Yes, you can trade CFDs or contracts for difference with Interactive Brokers, but you have to go through some quite arduous suitability tests to ensure that you understand the risks involved.
IBKR offers CFD trading on around 5,200 markets including 100 forex pairs, 20 commodities, 13 indices, and thousands of international stocks. I’ve traded through IBKR a fair bit and there is no doubt that Interactive Brokers CFD offering is one of the best around.
Overall, Interactive Brokers is one of the best CFD brokers, most appropriate for experienced and sophisticated CFD traders. But it also has lighter versions of it’s platforms for newer traders that may want to stick with one platform as they become more experienced.
- CFD markets available:Â 7,000
- Minimum deposit: £2,000
- Account types:Â CFDs, DMA, futures & options, investing
- Equity overnight financing:Â 1.5% +/- SONIA
- CFD pricing:Â Shares 0.02%, FTSE 0.005%, GBPUSD 0.0008%
Whilst Interactive Brokers does not offer the most CFD markets, they do offer one of the best ways to trade them. With IBKR CFDs you can trade with direct market access (DMA) on the exchange so you can place your orders directly on the order book at better prices than the bid/offer. The commission is charged post-trade so you get clean prices with no mark-up and IBKRs commission rates (added post trade) are the best around. Commission on UK stocks is 0.02% and 0.003% on US stocks.
In reality, CFD brokers with the most markets are those that offer access to small or illiquid stocks which are probably not suitable for CFD trading anyway. But IBKR offers access to the majority of stocks and markets most traders could need.
You can also trade CFDs with the most types of order execution with IBKR. For instance, VWAP, pairs trading, time and price-sensitive order entry. These tools are most suited to professional and very high-volume traders, or hedge funds that are working very large orders and don’t want to scare the market. Most retail CFD traders will have no need for them, but it is representative of IBKRs overall service in that it provides an exceptional institutional-grade CFD platform to retail clients.
Compare Interactive Brokers to other CFD trading platforms below:
| CFD Broker | Markets Available | Minimum Deposit | GMG Rating | More Info | Risk Warning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 12,000 | £100 | See Platform | 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 1,200 | £1 | See Platform | 75.3% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 10,000 | £1 | See Platform | 64% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 2,000 | £100 | See Platform | 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. | |
 | 17,000 | £250 | See Platform | 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider. | |
 | 9,000 | £1 | See Platform | 65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 2,976 | $50 | See Platform | 51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money | |
 | 7,000 | £1 | See Platform | 62.5% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 12,000 | £1 | See Platform | 68% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 5,000 | £1 | See Platform | 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. | |
 | 2,100 | £1 | See Platform | 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider | |
 | 3,981 | £10 | See Platform | 66.95% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider |
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Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
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