IG Market Review

IG Market is one of the leading online brokerage brands in our world today. The broker offers forex, CFDs, spread betting, digital options, and other securities to a global clientele. Founded in 1974, IG is part of the IG Group Holdings Plc which is a company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and also part of the FTSE 250 index. The head office is located in London but it has 17 offices around the world and serves clients from more than 164 countries. IG boasts of over 239,000 clients who are given access to trade over 17,000 financial markets.

Pros

1. Regulated in multiple jurisdictions; FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, NFA in the USA, FSCA in South Africa, FINMAC in Japan, FMA in Switzerland, etc.
2. News and analysis are provided on the website and IG trading platforms.
3. Free trading signals are available.
4. IG has a community or forum where traders can learn and exchange ideas.
5. A comprehensive trading academy is available.
6. Autochartist is provided on the MT4 platform.

Cons

1. Payment options are limited.
2. There are no social trading or MAMM/PAMM accounts.
3. Inactivity fees are charged though it is only charged after two years of inactivity.

IG Market Security and Regulation

IG is regulated in several countries. Some of the regulations are:

• Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK
• National Futures Association (NFA) and Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the USA.
• Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) of Australia.
• Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa.
• Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand.
• Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) of Germany.
• Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Japan
• Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) of Switzerland
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) of Singapore.

Generally, IG states that all clients’ funds are kept in segregated accounts with the top banks. UK clients are entitled to Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS); which ensures clients’ deposits up to £85,000. Trading platforms are secured with Secured Socket Layer (SSL) so that all clients’ data are encrypted in case of internet hackers intercept it while in transit to IG servers.

IG Market Trading instruments

IG asserts that its clients can trade over 17,000 instruments; some of them are:

• Forex
• Cryptocurrencies
• Indices
• Commodities
• Over 13,000 shares
• 6,000 global ETFs
• Other markets which comprise of Digital 100s, options, interest rates, Bonds, Sectors, Knock-outs trading and spread bets only for UK clients.

IG Market Account opening

If you wish to trade with IG, the first step is to create a live trading account. This can be done by clicking on the button ‘create live account’ to display the account opening form.

Enter your name, email, choose a user name and password. Next, choose the country of residence, account type, employment status, net worth, source of funds, trading frequency, etc. Upon form completion, you are logged into the accounts’ dashboard. After that, you are required to verify your identity and nationality. Then, wait for account approval after which you can make a deposit, choose a trading platform and trading can start.

IG Market Deposits and Withdrawals

The minimum deposit is about £250 or its equivalence in other currencies. The fees charged on deposits and withdrawals mostly depend on the country and currency.

Credit/Debit card: Card deposits are very fast and have no charges or commissions.

Wire transfers: This is accepted in multiple currencies. US clients are charged $25 for wire transfer withdrawals.

Paypal: This e-wallet is accepted in the UK and some other countries. It is free and can be used for both deposits and withdrawals.

Fees and account types

The country of residence determines the account currency and account types available to a client. Accounts can be opened in USD, EUR, SGD, HKD, AUD, and GBP

Generally, IG offers 3 account types as follows:

Spread bet account

This is only available to UK residents who wish to spread bet.

CFD account

This is the major account used to trade contracts for differences (CFDs) on major asset classes like forex, indices, stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodities, ETFs, etc.

Share dealing account

This account is for clients who wish to buy and own shares of different companies from the stock market.

Professional account

This account is available to experienced traders who have a huge portfolio of assets. It is only available to European clients. Professional traders.

IG Market Demo account

This account is perfect for practicing spread betting and CFDs on trading platforms. Once you create a demo account, you can add virtual money to it at will. But, it comes preloaded with £10,000 each for the spread bet and CFD demo accounts.

During account opening, you can choose all account types or any of the account types that you need. The minimum spread for the EURUSD is 0.6 pips while the average is 0.85 pips. For indices, FTSE 100 is 1 pip, spot gold is 0.3 pips. For stock CFDs, the minimum charge is £10 for UK stocks, $15 for US stocks, and €10 Euro stocks.

The guaranteed stop is charged at 0.3% of the value of the underlying transaction. If you trade in a currency that is not your account currency, IG automatically converts your profits or losses to your account currency at the prevailing rates but adds a commission of 0.5%. Inactivity fees of $18 per month are charged from accounts that have not traded for two years and beyond.

IG Market Trading platforms

IG has a number of platforms that are compatible with multiple devices. Below are the platforms available:

IG Trading platform

This is a web-based proprietary platform from IG.  It comes with the following features:

• Customizable interface, watch lists, multiple workspaces, etc.
• Guaranteed stop and other order types.
• You can set alerts on market moves, prices or on technical conditions
• Integrated with news and analysis
• Live trading signals on a wide range of instruments.

MT4

MT4 is a trading platform designed by the Cyprus-based ‘MetaQuotes Software Corp’ in 2005. It has since become the traders’ favorite because of its powerful features. IG packaged its MT4 desktop application with 18 free add-on apps that have expanded the platform features. Below are some of the features of the MT4:

• Fully customizable layouts, workspace, charts, etc.
• Supports automated trading using Expert Advisors (EAs)
• Features can be expanded by installing apps developed with the MQL4 programming language.
• Full charting with 3 chart styles and up to 30 inbuilt technical indicators and charting tools.
• Complete order management with up to 4 pending orders and risk management tools like trailing stop, stop loss, take profit, etc.
• Supports mobile trading via android and iOS mobile apps.

ProRealTime

This is a web-based charting package that is integrated into the IG trading platform which expands its capabilities. It is free for the first month after which you pay £30 monthly or trade at least 4 times in a month to use it at no cost.

Below are some of its features:

• Orders can be placed from trend lines and price movements.
• ProRealTrend draws trend lines every five minutes.
• ProScreener can be customized to alert the trader on market movements
• Up to 100 technical indicators
• Unlimited chart timeframes

Clients can easily build their own trading robot and execute it 24 hours a day.

IG trading apps

IG has proprietary trading apps specifically designed for android and iOS devices. The apps support analysis and trading on the go. You can easily access thousands of instruments, view and analyze charts, open and close trade positions while on the move. The apps can be downloaded from the respective android and Apple stores. Here are some of its features:

• User friendly and customizable interface.
• Real time prices and speedy executions.
• Account management including deposit and withdrawals from the app.
• Comes with risk management tools like trailing and guaranteed stops.
• Set price alerts or event alerts and receive it via sms, email or push notifications.

Live sessions

IG in-house experts frequently organize live webinars on the website. To join a live session; check the schedule, find a live webinar of choice, and register to attend it at the right time.

IG Academy

This academy is well structured and arranged. There are 8 courses grouped into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Only registered clients can gain access to the academy. Each course is made up of lessons with each of their estimated running times. You can leave and continue a lesson at a later time. The lessons are presented with illustrations, videos, written explanations, lesson summary, questions, and answers.

For example; the first course is ‘Introducing the financial markets. It is made up of 10 lessons with a total running time of 85 minutes. A quiz of 10 questions is also part of the course.

Glossary of trading terms

The IG glossary is easy to access as it is presented alphabetically on a single page. It contains the definitions of over 230 terminologies that are associated with financial markets and trading.

News and trade ideas

This section has a lot of articles on the news in various markets such as forex, stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, and commodities. Also, there are articles on risk management, technical analysis, volatility, fundamental analysis, and other information that a trader will find useful.

Weekend trading

IG offers its clients the unique opportunity to trade EURUSD, GBPUSD, EURUSD and USDJPY, cryptocurrencies, and some global indices on a 24/7 basis even on weekends. Other forex pairs trade the normal 24/5 trading period. For cryptos, the underlying market is open on weekends but for the selected indices and forex instruments, weekend markets run separately from the normal weekday markets. So, all open weekday positions are not affected by the weekend positions.

Crypto 10 index

This is an index of the first 10 cryptocurrencies measured by market capitalization. The index is calculated and maintained by BITA GmbH; an index technology and financial services provider company located in Germany. IG clients can speculate on the values of the Crypto 10 index.

Autochartist

Autochartist is a technical analysis software that automatically recognizes patterns in charts and alerts the trader to make a decision. IG provides the Autochartist as a software plugin app that comes with the MT4 desktop installation.

IG community

This is an online forum where traders, newbies, and even IG staff interact, exchange ideas, and learn from each other. There are over 61,000 total members and over 15,000 posts. Additionally, the forum features blogs, articles, and interesting discussions.

Customer Support

IG has an efficient client support desk that works 24 hours from 8 am on Saturday to 10 pm on Friday. The fastest ways of reaching the support team are via the ‘live chat feature on the website as well as through phone calls. Email support is also available. IG staff and other traders can also assist a client in the IG community. Social media support is also available via the Twitter handle; @IGClientHelp. Other social media channels are Facebook, Linked In, and YouTube.

Rebates

IG rewards its high-volume traders with rebates which are calculated monthly. There are four thresholds. The first is 25; that is if you trade up to a notional value of 25 million USD in an asset class within a month, the standard rebate will be $5 per million. The fourth threshold is 600; meaning that you need to trade a notional value of $600 million in a month to receive a rebate of $10 X 600 = $6,000

Summary

IG is an experienced broker that has been in operations for over 40 years. So, the broker is backed by a group that is well capitalized, stable, and has offices globally. With multiple regulations, proprietary platforms, and secured networks, it is no surprise that IG has won multiple awards and prides itself as one of the best brokers in the world. Clients can trade on the robust IG online platform, mobile apps, or the popular MT4 trading platform. Multiple trading styles are allowed, you can create and use your own algorithm and automate your trades.