IG review 2021 - Best for CFD Traders
IG has been a household name in financial market trading since its inception in 1974. Its headquarters is based in London, UK. IG has office locations in 17 countries across five continents including the US.
IG is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and regulated across the countries of operations. It publishes the Fees and Client money usage policies transparently through its website and published statements.
CFD and financial market trading are risky, beginners and experts alike face trading risks. We at Broker Finder have compiled a comprehensive review of IG products and trading platforms to help you get things going, especially if you’re just starting out.
Overview
IG is a trusted and regulated platform with desktop, online, and mobile applications for an all-inclusive availability. It offers Contract for Differences (CFD), Forex, Indices, Commodities, and other popular trading products and markets.
IG has a wide range of trading platforms including the industry standard of ProRealTime, L2 Dealer, and metatrader4. IG‘s web platform comes with a user-friendly and clean interface. You can also choose to integrate the IG web app through API for customization with your platform.
Let us take a glance at some of the important features of IG to look for in an online broker and financial market trading platform.
Account Opening and Availability
IG has an office presence in 17 countries with its headquarters in London, UK. It has an office presence in countries across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the US to name a few. If you are an international client, you can sign up for an IG account with their IG international site.
Account opening with IG is fully online and comes with no fees. However, clients would pay a $12 monthly fee if there is no account transaction for two years.
It is also possible to operate more than one account with IG with different office locations. Accounts for retail, professional, corporate, and investment institutes are allowed with IG. US customers can only operate with an IG trading account currently.
Do set up a free Demo account with IG before you get hands-on with a live IG account.
Products and Markets
US clients through IG USA can only trade with Forex pairs and Exchange trading binaries with IG NADEX. Clients in the UK and Europe have access to most of the products and Markets offered by IG.
IG inherently is a CFD and Spread betting platform. It offers CFD trading to most of its clients globally. Clients have the option of trading with IG CFDs and Shares directly, making thousands of financial markets accessible to them.
All CFD trading with IG comes with built-in leveraged. Which simply means you can trade more with less minimum deposit in your trade account. IG offers good leverage of up to 1:50 for their CFD and spread betting clients conditional to account balance and minimum margin requirements.
Popular products to trade with IG:
- Shares and Share CFDs
- Forex
- Indices
- Cryptocurrencies
- Commodities
- IPO trading
- CFD bonds, options, ETFs, and other trade products
Direct Stock, Bonds, Options, and ETF trading with IG is limited to some countries. For example, clients in the US can only trade with Forex with 80+ currency pairs only.
Fees Structure
Account opening and set up with online brokers is easy. IG offers a free account opening with no minimum deposit covenants in many countries. Trading and non-trading charges and commission make a significant portion of trading costs for any client. Above that, Margin and leverage play an integral part in deciding between the total costs of trading with an online broker.
We can divide the fee structure of IG into categories of Commission and Spread costs. With IG, you pay spread cost for non-share CFD trade and percentage commission of share CFD trade.
Shares
| Region | Commission Per Side | Minimum Charges | Minimum Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 0.10% | £ 10 | From 10% |
| Euro | 0.10% | € 10 | From 10% |
| US | 2 cents per share | US $15 | From 10% |
| Australia | 0.08% | AUD $7 | From 10% |
| Hong Kong | 0.18% | HKD 50 | From 10% |
Overnight funding
IG charges overnight funding for cash CFDs on 2.5% (effectively 3.0%) per day plus you incur an interest cost.
To give you a clearer idea of how they calculate the overnight funding, here is the formula:
- For UK: Funding Charges = Size × closing price × (LIBOR +/- 2.5%) ÷ 365
- For US: Funding Charges = Size × closing price × (US LIBOR +/- 2.5%) ÷ 360
- For Euro: Funding Charges = Size × closing price × (EURIBOR +/- 2.5%) ÷ 360
For Futures and Forwards, the overnight funding costs are embedded as the spread.
Guaranteed Stop loss Margins for Shares, Forex, and Commodity traders with IG are tiered based. Guaranteed stop-loss adds another limited risk rate ranging from 0.3% to 0.7% on most trade transactions. The maximum limited risk rate can be as high as 1.5%.
Other Fees
- An account inactivity fee of $18 per month if there is no trade transaction for two years.
- ProRealTime Chart subscription fee of $ 40 per month.
Trading Platforms: Built-in and third-party
IG has its very own built-in platform with both IOS and Android mobile apps available. You can also choose from the industry’s most popular platforms like MT4, L2Dealer, and ProRealTime. All of these platforms offer most of the features that you can look for in an online trading platform.
Here is a brief comparison of top features with these IG Desktop and Mobile apps.
| Feature | Desktop | Mobile & Tablet | Progressive Web App (WPA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | Browser | App download | Browser-based with mobile shortcut |
| Products Available | CFDs | CFDs | CFDs |
| Tradable Markets | Depends on the Account Type | Depends on the Account Type | Depends on the Account Type |
| Research Tools | Streaming Reuters news, economic calendar, signals, IGTV, IG analysts' articles, IG Community | Streaming Reuters news, economic calendar, signals, IG Community, client sentiment | None |
| Monitoring Tools | Watchlists, price alerts, orders, Autochartist | Watchlists, price alerts, orders | Watchlists and orders |
| Charts | IG charts, ProRealTime access, Autochartist | IG mobile Charts | None |
| Order Types | Limits, stops, guaranteed stops, trailing stops, market orders | Limits, stops, guaranteed stops, trailing stops, market orders | Limits, Stop, Market Orders |
| Automated Trade Strategies | No | No | No |
Here is an overview of features with third-party platforms available with IG.
| Feature | ProRealTime | MT4 | L2 Dealer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | Desktop Download | Desktop and Mobile app | Desktop Download |
| Products Available | CFDs | CFDs | CFDs |
| Tradable Markets | All markets (apart from DMA and sprints) | Forex, Indices, and Commodities | OTC Forex, Shares, Indices, Commodities |
| Monitoring Tools | ProScreener, Alerts, TopMovers, Lists, ProRealTrend and Automated trading | Automated Trading | Watchlists, Price Alerts, Orders |
| Charts | Advance ProRealTime Charts | Advanced MT4 Charts | ProRealTime |
| Order Types | Market orders, limits, stops, trailing stops, | Market orders, limits, stops, stop-loss, take profit | Algo trades, limits, market orders, tranche orders, fill or kill, execute and eliminate, date, day, good for auction, good till cancel, at the auction, at the open, at the close, at best |
| Automated Trade Strategies | Yes | Yes | No |
Platform Security and Regulation
Investors with online broker firms are concerned about their invested money. Account authentication and platform regulation both are important for the investors. IG is a brand name with online brokers and CFD markets; it is regulated in all 17 countries of operations and with Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) centrally.
For Account opening and security, you can choose to use:
- A two-factor account authentication to protect against unauthorized access to your account.
- Touch Access to your account on mobile apps
- Change passwords and open a limited risk account
IG Regulators in countries of Operation
- IG is Internationally regulated with the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA)
- FCA in the UK
- CTFC and NFA in the US
- Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)
- Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)
- Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)
Likewise, IG is regulated with compliance authorities in UAE, Singapore, South Africa, and New Zealand.
What happens to your Deposited Money?
Currently, the Money Protection offered by IG is limited to the UK, Euro, and Switzerland clients only. This protection money works like insurance money, in case the trade risk or loss of deposits occurs from the service provider i.e. IG.
The compensation amount is:
- Up to £ 85,000 in the UK
- 90% of the Claim, Maximum € 20,000 for Euro clients
- Up to 100,000 CHF in Switzerland
Negative loss protection available in:
- Retail IG accounts for the UK and EURO clients
- Limited risk protection for the US NADEX clients, with no protection limit on other US accounts
- Protection for only Limited Risk Account for all other country clients
Please note that IG's regular Trade Account and IG Limited Risk account come with different features and costs.
Like any other regulated Broker, client money and assets are separate from the IG firm assets and cash deposits. Under the regulatory requirements firms like IG are bound to maintain separate accounts for client deposits. In the case of IG liquidation, client deposits remain discretely protected.
Deposit and Withdrawal Options
IG has several funds deposit and withdrawal options for clients through cards and direct bank account transfer. Normally, your withdrawal option will be the same as your deposit medium.
You can deposit funds in IG account through:
- Direct bank account transfer
- PayPal transfer
- Credit and Debit cards like VISA, MasterCard, etc.
Card processing and PayPal Fee for the UK, EURO clients is free and varies by country of clients:
- Free Debit card transactions for Australian Clients, PayPal 1%, VISA 1%, MasterCard 0.5%
- Singapore clients 2.3% for both VISA and MasterCard
- New Zealand Clients VISA 1%, MasterCard 0.5%
- Minimum Deposit through Cards is $ 250, £ 250, an equivalent of these amounts in other countries
Customer Support
IG offers dedicated customer supports for its clients through various platforms including call and e-mail support.
Your contact options with IG include:
- Call customer support and office during working hours
- Live Chat
- Social Media
- Office locations in 17 countries of operation
An important part of customer support comes with learning and educational tools on offer. IG has a dedicated online section of trade learning tools and Academy. They offer a comprehensive trading strategy and learning material for both beginners and expert customers.
You can make the best use of the available online resources:
- IG online Academy – Offering short trading courses
- Help and support forum
- Trade Analytical tools
- Strategy and Planning
- News and Trend analysis
- Webinars and Live Sessions
- Educational and How-to videos
- Community forums
Additionally, you can open a DEMO account for free to get a hands-on experience with IG tools and trade options available.
Leveraged Trading offers a significant advantage to investors; it also possesses equally significant risks. IG’s CFD accounts come with embedded spread and offer leverage on a predetermined basis. Make full use of the learning material available before you put your money into trading with IG or any other online broker.
Things We Like about IG
There are certain features that we liked the most about the IG platform. It has a clean user interface and plentiful of application options for its users.
Here are the top features of IG that we marked the best:
- Excellent Web platform with top mobile apps
- Easy Account opening and Funds deposit/withdrawal options
- No minimum account opening condition
- Built-In expert Trading Platform by IG
- Third-party and industry-leading Trading platforms like MT4, L2 Dealers, and ProRealTime
- Comprehensive Educational portal with online Academy, tutorials, trade tools, strategies, Trade signals and trends, Webinars and Live Events
- More than 17,000 markets and hundreds of trade products on offer
- Option for multiple accounts
You can expect such a comprehensive list of features from an established CFD broker with more than 45 years of industry experience.
Is there anything that we want to see more from IG?
Things We Wish To See From IG
Although IG comes with excellent trading tools and offers a wide range of trade products and markets, we certainly would wish to see some additional features from IG in the future.
- US IG customers can only opt for FOREX currently
- Customers outside of the UK and EURO have limited trade products and market options with mostly able to trade in CFDs only
- Costs and pricing based on embedded spread can be confusing for beginners
- Long positions and overnight charges are on the higher side for customers
- FC conversion and interest rate charges are higher than market rates
A Quick Wrap Up
Broker finder has found IG as one of the best CFD brokers in the industry. It offers an excellent trading platform with plentiful learning tools for you. It is internationally and regionally regulated with competent authorities in all countries of operations. It has intuitive built-in and third-party trading platforms options for you.
Just to remind you, CFD and Stock trading is risky, no broker can guarantee you profits or zero losses. You can get hands-on practice with an IG Demo account and even a live account with no minimum balance conditions.