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Risk Warning: Your Capital is at Risk.

Overview

IG is an online broker that offers four types of trading products, namely CFDs, spreadbetting, barriers, and vanilla options. As a subsidiary of public company IG Group Plc, IG has been in operation since 1974.

The company offers Contracts for Difference (CFDs), derivatives securities without actual ownership of the asset, on a variety of products. These include forex, indices, shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, options, interest rates, and bonds.

With over 40 years of experience as a broker, IG has been re-regulated after the company underwent scrutiny with ESMA following a failure to comply in 2018. IG is now back online and accepting both retail, professional, and institutional account holders.

This IG review gives readers a thorough overview of the broker’s services and platform.

IG Essential Information

History of IG

Here is a brief timeline of IG's history as a brokerage firm:

1974 – Founded by Stuart Wheeler, offering spreadbetting on gold

1998 – Established the first online spreadbetting platform

2002 – Opened first overseas office in Australia

2015 – Developed the first trading app for the Apple Watch

2017 – Launched a new customizable platform for beginners and seasoned traders

2018 – Launched a Swiss bank in Zurich (also one in Geneva in 2014)

IG Group has its headquarters in London, United Kingdom, and sales offices in 15 other countries, with a recently obtained license to open an office in China.

See IG Group's regulatory licenses here.

Shares of IG's parent company, IG Group plc, are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange. As a public company, IG Group must make full disclosures about its financial health.

Where Does IG Operate?

IMPORTANT: CFDs are not available in the USA due to local regulation, and regulated brokers do not accept US citizens or US residents as clients.

IG operates globally across five continents. The major countries served by IG include:

Some of the countries served by IG Denmark

Germany

Spain

France

Ireland

Italia

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Norway

Austria

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Switzerland

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States ( Important : CFDs are banned in the US)

: CFDs are banned in the US) Australia

Japan

Singapore

South Africa

United Arab Emirates

Banned countries include Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Turkey, and Brazil.

IG offers different products in different countries, so traders may wish to contact customer support to confirm the type of trading they can do. The support team is available via email, phone, live chat, and Twitter.

Languages: English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.

Who Is IG Regulated By?

IG offers a regulated environment for trading financial instruments. As a global operator, the broker receives regulatory oversight from many agencies.

In 2018, the IG Group suffered a ban due to a failure to comply with the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) newly introduced legislation. The company has since bounced back, is fully regulated and offers products to customers worldwide.

Each company within the IG Group is subject to regulation by the appropriate bodies in the territory where it operates.

IG must also adhere to regulation and legislation relating to technology, the provision of internet services, and use of the internet.

All Regulatory Licenses Held by IG Group

The IG Group has several subsidiaries with multiple licenses worldwide, including the following.

IG Markets Limited (UK Company, no. 04008957) licensed by:

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – No. 195355

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) – No. 200510021K

Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) – No. C109565

Register of Community Investment Companies (Italy) – No. 06233800967

Autorité des Marchés Financiers and Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Resolution (Banque de France) – No. 18343

Finansinspektionen (Sweden) – No. 516405-3430

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – No. AFSL 220440

Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – No. FSP 18923

IG Index Limited (UK Company, no. 01190902) licensed by:

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – No. 114059

Gambling Commission (UK) – No. 066-002628-R-103649-002

Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) – No. C111543

Other Licenses

The IG Group owns several companies, too.

IG Bank S.A. (Switzerland, Geneva, no. CH-660-3073013-1) licensed by the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority

(Switzerland, Geneva, no. CH-660-3073013-1) licensed by the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority IG Asia Pte Limited (Singapore) licensed by: Monetary Authority of Singapore – No. CMS100049-5 International Enterprise Singapore – No. IGA/CBL/2015

(Singapore) licensed by: IG Securities Limited (Japan) licensed by: Japanese Financial Services Authority – No. Chief of Kanto Local Finance Bureau (Kinsyo) 255 Ministry of Energy, Trade, and Industry – No. 20161108 syo 10 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries – No. MAFF Order 28 syokusan 3988

(Japan) licensed by: North American Derivatives Exchange Inc (Delaware, US) overseen by the CFTC

(Delaware, US) overseen by the CFTC IG Markets South Africa Limited licensed by the Financial Services Board – No. FSP No 41393

licensed by the Financial Services Board – No. FSP No 41393 IG Limited (Dubai) licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority – No. F001780

IG has similar regulatory oversight in the other regions where it operates.

What Can You Trade With IG?

IG clients have access to over 16,000 markets worldwide. The four products offered by IG are:

CFDs – includes all of the below asset classes

Spread betting – includes all of the below asset classes

Vanilla options – indices, forex, commodities

Barriers – indices, forex, commodities, and shares

Traders wanting to trade options and barriers use a separate platform to those looking to spread bet or trade CFDs.

Here is a comparison of the products and markets offered by IG alongside two other leading online brokers, Plus500 and AvaTrade:

Markets Products Minimum Deposit Maximum Leverage IG Index CFDs, Spread Betting, Barriers, Vanilla Options Indices,

Forex,

Shares,

Bonds,

Commodities,

Cryptocurrencies,

Options,

Interest Rates $/£/€300 50:1 Plus500 CFDs, Options CFDs Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Shares, Indices, ETFs, Options, Forex $/£/€100 30:1 AvaTrade CFDs, Forex Indices, Shares, Bonds, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs $/£/€100 30:1

Below is an overview of the trading products offered by IG.

Indices

Customers can place trades in cash indices, futures indices, indices denominated in GBP, and micro indices, which have smaller contract sizes.

See All IG Index Indices FTSE 350 Industrial Transportation

FTSE 350 Life Insurance

FTSE 350 Media

FTSE 350 Mining

FTSE 350 Non-life Insurance

FTSE 350 Oil Equipment and Services

FTSE 350 Oil and Gas Producers

FTSE 350 Personal Goods

FTSE 350 Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

FTSE 350 Real Estate Investment Trusts

FTSE 350 Software and Computer Services

FTSE 350 Support Services

FTSE 350 Tobacco

FTSE 350 Travel and Leisure

FTSE Mid 250

Germany Mid-Cap 50

Germany Tech 30

Greece 25

Hungary 12

India 50

Italy 40

Malaysia 30

Netherlands 25

Norway 25

Portugal 20

Taiwan Index

Techmark

Shares

IG clients can trade more than 12,000 international shares CFDs. Traders receive the dividends for share CFDs that are long. In addition, traders have the ability to short shares in many cases.

See Popular IG Index Shares US : American Airlines Group Inc, Tesla Motors Inc, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Splunk Inc

: American Airlines Group Inc, Tesla Motors Inc, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Splunk Inc UK : Bank of Ireland, CRH PLC (LSE), BT Group PLC, Tullow Oil PLC, Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE)

: Bank of Ireland, CRH PLC (LSE), BT Group PLC, Tullow Oil PLC, Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE) South Africa : EOH Holdings LTD, ADvTECH Limited, ACI Ltd, Absa Bank Limited, Absa Group Limited

: EOH Holdings LTD, ADvTECH Limited, ACI Ltd, Absa Bank Limited, Absa Group Limited Germany : Wirecard AG, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Daimler AG, thyssenkrupp AG, TUI AG

: Wirecard AG, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Daimler AG, thyssenkrupp AG, TUI AG Italy : Mediobanca SpA, A2A SpA, ACEA SpA, AS Roma SpA, ASTM SpA

: Mediobanca SpA, A2A SpA, ACEA SpA, AS Roma SpA, ASTM SpA Portugal: EDP – Energias de Portugal SA, Altri SGPS SA, BANIF – Banco Internacional do Funchal SA, Banco BPI SA, Banco Comercial Portugues SA

Forex

IG's most popular forex markets include EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY. Here is the complete list of forex products traders can trade on the platform.

See All IG Forex Pairs Major Pairs: AUD/USD

EUR/CHF

EUR/GBP

EUR/JPY

EUR/USD

GBP/EUR

GBP/USD

US Dollar Basket

USD/CAD

USD/CHF

USD/JPY Minor Pairs: CAD/CHF

CAD/JPY

CHF/JPY

EUR/CAD

EUR/SGD

EUR/ZAR

GBP/CAD

GBP/CHF

GBP/SGD

GBP/JPY

GBP/ZAR

INR/JPY

SGD/JPY

USD/HKD

USD/SGD

USD/ZAR Australasian: AUD/CAD

AUD/CHF

AUD/EUR

AUD/GBP

AUD/JPY

AUD/NZD

AUD/SGD

EUR/AUD

EUR/NZD

GBP/AUD

GBP/NZD

NZD/AUD

NZD/CHF

NZD/EUR

NZD/GBP

NZD/JPY

NZD/USD

NZD/CAD Scandinavian: CAD/NOK

CHF/NOK

EUR/DKK

EUR/NOK

EUR/SEK

GBP/DKK

GBP/NOK

GBP/SEK

NOK/JPY

NOK/SEK

SEK/JPY

USD/DKK

USK/NOK

USD/SEK Exotic: CHF/HUF

EUR/CZK

EUR/HUF

EUR/MXN

EUR/PLN

EUR/TRY

GBP/CZK

GBP/HUF

GBP/MXN

GBP/PLN

GBP/TRY

MXN/JPY

PLN/JPY

USD/CZK

USD/HUF

USD/MXN

USD/PLN

USD/TRY Emerging: AUD/CNH

BRL/JPY

CAD/CNH

CNH/JPY

EUR/CNH

EUR/RUB

GBP/CNH

GBP/INR

NZD/CNH

TRY/JPY

TRY/JPY

USD/BRL

USD/CNH

USD/IDR

USD/INR

USD/KRW

USD/PHP

USD/RUB

USD/THB

USD/TWD Metals: Spot Gold

Spot Platinum

Spot Silver

XPD/USD Note: BRL – Brazilian real

CNH – Chinese renminbi (yuan) – offshore

IDR – Indonesian rupiah

INR – Indian rupee

KRW – South Korean won

MYR – Malaysian ringgit

PHP – Philippine peso

RUB – Russian rouble

TWD – Taiwan dollar

Commodities

IG customers can place trades via CFDs on the following commodities groups.

Bonds and Rates

IG offers a selection of government bonds and global interest rates for traders.

See All Bonds and Rates Bonds: French OAT

German Bobl

German Bund

German Buxl

German Schatz

Italian BTP

Italian BTS

Japanese Government Bond

UK Long Gilt

US 10-Year T-Note

US 2-Year T-Note

US 5-Year T-Note

US Treasury Bond

US Ultra Treasury Bond Rates: 3-month Eurodollar

Australian 30-Day Interbank Rate

Euribor

Short Sterling

US 30-Day Fed Funds Rate

Cryptocurrencies

IG offers a total of 11 cryptocurrencies for traders, including major ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Other Products

IG Index offers other categories of trading products too, namely:

Digital 100s – Binary (yes or no) volatility bets on different markets

– Binary (yes or no) volatility bets on different markets Vanilla Options – Traders can buy or sell CFDs on options on indices, commodities, and currencies.

– Traders can buy or sell CFDs on options on indices, commodities, and currencies. IPOs – Traders can speculate on prices of companies that are about to go public

– Traders can speculate on prices of companies that are about to go public Sectors – Traders can speculate on strength or weakness in a particular sector. IG offers 35 UK and Australian sectors including banking, mining, and retailing.

– Traders can speculate on strength or weakness in a particular sector. IG offers 35 UK and Australian sectors including banking, mining, and retailing. ETPs (Exchange Traded Products) – Traders can buy or sell CFDs on instruments that track another investment instrument such as commodities, currencies, share prices or interest rates

– Traders can buy or sell CFDs on instruments that track another investment instrument such as commodities, currencies, share prices or interest rates ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) – Bundles of securities across a variety of asset classes.

In addition to CFDs, IG also offers spreadbetting on a variety of products. Spreadbetting is similar to CFDs, but instead of standard contract size, traders can choose the amount they wager for each incremental move.

Note: Spreadbetting is tax-free to UK residents.

IG Account Types and Requirements

IG customers choose a retail account based on the type of instruments they intend to trade. Traders can open a CFD trading account, spreadbetting account or share dealing account. A share dealing account allows traders to buy and sell the actual shares of companies without using CFDs.

Traders who want access to all of these instruments can open an account that combines all three.

Opening a live account is free and clients can start trading after making a minimum deposit of $/£/€300 or equivalent.

All traders can also open a free demo account to practice working with financial instruments. Demo accounts begin with £10,000 in virtual funds and allow traders to test strategies both on a desktop platform and with IG mobile apps.

Professional Account

IG offers a professional account option to traders with a portfolio of over $/£/€500,000, at least one year of experience in the financial sector, and a regular trading history.

The benefits of an IG Pro account are:

Lower margins (up to 90%)

More available products

Cash rebates

That said, professional traders lose negative balance protection and beginner-targeted tutorials.

Traders with a professional account get the following margins:

Major Forex and Indices – 1:222

Gold – 1:158

Other Commodities – 1:74

Cryptocurrencies – 1:22

Equities – 1:22

Sign-Up and Verification

Signing up for a demo requires only an e-mail and a password. However, when traders want to open a live account, the registration requires more details and the account must be verified. Here is a simple explanation of the process:

After you click the green Create Account button on their website, IG asks you a few questions:

Your personal details Which products you want to trade in your account (spreadbetting, CFDs or shares) Your financial status Your trading experience

These questions prompt traders to demonstrate that they understand the trading products and the risks associated with them — they do not imply criteria.

During the account opening process, traders can choose whether they want a CFD account, a spreadbetting account or a share account.

After completing this information, traders are asked to submit additional information to verify their identity. Traders can choose from one of the following three options:

Passport Two government-issued photo IDs One government-issued photo ID and one utility bill or bank statement

Fees Overview: Deposits and Withdrawals

IG makes money as a business by charging particular fees. Traders should be aware of these fees to avoid any unwanted charges.

Deposits and withdrawals can be made via:

Credit/debit cards (Processing time: 2 to 5 days)

Bank transfers (Processing time: Up to 3 days)

PayPal (Processing time: Up to 24 hours)

There are various minimum and maximum withdrawal limits for different methods and currencies.

See All Withdrawal Limits Minimum Withdrawal Maximum Withdrawal Maximum Withdrawal PayPal and Card PayPal (Per transaction) Card (Per day) GBP 100 5500 20000 EUR 150 7000 25000 AUD 200 7500 35000 CAD 200 7500 35000 CHF 150 7500 25000 USD 150 7500 49999 NZD 200 n/a 35000 SGD 200 9000 35000 PLN 600 n/a n/a DKK 1000 45000 180000 NOK 1250 45000 180000 SEK 1250 45000 200000 HKD 1250 50000 300000 ZAR 2000 50000 n/a JPY 20000 50000 n/a

Here is a full list of additional charges traders may incur with IG:

Fee Type Explanation Deposit Fee 1% - Visa Credit Card,

0.5% - MasterCard Credit Card,

£15 - Same day transfers under £100 (or equivalent),

Free - Debit Cards and PayPal. Withdrawal Fee £15 - Same day transfers under £100 (or equivalent),

Free - all other methods. Currency Conversion Charge 0.5 spread (for Options and CFDs traded in a currency other than the account's base currency). Knock-Out and Guaranteed Stop Loss Barriers - Part of the overall trading premium,

CFDs - Part of the margin (the sum is displayed on the deal ticket). Overnight Funding Additional charge for funding positions to stay open overnight (See the formulas to calculate IG's overnight fees). Inactivity Fee £12 per month if no dealing activity has occurred for two years or more (only applicable for accounts with a positive balance). ProRealTime Charts £30/month (reimbursed if four or more significant trades are placed per month). Account Documentation Fee £50 for accounts that have not supplied a mandatory W-8 or W-9 form prior to ex-dividend date on a US-incorporated stock. Only applies to accounts entering into these trades. Direct Market Access (DMA) Unspecified monthly exchange fee to access live DMA prices for selected shares. Live Price Data Feeds Unspecified fee for obtaining live price feeds from exchanges.

Overnight Funding Fees

IG charges traders who keep positions open past 11PM CET. This applies to barriers, daily funded bets, and cash CFDs.

The funds are deducted from the trader's account automatically. Alongside the overnight funding fees, additional administrative charges may apply on a yearly basis.

See Overnight Funding Fee Formulas Barriers: Forex: number of contracts * current tom-next rate Indices: Nights held * (market closing price * trade size * (admin fee +/- LIBOR)) / 365 Commodities: nights held x (trade size x (basis +/- IG charge)) Spreadbetting and CFDs: Forex: nights held x (tom next* rate including annual admin fee**) x trade size Indices: Nights held x (market closing price x trade size x (admin fee +/- LIBOR)) / 365 Commodities: nights held x (trade size x (basis +/- IG charge)) Shares: nights held x (market closing price x trade size x (2.5% +/- LIBOR)) / 365 Formula for the basis = (P3 – P2) / (T2 – T1) P2 = price of front future P3 = price of next future T1 = expiry date of the previous front future T2 = expiry date of the front future

IG Spreads and Commissions

IG traders pay a spread on every trade. Spreads are not fixed, and the exact spreads depend on the time of day the trade is placed.

Market spreads also vary based on whether the CFDs are cash CFDs, or futures/forwards products. Traders should refer to the IG website for up-to-date details.

More, traders pay commissions on every share CFD and also on share trades. The minimum spreads for some of the most popular products are shown below.

See Popular Market Spreads Vanilla Options (Daily Spreads) Market: FTSE 100 — Spread: 3-4

Market: Wall Street — Spread: 4-5

Market: US 500 — Spread: 0.5-1

Market: Spain 35 — Spread: 3-4 Indices (Cash CFDs) Market: FTSE 100 — Min. Spread: 1

Market: Wall Street — Min. Spread: 2.4

Market: Germany 30 — Min. Spread: 1.2

Market: Australia 200 — Min. Spread: 1 Forex (Cash CFDs) Market: EUR/USD — Min. Spread: 0.6

Market: AUD/USD — Min. Spread: 0.6

Market: EUR/GBP — Min. Spread: 0.9

Market: GBP/USD — Min. Spread: 0.9 Commodities (Cash CFDs) Market: Spot Gold — Min. Spread: 0.3

Market: Spot Silver — Min. Spread: 2

Market: US Crude Oil — Min. Spread: 2.8

Market: Brent Crude Oil — Min. Spread: 2.8 Cryptocurrencies (Cash CFDs) Market: Bitcoin — Min. Spread: 40

Market: Bitcoin Cash — Min. Spread: 2.5

Market: Ethereum — Min. Spread: 2

Market: Ripple — Min. Spread: 0.6

Commissions on Shares

When traders trade cash CFDs with shares, IG charges the following fees per country's market and product:

Share Category Commission Minimum charge (online) Minimum charge (phone) UK 0.1% £10 £10 US 2 cents/share $15 $25 Euro* 0.1% €10 €25 Italy 0.1% €5 €5 Denmark 0.1% 100 DKK 250 DKK Norway 0.1% 100 NOK 250 NOK Sweden 0.1% 99 SEK 250 SEK Switzerland 0.1% 10 CHF 25 CHF Greece 0.475% €25 €40 Australia 0.1% A$8 A$8 Singapore 0.1% S$15 S$15 Japan 0.2% 1500 JPY 2500 JPY Hong Kong 0.25% HK$100 HK$100 South Africa 0.2% 100 ZAR 100 ZAR Canada 3 cents/share 25 CAD 25 CAD International Order Book (IOB) 0.15% $15 $25 New Zealand 0.1% NZ$8 NZ$8

*Euro includes: Belgium, Eire, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain

Margin Requirements and Margin Calls

IG margin requirements allow traders to trade on a margin of up to 1:30 on some products.

However, traders who use excessive leverage on trades risk getting margin calls and having their positions closed prematurely.

IG notifies traders by email when they fall 99% below the required margin.

Traders receive a second email when equity falls below 75% of the IG margin requirements. IG automatically closes a trader’s position if the equity falls below 50% of the required margin.

IG Mobile Platform Review

You can download IG's mobile app from Google Play for Android devices and the App Store for iOS devices.

This review is based on the Android app — some differences may apply to the iOS version.

Markets and Watchlists

After you log in, you're presented with a default watchlist of popular markets — this is one of the three primary tabs at the bottom of your trading app.

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

By clicking on the top menu's arrow next to ‘Watchlists', you can begin to add markets and products of your choice to keep track of. Assets can be added to a watchlist by tapping the ‘star'.

Asset browsing is difficult to find at first. As traders tap the ‘search' icon, the market categories are presented as suggestions through which traders can browse products freely. The main product categories are split into sub-categories.

Overall, asset browsing has poorer navigation compared to other mobile apps like City Index and Plus500, but it does the job.

Executing Trades

The trade execution window has the exact same feature-set as the desktop counterpart. When buying or selling, traders must define compulsory and optional trading criteria.

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

The types of trades are presented as a slider on the top half of the screen, where traders can navigate between six tabs:

Market details: contains a charting feature along with market statistics

New deal: contains the trade execution tab with trade configurations

New order: trade execution for future orders

Set alert: alert management for the chosen asset

News: analytics and news from relevant outlets to that particular asset

Market info: an aggregation of statistics and good-to-knows about the chosen asset

Position Management

Traders can manage positions via the ‘Trades' tab. Each position and order are listed in separate tabs, along with closed positions where traders can navigate past contracts.

Open positions have immediate indicators like stop/loss limits, the live asset price, and a live profit/loss indicator.

Account Funding and Settings

The third tab, ‘Accounts', allows traders to configure account settings and deposit funds.

Funds can also be transferred between different account types, namely the Options/Barriers account and the CFDs/Spreadbetting account.

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

The mobile accounts section is well organized and simple to navigate. Support and learning material is directly accessible. All trading and transaction history can likewise be viewed.

Accounts can be funded by tapping the ‘Add Funds' button in the mobile accounts section.

IG's Responsive Web Trader

Alongside the apps available at the Google Play and App Stores, IG also offers a responsive web trading platform where users can access IG accounts via their web browser of preference.

Traders who value quality mobile trading could find Plus500 and AvaTrade suitable alternatives brokers to consider.

Markets Products Minimum Deposit Maximum Leverage IG Index CFDs, Spread Betting, Barriers, Vanilla Options Indices,

Forex,

Shares,

Bonds,

Commodities,

Cryptocurrencies,

Options,

Interest Rates $/£/€300 50:1 Plus500 CFDs, Options CFDs Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Shares, Indices, ETFs, Options, Forex $/£/€100 30:1 AvaTrade CFDs, Forex Indices, Shares, Bonds, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs $/£/€100 30:1

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 73.0%-89.0% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

IG Desktop Platform Review

Upon logging in, traders are presented with a choice of two platform types — a CFDs/Spreadbetting platform, and an Options platform. The two are fundamentally the same in infrastructure, with minor differences in layout and available functionalities.

The CFDs and Options platforms can be navigated via the upper right hand menu.

Note: In this platform review, we refer to the CFD/Spreadbetting platform.

The ‘Workspace'

The main page contains panels with search functions, instrument prices, trading positions, charts, trading tickets, watch lists, and alerts. Traders can drag, drop, and resize these panels to customize their trading experience. IG refers to this as the ‘workspace.'

This video is an official IG trading platform tutorial. This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

The search panel in the upper left is the tool traders will use most to locate new instruments to trade. Directly underneath is a list of market categories.

Traders can access lists of instruments by clicking on the categories. Then, traders can open an advanced trading panel where the individual instruments chart and relevant analyses are presented.

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

This panel allows traders to execute a trade and to add the instrument to the main workspace in one click.

The dashboard is completed by a news panel on the right and a top bar, showing statistics like available funds, account options, and deposit buttons.

Trade Management

This section allows traders to manage and track products of interest, manage trades, and track the trading history. Features include:

Watchlist – traders can customize multiple watchlists for tracking markets or trade ideas. Traders can customize each list, give it a name, and keep a separate window open for it.

Order management – to keep track of pending orders

Position management – to keep track of open positions

Order history – information about past orders and trades

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

Trading Tickets: Executing Trades

The IG trade ticket allows traders to quickly and easily send orders into the marketplace. At the same time, the system allows more advanced traders to enter orders with various contingencies.

Choices include:

Order size

Stop/Loss limits

Order expiry (good-till-cancelled)

Custom alerts (based on price, rate of change, and timeframe)

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

In total, traders can choose from five types of orders: limit orders, market orders, stop-loss orders, trailing stop orders, and guaranteed orders. Guaranteed stop orders ensure that a trader’s order will be filled at the stop price.

Deal and Order Tabs

Aside from the alert tab, the IG trading ticket has two tabs – “Deal” and “Order to open”. Traders entering market orders must use the deal tab, while limit orders need to be entered on the order to open tab. This creates unnecessary confusion that the platform designers should have avoided.

Traders can choose to get partial fills on orders. Traders can also choose a “price through current” option, which allows them to pay successively higher prices (up to a predetermined limit) to increase the chances of being filled.

When traders have an existing bet on a market and want to open another position in the opposite direction, the ‘force open' option needs to be checked upon execution.

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

Charting Features

IG offers traders a variety of different technical indicators and drawings with charts, including Bollinger bands, moving averages, pivot points, Fibonacci variations, Elliot waves, and candlesticks. Traders can name these charts, save them and pull them up as needed.

The charting tools have little icons next to each of the technical tools. These pictures are a great way for novice traders to see what each of the functions does before drawing a chart.

This screenshot is only an illustration. Current market prices can be found on the broker website.

The charting features are available as individual workspace items or can be used while browsing instruments on-the-go.

Platform Settings

The panel located on the left offers a ‘settings' option, through which traders can toggle various options to customize the platform and trade tickets.

Some of these settings are practical, like which configurations are presented on a trading ticket, while others are cosmetic, like the color of the trading dashboard.

The deal settings include:

Deal size – the trade ticket can remember the last deal size and save it.

Notion value – a display of the notion value on the ticket.

Stop/Loss limits – save the last stop/loss limit used in a trade.

Net Off or Force Open – the default option whether trades on an already open instrument should net off (close any opposing positions in the opposite direction) or force open (open a new position irrespective of the other open trade).

Other platform settings allow for a light or dark theme, alert sounds, and price tick indicators to be customized.

News and Analytics

The IG platform offers a detailed news and analytics panel that traders can open and close from the side-menu, or even keep open in the workspace at all times.

Example of an IG news page.

The panel includes ten news categories, both in written and video format. Traders can also search for specific news to support trading decisions.

News notifications are presented on the right side of the home dashboard, along with a Twitter feed of industry news outlets.

IG Community

IG Community is a subsidiary website that can be accessed through IG.com. It is aimed at traders looking to get started with IG, as well as intermediate traders who are open to learning.

The sister website contains:

Community forums

Blogs

Tutorials

Knowledgebase articles

Member statistics

More, IG offer what they call the ‘IG Academy', an online course with dozens of pages of free material aimed at beginners.

Alternative Platforms

IG presents the option to trade with MetaTrader 4 and ProRealTime. Both trading software are integratable with traders' IG accounts and offer a variety of trading tools.

Pro RealTime allows traders to automate trades and build customized trading algorithms. It comes with over 100 indicators and 16,000 markets. Traders can install the software on Linux, Windows, or Mac.

FAQs

Choosing a broker can be confusing, so here are a few common questions and answers to help you get started.

Is my money safe with IG?

Trading in itself carries risk and cannot be described as a ‘safe' activity. That said, IG Index is a regulated international broker with active compliance to guidelines set up by several financial regulators and organizations. See the full list of regulators here.

How much does IG charge per trade?

IG's charges and fees vary based on the asset class and product traded. IG makes money on the spreads of trades, as well as commissions on products like shares. More, trades may be subject to irregular fees like overnight funding fees.

Does IG charge commission?

Yes, IG charges a commission for trading shares. Commissions on shares start at 0.1% and are subject to the country to which the share is tied to. See the full list of commissions charged by IG on international shares.

What are alternative brokers to IG?

The best alternative broker to IG will depend on the traders' individual needs. However, Plus500, AvaTrade, and City Index are all internationally regulated brokers with a wide range of products. All three offer CFDs, while AvaTrade and City Index also offer options trading. Plus500 only offers options CFDs.

What leverage does IG offer?

IG Index offers a maximum leverage of 1:50.

Credits: Original review written by Lawrence Pines. Major updates in June 2020 by Marko Csokasi with contributions from the Commodity.com editorial team.