6789 / +44 (0) 20 7896 0079 / 1800 995 364 (Ireland)
IG Customer Support: helpdesk.uk@ig.com
Dealing desk: +44 20 7896 0000 / +44 20 7633 5323
Address: Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London, EC4R 2YA, UK
Official Site: www.IG.com
Spread betting and CFD trading carry a high level of risk to your capital and you may lose more than your initial investment. Spread betting and CFD trading may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.
About IG Index
Losses can exceed deposits
“IG Index is Britain’s leading financial spread betting firm, offering prices in a wide range of indices, FX, commodities and options markets as well as thousands of individual shares.
“Financial spread betting has grown rapidly over the last decade because it offers investors and traders a unique combination of flexibility and speed of execution.
“IG Index, the original IG Group company, was founded in 1974. It was the first financial spread betting company in Britain, and today is the leading spreads operation in the world.
“2000 saw IG Group float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). In 2003 Stuart Whelan (the founder) decided sell his remaining interest in the company and compelled a management buyout led by Nat le Roux, then CEO, and backed by CVC Capital Partners.
“In May 2005, IG Group Holdings plc was floated on the main list of the LSE. Today they are a FTSE 250 company with over 120,000 clients worldwide.”
2006 saw IG Group launch a browser-based trading platform as well as a website dedicated to clients in Russia.
In 2008, IG Group bought FXOnline, a leading provider of financial derivatives in Japan. IG also launched the UK’s first dedicated iPhone spread betting software”
During 2009, IG launched Nadex in the US. A year later IG launched its iPhone app
In 2011, IG added DMA to its iPhone app, they also launched new Android and BlackBerry based apps. The IG platform sees around five million trades placed each month.
2012 saw the IG Index and IG Markets brands start trading as IG.
IG Index is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), FCA Register number 114059.
Losses can exceed deposits
Spread Betting on the IG Group Share Price
Note that IG Group Holdings plc is a FTSE 250 company and so you can spread bet on IG itself, ticker code IGG. See below for broker ratings on IG Group.At the moment, you can spread on IG Group, via:
Note that you might also be able to take a view on IG Group on other websites.