IG Markets Review
IG group has an operational history of 40 years in forex, CFD and Stock Market. The entity provides access to a comprehensive spread of instruments such as forex, individual equities, stock sectors and indices; commodities, bonds, cryptocurrencies and interest rates of a number of professional grade, web and mobile based trading platforms. Being the largest CFD broker with a largest base of active financial spread betting accounts in the United Kingdom; its size allows the broker to offer some of the lowest spreads and commissions in the market. IG group has over 185,000 clients across the globe; it is an FTSE 250 company with a total market capitalization of $2.1 billion. Read the full IG Markets Review to learn more about this established UK broker.
PROS
Wide Selection of Trading Products
- Allows access to over 15,000 global markets
Economical Spreads and Commissions
- IG Group’s size and trading volume enables it to offer some of the lowest spreads and commissions in the market
Prolonged Hours and Weekend Trading
- It provides prolonged hours trading on US equities and trading on stock indices and cryptocurrencies on a Sunday
CONS
Virtual Private Server (VPS) charges a Fee
- A monthly fee of GBP 50 needs to be paid by traders with an account balance of less than GBP 5000 for VPS access.
Single Stocks Commissions
- At IG, there is a minimum commission for single stock trades; however, it provides no maximum commission and no volume discounts
Does not offer Emergency Stop Loss
- There is no provision to automatically liquidate your positions once your account balance reaches a predetermined limit.
IG Markets Products and Commissions
IG provides a wide selection of financial instruments such as forex, stock and indices, individual equities, commodities, bonds, cryptocurrencies and IG interest rates via spread betting, CFDs and much more.The company is known to offer some of the lowest spreads in the market, especially for their Forex Traders who trade large monthly volumes through their Forex Direct Program. This program offers narrow spreads in addition to a commission, which benefits the traders as it can be expensive when diversifying portfolio with occasional trades on diverse range of stocks . IG Trading does charge a fee for withdrawals or terminating and account, and charges an inactivity fees only after the account has remained inactive for two years.
Trust
IG trading is regulated under the jurisdiction of FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) and as a part of the mandate maintains separate accounts for client’s and the company’s fund in tier one banks. The Gambling Commission hold this practice of segregating client funds as “High Protection”. An area where IG trading lacks trust is that it does not provide additional deposit insurance unlike some brokers in the market.
IG Trading Platforms | Special Features
In terms of flexibility, IG have really succeeded when it comes to trade automation. They also gives you an option of connecting your account to third party platform of your own preference. The choice of tools available to both individual and institutional traders is impressive. The only area where they need obvious improvement is the accessibility of their virtual private server (VPS) which can be accessed only if you have a minimum account balance of $5000. An alternative way to access the VPS is by paying a fixed monthly fee of $50
How to use IG Trading Platforms
VPS server can be used by traders to run automated trading algorithms. The traders looking for Direct Market Access can go for the L2 Dealer platform. Whereas, the ProRealTime platform is more ideal for the traders looking for back testing and trade automation.
Desktop Experience
IG ranks high in when it comes to the desktop trading experience. Their browser-based platform is robust and highly customizable. It encompasses everything from news alerts to trading analysis to watch lists and flexible charts. The most impressive facet of the platform remains the amount of overlays you can apply to the charts such as indicators, drawings, economic events and more, and yet, maintain its organized layout. While some traders are drawn towards IG’s MT4 charting package or of their other advanced charting options, it is safe to say, and most traders will find their online, browser –based trading platform adequate to meets their needs.
Mobile Experience
The mobile trading platform of IG encompasses most of the features available in their desktop application. It is available on iOS and Android. The app is customizable, so the traders can adjust their opening screens to show the information they want to see first. The iOS version comes with finger print security.
Customer Support
IG Broker boasts of a robust customer support which can be contacted via a variety of channels such as phone, email, live chat or Twitter. IG even maintains a dedicated team to provide one –on–one assistance to new clients, along with well framed FAQs and investors community where the traders can interact for peer support. The only negative would be the lack of in-person support. The team is 24/6 basis, another point to note is only live account holders can address all relevant issues in the special forum for IG investors.
Research & Insights
Once again IG scores high when it comes to research. The platform provides real-time news feeds, advanced data analytics and calendars. It also provides data of what is occurring on the IG trading floor and what their clients are trading through their personal accounts.
Education
Through their IG academy, the platform provides organized and comprehensive education to its traders. To facilitate learning on the go, the material is available in a mobile app. The current webinars and commentary provide full trading platform tutorial so that investors become more adept with its use.
Bottom Line
IG occupies prominent place in among investors worldwide. They offer a wide range of trading platforms which are suited for both, establish and novice traders. New traders will find their tools and the education series especially useful to set their ground work, whereas the experienced traders can make full use of their customizable trading platform and low trading fees. The firm covers a wide range of instruments and the sheer amount of tools they offer to traders is impressive to say the least.