IG Review (2024) – The Original, But Still The Best Spread Betting Broker?

Home > Reviews > IG Review (IG Index)
IG is an excellent all round trading platform, I would say it is the default broker for active traders to which we measure other platforms against.
Richard Berry
Richard Berry
Good Money Guide Founder

IG Customer Reviews

3.9
3.9 out of 5 stars (based on 674 reviews)
Excellent33%
Very good38%
Average20%
Poor6%
Terrible3%

easy to use, good value

26th June 2024

easy to use, good value

Jez Etherington

Easy to use platform -…

27th June 2024

Easy to use platform – higher minimums

Giles Hodgson

easy to use, good value

26th June 2024

easy to use, good value

Jez Etherington

Not interested

26th June 2024

Not interested

Leonard James Whitehouse

Extensive for CFDs or SBT

19th June 2024

Extensive for CFDs or SBT

Ian Day

4/5

13th June 2024
Matthew Snazell

good

13th June 2024

good

i Gotts

5/5

13th June 2024
Babis Gakis

OK

12th June 2024

OK

JOHN LABARTE

poor currency exchange rates

12th June 2024

poor currency exchange rates

paul Middleton

Professional

12th June 2024

Professional

Alun Morris

A bit clunky in places….

12th June 2024

A bit clunky in places. Phone app and computer web page do not share watchlists

Russell Harris

No comment

12th June 2024

No comment

austin goff

Good value for money and…

12th June 2024

Good value for money and app is easy to use

Carrie Judd

OK

12th June 2024

OK

Mr Richard Pleasant

Easy to use

12th June 2024

Easy to use

neil morgan

Works well for the limited…

12th June 2024

Works well for the limited spreadbets that I do

Annesley Harrison

Easy to use excellent quality…

12th June 2024

Easy to use excellent quality trading platform.

Anne Conboy

.

12th June 2024

.

John Mead

Easy to use and navigate

12th June 2024

Easy to use and navigate

Damon Horney

need to be bit user…

12th June 2024

need to be bit user frindly

Kailayapillai Ranjan

Slick website design and app

12th June 2024

Slick website design and app

Paul Walton

Very good

12th June 2024

Very good

Yuriy Alexander

Responsive platform has everything

12th June 2024

Responsive platform has everything

James Charles Edward Kilcawley

Easy navigation

12th June 2024

Easy navigation

Graham Clarke

All round ok

12th June 2024

All round ok

Nicholas Dunne

Takes a bit of getting…

12th June 2024

Takes a bit of getting used to

Philip Callaghan

Good

12th June 2024

Good

Russell Martin Cook

Very good platform. No means…

12th June 2024

Very good platform. No means of comparison with others.

James Andrews

Expensive does not put customer…

12th June 2024

Expensive does not put customer first

Graham Buckingham

Decent value

12th June 2024

Decent value

Patrick Morris

Good

12th June 2024

Good

Graeme watson

Good platform, easy to use

12th June 2024

Good platform, easy to use

Oliver Tomahawk

Very intuitive platform – easy…

12th June 2024

Very intuitive platform – easy to use

Roger Doery

Not good customer service

12th June 2024

Not good customer service

YADI JAYRAN-NEJAD

excellent

12th June 2024

excellent

keith stephenson

good

12th June 2024

good

Nick Gregory

Easy to use and good…

12th June 2024

Easy to use and good coverage of stocks / indicies / currencies to trade

David Mark Chester

No comment

12th June 2024

No comment

Gary Towner

Comprehensive and easy to use

12th June 2024

Comprehensive and easy to use

David Marsh

great choice of markets, easy…

12th June 2024

great choice of markets, easy to use but quite expensive

ashley smyth

Ok

12th June 2024

Ok

Eric kenelm ford

Excellent

12th June 2024

Excellent

Shane Stanley

Good all round

12th June 2024

Good all round

Cecil Frank Scott

Inconsistent and not particularly helpful

12th June 2024

Inconsistent and not particularly helpful

John Denmark

Very good multi-account trading -…

12th June 2024

Very good multi-account trading – Shares, ISA and Spread

Colin Sills

No View

12th June 2024

No View

Robert Wedgbury

Excellent educational material and tools…

12th June 2024

Excellent educational material and tools available.

Matt Jones

Nice interface, lots of features

12th June 2024

Nice interface, lots of features

Stuart Wilson

Only use for trading shares…

12th June 2024

Only use for trading shares – limited use.

Richard Pavey

Good, but they should pay…

12th June 2024

Good, but they should pay interest on cash balances

Nadia Lycett

Easy to use

12th June 2024

Easy to use

Niral Vadera

3/5

8th June 2024
Fred Baton

3/5

6th June 2024
Kristina Juodikyte

Ok

30th May 2024

Ok

Dan

very detailed solution

29th May 2024

very detailed solution

Stephen Starr

4/5

29th May 2024
david brock

x

28th May 2024

x

Norman Renshaw

4/5

28th May 2024
David Wagg

Easy to use

27th May 2024

Easy to use

Ochonu

easy to use

26th May 2024

easy to use

David Gibbon

Ok

26th May 2024

Ok

Mr Ben Coupar

ok

25th May 2024

ok

JOHN LABARTE

no review

25th May 2024

no review

Aaron White

good

25th May 2024

good

Ben Johnston

Good but spreads need to…

25th May 2024

Good but spreads need to come down

Anthony Swift

Useful for access to market…

25th May 2024

Useful for access to market prices

Ross Davidson

Good value and instrument availability

24th May 2024

Good value and instrument availability

Danielle Strauss

Excellent platform and information. …

24th May 2024

Excellent platform and information. Not the cheapest.

christopher o’connor

ok

24th May 2024

ok

Mike O’Neill

good

24th May 2024

good

vasile rotaru

4/5

24th May 2024
vasile rotaru

Good for r/t prices

24th May 2024

Good for r/t prices

Scott Jamieson

A quick way to lose…

24th May 2024

A quick way to lose your money

Peter Whiers

4/5

24th May 2024
Sandeep Paul

Bkue

24th May 2024

Bkue

Michael Huckle

Effecient

24th May 2024

Effecient

Simon Mathias

Good

24th May 2024

Good

Raymond cahill

very easy to use customer…

24th May 2024

very easy to use customer service is excellent. very clear and precise with their help in all aspects of the site

kevin garfoot

Decent.

24th May 2024

Decent.

Salman Hussain

5/5

24th May 2024
David Sumners

x

24th May 2024

x

Robert Deriawish

Cover a wide range to…

24th May 2024

Cover a wide range to trade and easy to use.

Nigel Johnson

Simple and straightforward to use

23rd May 2024

Simple and straightforward to use

Kevin Cartwright

Works not bad

23rd May 2024

Works not bad

Rhoda Matthews

4/5

23rd May 2024
Peter Brown

Good with DMA

23rd May 2024

Good with DMA

Garth Nicholosn

Clear intuitive platform with good…

23rd May 2024

Clear intuitive platform with good charts.

Stephen Smith

4/5

23rd May 2024
Charles McQueen

Interesting

23rd May 2024

Interesting

Douglas McCrea

Good functionality and resources

23rd May 2024

Good functionality and resources

Wolf-Rüdiger Feiler

Extensive platform and share choice

23rd May 2024

Extensive platform and share choice

Nigel Morley

3/5

23rd May 2024
Ian Martin

Effective not always clearest advice

23rd May 2024

Effective not always clearest advice

Duncan Bruce

ok

22nd May 2024

ok

Tim Poole

Lovely platform, possibky too much…

22nd May 2024

Lovely platform, possibky too much info can be a bit confusing for the novice

Mick Walsh

Absolute best for spread betting.

22nd May 2024

Absolute best for spread betting.

Edmund Duncan Platt

good service and ease of…

22nd May 2024

good service and ease of transactions. Quarterly fee is a pain if you don’t trade very much. Cheap trade over 3 a month.

Nigel Donati

very good

22nd May 2024

very good

phil checks

no comment

22nd May 2024

no comment

alister l

Its good if you have…

22nd May 2024

Its good if you have an idea initially, may be overwhelming for novices.

Lee-Martin King

EASY

22nd May 2024

EASY

Andrew Morrison

2/5

22nd May 2024
Susan Valentine

This is an excellent trading…

22nd May 2024

This is an excellent trading platform with very clear charting.

David Christopher Allanson

Overall Good. Good value. Easy…

22nd May 2024

Overall Good. Good value. Easy to use platform

Lloyd Garvey

I find the platform overly…

22nd May 2024

I find the platform overly complex

Jerome E. Silvers

good and expensive

22nd May 2024

good and expensive

Mike Worrall

Ok

22nd May 2024

Ok

Quentin Allan Currie

Good service.

22nd May 2024

Good service.

David Dinsmore

No issues

22nd May 2024

No issues

Mervyn Smith

Very good

22nd May 2024

Very good

Rodney Dawe

I bit hard to navigate…

22nd May 2024

I bit hard to navigate and I have found it pricy in the past

Ryan Letley

4/5

22nd May 2024
Brian Jones

Good for trading, availability of…

22nd May 2024

Good for trading, availability of US stocks to trade

stephen bullock

The spreads are very expensive

22nd May 2024

The spreads are very expensive

Justin baker

Don’t really use it too…

22nd May 2024

Don’t really use it too much so cant really comment

Mark Stevenson

Very comprehensive platform with clear…

22nd May 2024

Very comprehensive platform with clear user guides and educational features which has been good as a beginner

Simon Burt

4/5

22nd May 2024
Kevin Gallagher

GOOD

22nd May 2024

GOOD

IAN WILLIAMS

Great data but expensive.

22nd May 2024

Great data but expensive.

David Brunsdon

Good value and offers access…

22nd May 2024

Good value and offers access to the right instruments

Graham Heaven

Good for Spreadbetting

22nd May 2024

Good for Spreadbetting

Andy Earl

Informative

22nd May 2024

Informative

paul stewart

Easy to use

22nd May 2024

Easy to use

Tim amps

Don’t pay interest on cash

22nd May 2024

Don’t pay interest on cash

COLIN WILLIAM FEARN

excellent and straight forward

22nd May 2024

excellent and straight forward

Ian Meredith

reliable

22nd May 2024

reliable

Scott Gornall

Trading is quick and efficient….

22nd May 2024

Trading is quick and efficient. Stop loss appears to work well.

David Robottom

Excellent. Could have wider range…

22nd May 2024

Excellent. Could have wider range of fixed income products

Alex Barrett

low cost and good platform

22nd May 2024

low cost and good platform

Phil Green

Nil

22nd May 2024

Nil

Gurchet singh

Love using this company for…

22nd May 2024

Love using this company for currencies and commodities, haven’t gone into great detail in the more advanced chargeable services, but don’t need that for what I do. Charting platform is live don’t subscribe to and advanced charting or news platform provided but IG. The only thing I don’t like about it is that when using the phone service for charting, when the software is updated it loses all your saved settings.

ARRAN JAMES MARSHALL

Easy to lose money trading.

22nd May 2024

Easy to lose money trading.

Andrew Philpot

Good interface

22nd May 2024

Good interface

Anthony Strange

No view

22nd May 2024

No view

Richard Fleming

Really easy to use

22nd May 2024

Really easy to use

Peter Isard

Fast and efficient trading platform

22nd May 2024

Fast and efficient trading platform

TREVOR BELL

Complex, but reflective of the…

22nd May 2024

Complex, but reflective of the range of trading options

John Thornton

IG

22nd May 2024

IG

Erik Robinson

Good, efficient and does the…

22nd May 2024

Good, efficient and does the job

Graham Hewitt

Not overly useful presentation

22nd May 2024

Not overly useful presentation

K R Buckingham

Good. used for shorting

22nd May 2024

Good. used for shorting

Matthew Pountain

Not used for a while

22nd May 2024

Not used for a while

Rodney Townson

Nothing

22nd May 2024

Nothing

Ross S.

22nd May 2024

PAul Rogers

sweet

22nd May 2024

sweet

michael huckle

I like it use 90%…

22nd May 2024

I like it use 90% of the time – low cost trading

Gordon Smith

Good

22nd May 2024

Good

David Whitehouse

Esay to use

17th May 2024

Esay to use

Ian Coleman

Decent coverage

16th May 2024

Decent coverage

Clive Lambert

Market leader

16th May 2024

Market leader

Grant Mack

Well established / leader /…

15th May 2024

Well established / leader / great platform

Gary

5/5

28th February 2023

Pros:

Great website for charts and information.

Cons:

Nothing I like their service and website.

GMG Awards Voter: [118255293154]

2/5

28th February 2023

Pros:

Ability to see live prices

GMG Awards Voter: [118255259210]

3/5

28th February 2023

Pros:

Accessible

GMG Awards Voter: [118255217483]

5/5

28th February 2023

Pros:

All in 1 place

Cons:

Responsive IT Dept

GMG Awards Voter: [118255205605]

5/5

28th February 2023

Pros:

Cheap commission

GMG Awards Voter: [118254761493]

3/5

27th February 2023

Pros:

market entiment

GMG Awards Voter: [118254114140]

5/5

27th February 2023

Pros:

Ease of Use

Cons:

Risk Management useability

GMG Awards Voter: [118253931548]

5/5

27th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118253924165]

4/5

26th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118253483647]

4/5

26th February 2023

Pros:

Live data, good app, good execution

Cons:

More technical indicators

GMG Awards Voter: [118253469503]

2/5

26th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118253352341]

5/5

26th February 2023

Pros:

ease of use

Cons:

N/A

GMG Awards Voter: [118253220129]

4/5

25th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118253088279]

4/5

25th February 2023

Pros:

ease of trading

Cons:

nothing

GMG Awards Voter: [118253081271]

4/5

25th February 2023

Pros:

reliable

Cons:

better spreads

GMG Awards Voter: [118253058051]

4/5

25th February 2023

Pros:

prorealtime

Cons:

MT5

GMG Awards Voter: [118253046263]

4/5

25th February 2023

Pros:

intuitive

Cons:

bit of a clunky platform in volatile times

GMG Awards Voter: [118252864076]

4/5

25th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252849943]

4/5

25th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252715999]

4/5

25th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252666574]

4/5

25th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252633510]

3/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

market width

Cons:

no thoughts

GMG Awards Voter: [118252625063]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Spreadbetting

Cons:

Allow spread betting on some of the smaller companies

GMG Awards Voter: [118252581292]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252573850]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252569505]

3/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252475898]

4/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

easy to use

GMG Awards Voter: [118252461961]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252456366]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Does everything I need

GMG Awards Voter: [118252391061]

3/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Nothing

Cons:

Make the platform easier to use

GMG Awards Voter: [118252373825]

3/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

None

Cons:

Customer service not v good. Site difficult to navigate

GMG Awards Voter: [118252366191]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252306317]

4/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252284519]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252272863]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

ease of use

GMG Awards Voter: [118252158483]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

easy to trade

Cons:

better alerts

GMG Awards Voter: [118252158396]

3/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252093181]

4/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252065952]

3/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Ease of use and speed of execution

Cons:

Customer service, I just seem to be ignored.

GMG Awards Voter: [118252046210]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252043399]

4/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118252001532]

4/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Works well

Cons:

?

GMG Awards Voter: [118251997452]

4/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

good for quick spread betting trades

Cons:

Nothing. Has everything i could want at this time

GMG Awards Voter: [118251996193]

5/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118251987798]

4/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118251987539]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Easy to use

Cons:

Nothing

GMG Awards Voter: [118251981717]

3/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Dormant at the moment

Cons:

Dormant account

GMG Awards Voter: [118251982063]

5/5

24th February 2023

Pros:

Market leader

GMG Awards Voter: [118251978851]

4/5

24th February 2023
GMG Awards Voter: [118251978283]

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70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

Expert IG Review

Before we kick off this review I must disclose a bit of an interest. I’m a big fan of IG, in my mind, they are the default broker. When we review brokers, we tend to ask the question “why would you trade here rather than at IG?” So, in my updated 2024 IG review, I compare IG Index to other brokers, tell you what I like about them, who they are best for and show you their trading platform with some live trades in a video demo. 

IG Review
Good Money Guide Recommended 2024

Name: IG

Description: Founded in 1974 as Investors Gold Index, then IG Index, now just “IG” is one of the world’s largest margin trading brokers. IG offer CFDs, FX and Spread Betting (in the UK) alongside share trading and prime brokerage to over 313,000 active clients and offers 17,000 tradable markets. IG also recently introduced physical share dealing and smart portfolios for longer-term investors.
70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

Is IG a good trading platform?

Yes, IG provides an excellent all-round trading and investing brokerage service. IG pioneered online trading and financial spread betting for private clients and remains not only one of the largest online trading platforms, but also one of the best. IG stands out through deep liquidity, high market range and excellent added value such as trading tools and analysis.

Pros

  • Vast range of markets
  • Excellent liquidity & DMA equities
  • Listed on the London Stock Exchange

Cons

  • Customer service can be slow
  • No DMA futures trading
  • Still charges inactivity fee
  • Pricing
    (4.5)
  • Market Access
    (5)
  • Online Platform
    (5)
  • Customer Service
    (4)
  • Research & Analysis
    (5)
Overall
4.7

Ratings Explained

  • Pricing: Industry leading spreads and with DMA you can get inside the bid/offer.
  • Market Access: Best around for spread betting and CFD trading.
  • Platform & Apps: Loads of added value, signals and execution features.
  • Customer Service: IG is very big, but still managed to score well here.
  • Research & Analysis: Superb, news, analysis, social feeds, plus free premium subscriptions for active clients.

I’ve had an account with IG for about 20 years and I remember their first online trading platform when it was just basically a messaging system through to the dealing desk. Amazingly enough, it turns out that I was also in the same class (at two different schools over about five years) as the founder’s daughter, but of course, didn’t know that back then.

When I was interning on the NYMEX and IPE trading floors in London and New York as a ticket checking clerk, I’d tap away on IG on my Ericsson R380 trying to emulate the bigger boys in the pit.
IG were my first trading account and along with Trading Places (my dog is even called Winthorpe #notobsessed) I hold them fully accountable for the path my so-called career has taken.

The beginnings & Ethos

Stuart Wheeler, the founder, basically invented financial spread betting in the attic of a Chelsea townhouse in 1974. It was first called Investors Gold Index, then IG Index and then just IG. As the product range grows, the name shortens. As is the fashion these days with II, HL & IBKR.

If you read his biography (Winning Against the Odds, My Life in Gambling and Politics), you can tell that IG was founded for the love of the business. That business being gambling and investing. It’s a great read, very witty, lots of indescrete gossip, some “slightly dated” views, but overall a great insight into how and why the business started.

This brings me to my first point. One of the things that makes IG stand out, is really the fact that it is IG.  I’m a big believer that there are two types of financial business. One that is set up to extract money from customers because they spot a gap in the market. And the second, that does it because they are good at it and want to be the best.

I hope that’s what we at the Good Money Guide do and I hope that that’s what IG still do. I certainly gathered from my interview with the now IG CEO, June Felix, that their position is still to very much be on the clients side. In that, they believe it’s better to try and help a client win and give them a good service, so they are still doing business with you in twenty years, rather than the churn and burn quick-fire approach.

Index & Forex Trading

IG was originally called IG Index (Investors Gold Index) and was one of the first brokers to let private individuals trade the financial markets. When they started off customers mainly traded the London stock market index (FTSE 100), but now IG clients can trade a market-leading 80+ indices.

You can also trade forex on their platform. But remarkably, unlike most other forex brokers, which see the largest percentage of their volumes in the forex markets, IG’s most popular asset class is indices, followed closely in second by currency trading.

Quality Service

This was most evident I think during the big bonus push of around seven years ago. This was basically a time when the trading industry became uber-competitive and brokers were offering big bonuses, sometimes up to £5,000 to new clients to sign up.

The catch of course was that you had to generate more than that in trading commission before you could withdraw it or use it. IG’s stance on that was, “No, that’s not for us” clients trade with us because of what our service offers” and didn’t get into the murky business of incentives.

Interestingly enough, the FCA banned new account bonuses because it all got a bit out of hand as the more unscrupulous platforms were running too heavy B-books.

No B-Book

One draw for big clients is that whilst IG does internalise orders, they have Symmetrical exposure limits.

So they don’t take a view on the markets. This means two things, first, IG are not betting against you with a B-Book.

And second if you are a big trader, because of their liquidity there may actually be bigger volume on IG’s bid and offer than there is in the underlying market. You get positive slippage, so if you place a limit order and the market suddenly moves in your favour you get filled at a better price than your limit.

Spread Betting & CFD Trading

With IG you can trade CFDs or spread bet 24 hours on major indices, forex and commodities markets, there are extended hours on global equities, where some fairly significant volume goes through, particularly on US equities when company announcements are made after the main market shuts. IG is one of the few brokers to allow trading during the weekend, so you can still take a view or limit your exposure if something big comes out politically.

IG is one of the best CFD trading platforms as they offer a huge range of markets to trade and DMA access for more sophisticated traders. Also, because IG offers CFDs globally (with the exception of the US) they have a huge amount of volume and liquidity meaning that sometimes you can place bigger orders via IG’s order book than you could do on the underlying exchanges like the LSE or NYSE. Because of the sheer volume of CFD trades, IG is able to internally match up orders for quicker and larger fills.

One key disadvantage of trading CFDs through IG is that you have to pay tax on profits. However, CFDs are not the only product that IG offer. You can also trade financial spread bets, where you do not have to pay capital gains tax on profits.

IPO Grey Market

One feature that is now unique to IG (lots of other brokers used to do it) is the “grey market”, where they will make you a price in unquoted stocks that are due to come to market. You essentially take a bet on what the market cap will be of a company when it lists. Or, you can just apply for shares in the IPO through PrimaryBid, who will deliver them to your IG account.

International Presence

IG also have this nice nack of looking at a region and finding specific products for them. It’s actually quite interesting how each country has a specific way it likes to trade the markets. The UK for example, is the only country that benefits from financial spread betting, the rest of the world trades on margin with CFDs. Of course, with the exception of the Americans, who trade on margin by taking out a loan to buy stock (from their broker) or trade options, which are much more popular on equities. Japan has knockouts and Europe has barrier options and Turbos Warrants.

Trading Platforms & Apps

IG’s trading platform has gone through many iterations in the 20 years or so I’ve used them. Their first online platform was just really a live price feed with a messenger box, that put you through to the dealers, who would manually execute trades for you. Now, of course, it’s all DIY online, but still with phone support if you need it.

IG Trading Platform

Something IG is very keen to push, is their added value. The platform tries to integrate as much as possible. IGTV, is based on the platform analytics of what people are trading and they create programs around what markets and assets traders are looking for information on. The news and analysis comes from Thomas Reuters, with snapshot videos and a series of IG market commentary videos.

We rate IG’s trading app as extremely safe because of IG’s regulation and reputation. However, it’s important to note that while trading on the app itself is financially secure, the products on offer are high risk and IG does offer investments that are not safe for capital preservation. IG offers financial spread betting and CFDs which are high-risk, high reward products.

High Net Worth Accounts

If you are a high-volume trader, you can also trade DMA with ProRealTime, and you can get level 2 pricing and trade directly on the exchange order book. This can be done on the IG trading app or by downloading the L2 dealer software. There is a cost of course, but if you do a few trades that is rebated back. Brokers have to pay the exchanges for providing level 2 data to their clients, so the charge is there to dissuade everyone signing up without trading. If you are really clever and have developed your own trading algorithm, you can plug that into IG’s platform too. Or MT4/MT5 which they also offer, if you’re into that sort of thing.

IG Community

There is a fairly active forum in the IG community, it’s not as quite as “social media feed” as some copy trading platforms, but there are a few thousand users chatting away and the IG staff get involved. As with other brokers, there is Autochartist, but they add value there, by having a “copy to order” function where you can execute the signal, but also add the stop and limit. You can then tinker with the pricing by moving the lines on the chart. On charting, IG are implementing logarithmic charting, one of their most requested features from traders.

Sticky Clients

A problem all brokers are desperate to address though is people losing money. It’s always been the case and previously was always anecdotally noted that only around 20% of people made money. The IG founder, even mentions this in his book, prior to it being a regulatory requirement to display in all marketing and on websites what percentage of clients lose money when trading spread betting and CFDs. A few brokers have implemented post-trade analytics, to help their clients try and win more. IG’s Trade Analytics tool does just that. It’s sole purpose is to try and help traders win more by getting a better understanding of where they profit and lose in the markets. It’s been developed in-house by IG, based on their analytics and to provide clarity.

James Perry IG’s Client Experience Manager told me “We desperately want our clients to win as the more they win, the longer they are going to be a client, and the more they are going to trade” as they make their money from commissions, financing and spreads, “as soon as they lose, they feel disenfranchise, sad and reduce trading volumes”.

I know this to be true from my own trading, when you’re on a winning run you trade more, when you can’t call the market right so step away until another day.

Investing, ETFs & Share Dealing

IG also, offer longer-term investing products, where you can buy and hold stocks, ETFs and funds in a stocks and shares ISA, or IG Smart Portfolio. They have a trading academy so they can learn through video and interactive courses. IG can see from their analytics that clients that use these, do become better traders. Along with their recent acquisition of DAILY FX (for $40m) they also offer live webinars to provide analysis and trading strategy.

you can invest and trade ETFs with IG. You have the option of either investing in the long term by buying ETFs in their general investment account, SIPP or ISA. Or you can speculate on them going up or down by going long or short via CFDs or financial spread bets. IG is not the cheapest place for investing in ETFs, (that is probably Interactive Brokers) but they do have very good customer service and a really easy to use ETF platform.

Overall, if you are going to trade, I would be surprised if you didn’t have an account with IG.

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

IG Awards

IG won best spread betting broker in our most recent 2023 awards and has won in the past:

  • 2023: Best Spread Betting Broker
  • 2022: Best Spread Betting Broker
  • 2021: Best Trading Platform
  • 2020: Best Spread Betting Broker & Best Professional Trading Account, Best All-Round Trading Platform
  • 2019: Best Forex Broker & Best Overall Broker
  • 2018: Best Spread Betting Broker & Best Overall Broker
@good_money_guide Looking for the top spread betting broker? Check out the winners of the 2023 Good Money Guide Award for Best Spread Betting Broker IG. #IG #goodmoneyguide #goodmoneyguideawards #trading #betting #spreadbetting #stocks ♬ original sound – Good Money Guide

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

IG Video Review

In this video, we test the IG trading platform and highlight some of the key added-value trading tools.

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

IG Facts & Figures

IG Total Markets
17,000
➡️Forex Pairs51
➡️Commodities38
➡️Indices34
➡️UK Stocks3925
➡️US Stocks6352
➡️ETFsOver 2000
IG Key Info
👉Number Active ClientsOver 313,000
💰Minimum Deposit250
❔Inactivity FeeYes – £12 per month
📅 Founded1974
ℹ️ Public Company✔️
🏢 Head OfficeLondon, UK
IG Account Types
➡️CFD Trading✔️
➡️Forex Trading✔️
➡️Spread Betting✔️
➡️DMA (Direct Market Access)✔️
➡️Futures Trading
➡️Options Trading
➡️Investing Account✔️
IG Average Fees
➡️FTSE 1001
➡️DAX 301.2
➡️DJIA2.4
➡️NASDAQ1
➡️S&P 5000.4
➡️EURUSD0.6
➡️GBPUSD0.9
➡️USDJPY0.7
➡️Gold0.3
➡️Crude Oil0.28
➡️UK Stocks0.1%
➡️US Stocks0.1%

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

IG Options Trading

Is IG options trading any good?

IG is betting big on options at the moment, particularly after their acquisition of TastyTrade in the US. IG has even taken over the advertising spots on The Drain (the Waterloo & City Tube Line) that ushers finance types to a square mile every morning, with the hope, I assume of enticing sophisticated traders to

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ISA Offers

Can you add an ISA to your IG trading account?

Yes, if you want to invest in shares, ETFs and pre-made portfolios in a tax-free wrapper, IG offer a stocks and shares ISA. If you want to combine your short-term trading with some longer-term investments you can have both on IG. If I’m completely honest there are better stand-alone investment platforms that offer ISAs like

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IG’s SIPP (Self-Invested Private Pensions)

Is IG’s SIPP (pension) any good?

Yes, a SIPP with IG costs £205 per year. There is also a custody fee of £24 a month, which reduces to £0 if you trade more than 3 times per quarter. There is zero commission on US share trades, and just £3 on UK share trades when you trade three or more times a month.

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IG Review 2024

IG add new limit options order types

IG has introduced Limits and Limit orders to its OTC, or over-the-counter options trading, which will be available to both CFD and spread betting clients using IG’s desktop platforms or the firm’s mobile trading apps. A limit can be thought of as the maximum or minimum price you are prepared to accept to achieve the

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IG

IG US Forex trading to be rebranded as tastyfx

Margin trading broker IG Group continues to reshape its US operations and has announced that it will rebrand its FX business. IG’s US FX business will be rebranded as tastyFX to fall in line with its other US operations Why tastyFX? IG Group bought tastytrade in 2021. The London-listed broker spent $1.0 billion on the

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IG’s Trading App

Is IG’s trading app any good?

IG is one of the best trading app for market range and DMA trading. It was nice to see that when I used the IG trading app I could also get access to trading signals from Autochartist with entry, exit and stop levels that can be executed on mobile with the signal data on the same screen

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IG’s Trading Platform

Is IG a good trading platform?

IG remains at the forefront of the online trading industry and has one of the best online trading platforms for new and experienced traders. I really like trading on IG’s platform and have done so for over 20 years now. As an experienced trader I find it very intuitive, but for new traders, it offers

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IG Review 2024

IG adds Tipranks to its trading platform

IG has added Tipranks to its platform. Tipranks is an Israeli-based fintech that specialises in financial data and tools that power smarter investment decision-making. Tipranks is probably best known for tracking broker recommendations, that is upgrades downgrades changes to target prices earnings forecasts etc. However the firm offers much more than that. Tipranks on IG On

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IG Review 2024

What is an IG demo account?

Demo Account IG’s demo lets you trade over 17,000 markets with a virtual £10k in a spread betting and CFD account with no expiry. IG Index‘s demo account lets you test out the broker formally known as IG Index’s spread betting and CFD trading platform. There is no cost to opening a demo account with

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IG Smart Portfolios

Are IG Smart Portfolios really that clever?

IG Group is probably best known as a provider of margin trading services be that FX, CFDs or Spread Betting, but they also acts as a stockbroker and fund manager and provide Smart Portfolios in conjunction with one of the world’s largest asset managers, Blackrock. What is an IG Smart Portfolio? The five IG smart

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IG Review 2024

IG bets on betting and appoints Breon Corcoran as new CEO

IG Group, who have been without a permanent CEO since June Felix stepped down for health reasons in the summer, have now made an appointment. The spread betting CFD and share trading brokerage has named Breon Corcoran as the new boss of the business. Though Mr Corcoran won’t take up the role until the end

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IG Group to cut 10% of its workforce

Margin trading giant IG Group is set to make significant job cuts to trim its cost base. IG Group has set out plans to cut as many as 300 jobs which it believes will allow it to make substantial cost savings. The proposed job losses would represent approximately 10% of the company’s workforce, as of

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IG Review 2024

Can you trade DMA commodities with IG?

No, IG do not offer direct market access to commodity futures. When you trade commodities with IG you are trading OTC CFDs or financial spread bets. If you want to trade DMA commodities you need a futures broker like Saxo Markets or Interactive Brokers. But with IG you can trade over 35 commodities or a

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IG Review 2024

Is IG a DMA broker with a professional trading account?

You can trade DMA with IG, but they only offer direct market access to equities. You can trade DMA shares with IG via IG markets as a CFD, but you cannot trade on exchange futures and options. If you want DMA access to futures exchanges, you will need a futures broker like Saxo or Interactive

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IG Review 2024

Is IG good for trading indices?

Yes, in fact IG was originally called IG Index (Investors Gold Index) and was one of the first brokers to let private individuals trade the financial markets. When they started off customers mainly traded the London stock market index (FTSE 100), but now IG clients can trade a market leading 80+ indices. Expert opinion: IG

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IG Review 2024

Is IG a good for CFD trading?

Yes, IG is one of the best CFD trading platforms as they offer a huge range of markets to trade and DMA access for more sophisticated traders. Also, because IG offers CFDs globally (with the exception of the US) they have a huge amount of volume and liquidity meaning that sometimes you can place bigger

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IG

Does IG work with MT4?

Yes, you can use MT4 with IG, but you are limited to only a few markets. If you are going to use MT4 as your main trading platform specialist MT4 brokers like Pepperstone give you access to more markets. However, one of the key advantages to trading on MT4 with IG is their experienced development

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IG

Can you trade forex with IG in the UAE?

Yes, you can trade forex in the UAE with IG as they are regulated by the DFSA and have a local office in Dubai. Expert opinion: IG reviewed & rated Richard BerryRichard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With

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IG

Is CFD trading with IG allowed in the UAE?

Yes, you can trade CFDs in the UAE with IG as they are regulated by the DFSA and have a local office in Dubai.   Richard BerryRichard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades

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IG

Can you buy ETFs with IG & how much do they cost?

Yes, you can invest and trade ETFs with IG. You have the option of either investing in the long term by buying ETFs in their general investment account, SIPP or ISA. Or you can speculate on them going up or down by going long or short via CFDs or financial spread bets. IG is not

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IG Review 2024

What is an IG share dealing account?

With IG you can deal in over 13,000+ shares, funds and investment trusts with zero commission on US shares, and just £3 on UK shares1, with a foreign exchange fee of just 0.5%. You can also deal on a limited amount US shares while the market is closed. An IG share dealing account is different

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The Small Exchange

IG Group is re-acquiring The Small Exchange

IG Group is buying The Small Exchange, a futures exchange in which IG previously held a stake from Foris Dax Markets Inc, the parent of Crypto.com. IG disposed of its interest at the same time that it announced its intention to acquire US-based options broker and educator, Tastytrade. A deal that concluded in July 2022.

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IG Group

IG Group rewards its refer a friend promotion

IG Group has enhanced its refer-a-friend promotion and is now offering a £50 reward to customers who introduce friends to their stocks and share ISA accounts. ISA accounts allow savers to invest up to £20,000 per annum in a government-approved tax-free wrapper. The 2023 ISA deadline is the end of the tax year, 5th April

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IG Group

IG Group to split investment and trading accounts into separate entities

IG Group has written to its investing and share dealing customers regarding a change of entity, under which the business that houses and administrates unleveraged investment and share trading activities, will change from IG Markets to a newly formed, but wholly-owned subsidiary of IG Group, called IG Trading and Investment Limited. IG Trading and Investment

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IG Group

RBC Upgrades IG Group despite a less than Tastytrade

The European arm of Royal Bank of Canada, RBC Capital Markets, has published a research note on spread betting broker IG Group and the bank’s analysts like what they see. What is RBC saying about IG Group? RBC’s base case is that IG Group is fundamentally undervalued at its current level, the shares were trading

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IG Group

IG Group updated the market on its third quarter trading and revenues

IG Group, the largest of the UK listed online trading platform published its third-quarter revenue update this week. What information was contained in the report? The report provided the markets with an insight into the current performance of the business, as it covered the period up until the 28th of February, which represents the third

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IG Group

IG active clients up by 42% to 320,400 from Tastytrade aquisition

IG Group, the UK’s largest margin trading and Spread Betting broker published interim results this week, that covered the 6 months to the 30th of November 2021. IG Revenue up 16% The figures showed a net revenue increase of +16.0% to £471.90 million, which compares to the £408.50 million the company earned in the corresponding

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IG launches Signal Centre

IG Group, the UK’s largest margin trading broker has partnered with Signal Centre to offer new online trade ideas and signals service. IG – winner of our award for best spread betting broker in 2020 and 2018 is has increased it’s added value offering again. Read our full review of IG’s trading platform here What

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IG share price moves higher on positive RBC research note

IG group recently updated the market on its first-quarter revenues, in the financial year 2022. That covered the period to the 31st of August 2021. IG Share price news The IG Share price moved higher today as IG reported revenues of £227.50 million and adjusted net trading revenue of £221.7 million. A figure that was

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IG Group take as a billion-dollar bet on TastyTrade

IG Group announced its intention to buy TastyTrade a US options brokerage and educational business with operations in Chicago, Australia and shortly Canda, with users around the globe. IG published interim figures yesterday that covered the first 6-months trading, in the financial year 2021. The numbers reflected the growth in trading volumes and client numbers

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IG Group

IG Group enjoys an Indian Summer

CFD broker IG Group released its Q1 2021 trading update this morning and the numbers suggest that there has been a continuation of the strong trading that the group enjoyed during the lockdown period. Revenues from the group’s OTC trading businesses, which includes FX, CFDs, and Spreadbetting were higher by +59.0% than for the same

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Trading AIM Stocks

Can I trade AIM stocks with IG?

A reader asks: Can I trade AIM stocks with IG? The short answer is yes you can trade AIM (Alternative Investment Market) stocks through IG. We’ve already covered the best ways to spread bet on AIM stocks, but with IG you can trade AIM stocks through spread betting and CFD trading. The main advantage of

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IG Group launches a new Prime Brokerage operation – IG Prime

IG Group, the leading CFD, Margin Trading and Spread Betting provider, has announced the launch of a new service aimed squarely at institutional customers, High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) and their families. The new division is called IG Prime and as the name suggests it will offer Prime Brokerage services to organisations such as Hedge

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Does IG provide NASDAQ trading

Does IG provide NASDAQ trading?

Does IG provide NASDAQ trading? Yes, IG Group certainly does offer Nasdaq trading. IG offers CFDs and Spread Bets on the Nasdaq 100 index (sometimes known as the US 100 index) that tracks the performance of the top 100 US listed technology shares and prices in US 100 tech index are quoted by IG 24

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IG launches Turbo 24s Warrants for European Traders

As IG launches Turbo 24s, it’s often said that necessity is the mother of invention, that is good ideas spring up in the darkest of times. The last year has been a torrid one for the margin trading and spread betting industry, change has been forced upon them and participants have had to adapt or

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Cryptocurrency Indices – IG and CMC Markets compared…

Please note that since this article was written the FCA has banned retail traders from trading cryptocurrency derivatives. If you would like to speculate on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies you need to use a cryptocurrency exchange or professional trading account. The rise of Bitcoin has led to a wave of new crypto-based products, such as the

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June Yee Felix takes the helm of IG as new CEO

IG, the broking behemoth that has moved up through the ranks of spread betting broker, to CFD broker, to mini prime broker to stockbroker, to robowealth manager to whatever comes next…. (payments maybe?) has appointed June Yee Felix as the new CEO. June Felix replaces the previous CEO Peter Hetherington who stepped down in in September this year.

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IG adds EOS, Stellar XLM and NEO to it’s range of cryptocurrencies

IG, the world leading in spread betting and CFD trading has added three new cryptocurrencies. EOS, Stellar (XLM) and NEO are available to clients via CFDs or spread bet. To compare IG’s crypto dealing offering to other CFD and spread bet brokers you can compare bitcoin CFD brokers and other cryptocurrency brokers here. Maring rates

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IG welcomes news that complaints against Spread Betting firms have fallen

IG  has welcomed news that complaints against financial spread betting brokers are falling. The Financial Ombudsman has announced a dramatic decline in the number of complaints levied against financial spread betting firms. While the total number of complaints against the financial industry increased by approximately 50,000 spread betting moved the other way. A spokesperson is

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IG Index Apple Watch

IG withdraws Apple watch app for spread betting and CFDs

The word from spread betting broker IG is that after taking a broad overview of their clientele, the use of the Apple Watch app wasn’t sufficient to justify continuing with it. The Apple Watch app for IG Group Holdings was launched a little over two years ago, but now the company has confirmed that solution

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You can now take part in IPOs with IG

IG, who have recently moved into the investment space with the launch of their share dealing and ISA accounts have now made it possible to buy into IPOs. For what we think of here’s our IG trading platform review. This puts them in direct competition with established stock brokers like Barclays, TD Direct, Interactive Investors

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IG rolls out a better, cheaper MT4 package

  IG, widely regarded as the best MT4 broker and certainly the largest in the UK has released details of a new package for MT4 customers. IG sent a circular to clients stating: Our MetaTrader 4 package now features lower spreads, better technology and more choice than ever before. That means you can trade EUR/USD

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A quick look at what IG has to offer

IG Spreads, Commission and Financing Costs The major instruments are consistently competitive all the way down to the more illiquid stocks and assets classes. Indices like the FTSE 100 spread betting spreads and CFD charges are are 1 pip with margins at 0.5%, pretty standard For Forex they have some razor tight spreads though offering 0.6 pips on EURUSD

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IG launches partial fills for big spread betting traders

One of the biggest frustrations for big spread betting traders is not getting filled on a order and getting it rejected.  it can results in loss of profits or note being able to cut a loss making position quickly.  Unlike CFD trading where you have the option of trading direct on the underlying exchanges, until

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IG FAQs:

IG has over 313,000 clients worldwide and is one of the latest online trading platforms globally

IG’s share dealing account is one of the cheapest of all the major stock brokers in the UK. You can buy UK shares from £3 per trade and there is no commission for buying US stocks.

Yes, you can trade gold on IG, through ETFs, CFD or spread bets. In fact, IG started off being called Investors Gold Index with a focus on making gold markets.

Yes, IG’s trading platform is ranked by us as one of the best in the UK. IG’s trading platform is specifically good for high volume traders that require deep liquidity.

Yes, IG offers around 51 forex pairs to trade and you can also invest in currencies by buying FX rate tracking ETFs.

IG Index was the previous full name of Investors Gold Index before they shortened it to IG. IG Index, was the pioneer of the spread betting industry.

IG Markets has the same spreads as IG Index. The difference is that IG Index offers spread betting to UK customers where as IG Markets offers CFD trading globally (except in America) to retail and professional traders.

IG offers spread betting, CFDs, forex and investing accounts through IG Markets.

IG was founded and is still based in London. Their current offices are in the heart of the City of London. IG’s London address is: Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2YA

Yes, IG offers a share dealing ISA where you can pick your own shares and also a Smart Portfolio ISA where you buy into a pre-made portfolio that contains a diverse range of investments and is ranked by risk.

IG’s client sentiment shows how many traders are long or short in a market. It can be used as either a leading or contrarian indicator depending on whether or not you agree with crowd investing mentality.

IG is one of the most competitively priced trading platforms. IG spread sin major markets are often marketing leading. For example, they offer some of the tightest spreads for GBPUSD trading. They are also one of the cheapest brokers for holding positions overnight.

Further reading: Overnight Financing Explained: What is it and is it important?

Yes, In the UK IG Group and IG Markets is regulated by the FCA so if they go bust your money (up to £85k) is protected by the FSCS. However, your money is not safe from you making bad investment decisions or picking a bad trader to copy trade.

No. There are no withdrawal fees for taking money out of your IG account.

No, you do not have to pay tax on profits if you are spread betting or have a stocks and shares ISA account with IG. However, if you have a CFD or share dealing account, you will have to pay tax.

Yes. IG will charge you a monthly inactive fee of £12 if you do not use your account for two years. Once your account balance reaches zero you will no longer have to pay this fee.

Yes IG does have a SIPP account where you can invest in individual shares or their Smart Portfolios. IG partner with Options UK Personal Pensions LLP who are an independent pension administration company providing specialist pension services and products to the UK market. The trustee of the IG SIPP is MK SIPP Trustees UK Ltd.

IG’s level-2 dealer is a trading platform that lets you trade with direct market access. Unlike normal IG spread betting and CFD accounts you are charged commission post-trade as you can work orders inside the market bid/offer spread.

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.
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