IG Markets Broker Review - Features, Offers, Pros and Cons

IG MARKETS REVIEW

IG Group is one of the oldest broker that was founded in 1974. IG is credited with building the concept of financial spread betting and introducing online trading as early as in 1998.

RATING

★★★★★ 5/5

5/5

FOUNDING YEAR

1974

MINIMUM DEPOSIT

$250

ABOUT IG GROUP

IG Group is one of the oldest broker that was founded in 1974. IG is credited with building the concept of financial spread betting and introducing online trading as early as in 1998. Currently, the company offers access to more than 15,000 assets. It features a global presence in more than 15 countries serving more than 200,000 clients. In 2019, IG became the first Non-US broker to offer FX service to the United States giving US traders access to nearly 80 currency pairs. IG is a well-recognized broker that has won multiple awards in the past few years.

Founding Year	1974
Regulated	Yes
Rating	5/5
Minimum Deposit	$250

IG GROUP REGULATIONS

When it comes to regulations IG entities are regulated in several countries which makes it a safe and low-risk broker. Its tier-1 regulators are the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States.

They are also regulated in Switzerland, Australia New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Africa, and the United Arabic Emirates. Other than the regulations the IG has its own set of rules and principles in place to protect investors’ interests and to ensure that the broker operates with honesty integrity in the fully transparent manner.

COUNTRY	AUTHORITY
UK	Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
USA	Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
Switzer Land	Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)
Australia	Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
New Zealand	Financial Markets Authority (FMA)
Japan	Financial Services Agency (FSA)
South Africa	Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)
Dubai	Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC)

IG MARKETS ACCOUNT TYPES

IG Markets account types vary depending on the location and the markets available in the region. They offer CFD, spread betting, and straight dealing accounts. But in general, if we break it down, IG Markets is offering two types of trading accounts for their clients. They offer a standard account for retail traders and more premium accounts for high net worth traders plus a specific professional account. The professional account requires certain criteria to be met but allows greater levels of leverage in exchange for less regulatory protection. Standard accounts do not have a minimum deposit restriction.

There are also no setup costs or annual charges associated with standard accounts. However, there is an inactivity fee of $18 a month if trading no trading activity occurs for 2 or more years. In addition to the two accounts offered, advanced traders can also open a DMA (Direct Market Access) account which enables them to trade market depth via the use of algorithms. They are also given access to trade in pre and post-market timings.

IG TRADING PLATFORMS

IG offers a choice of multiple trading platforms to its clients that are compatible with all modern devices. The platforms you can choose are IGs trading platform, ProRealTime, L2 dealer, and the popular metatrader4 trading platform. The IG’s proprietary trading platform is web-based and available for all users who are interested in spread betting or CFD trading. The platform also offers browser-based research tools such as streaming news, economic calendar, and trading signals. IG also offers a tablet and mobile trading platform that is fully optimized for iPhone and Android.

The mobile trading app provides the same research and monitoring tools as on the web-based platform. The ProRealTime is an advanced charting package that offers powerful monitoring tools flexible access and advanced analysis resources. ProRealTime is free if you trade at least four times a month. Finally, the L2 Dealer is a free downloadable trading platform that offers direct market access. L2 Dealer is suitable for professional traders who would like to deal directly to the order books of major equity exchanges.

MT4/MT5 (Windows/MAC)

MT4 Only

PLATFORM	AVAILABILITY
Proprietary Platform	Yes
MT4 (Windows/MAC)	Yes
Mobile Platform (Android/IOS)	Yes

IG LEVERAGE

IG Group offers decent leverage of 200:1 on major currency pairs except for GBP/USD which is 100:1. For other crosses, leverage varies between 100:1 to 150:1. The leverage ratio on Gold is 100:1 while for crude oil it is 150:1. On CFD stocks, IG offers a leverage ratio of 25:1.

PRODUCT	MAX LEVERAGE
FOREX	1:200
COMMODITIES	1:100
CRYPTO	1:25

IG MARKETS PRODUCTS

IG Markets offers its traders a plethora of financial instruments to trade across a variety of markets. The instruments include Forex, indices, commodities, CFD stocks, cryptocurrencies, bonds, options, and ETF. Briefly, they have nearly 80 currency pairs, 30 global indices, 40 global commodities, a huge list of 12,000 CFD stocks from different exchanges across the globe, and 1500 ETFs. They are also offering 8 cryptocurrencies which are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ripple, NEO, EOS, and Stellar. To break down further they also offer 10 metal such as Gold and Silver and finally, they also offer 7 energy-related products like Crude oil, Natural Gas, and so forth.

The huge and versatile list of financial instruments makes IG Markets a unique broker among others.

PRODUCTS	AVAILABILITY
Multi Assets	Yes
Forex	Yes
Crypto	Yes
CFD Stocks	Yes
CFD Indices	Yes

IG SPREAD & COMMISSION

IG provides a detailed breakdown of its charges like any other broker in the market. The average spread on EUR/USD is 0.75 pips and the minimum it can go down is 0.6 pips which is very competitive. On CFD indices the spread varies between 1 to 4 pips, however, indices from the emerging markets have a slightly higher spread. The spread of CFD energies is 2.5 pips while the spread on metals starts from 0.3 pips on Gold and goes up to 1.8 pips on Platinum.

The IG does not charge a commission on Forex, CFD indices, and commodities. However, it does charge a commission on CFD shares. The commission on the Australian, UK, and European shares is 0.10% of the total value while on US shares there is a fixed 2 cent commission per share.

PRODUCT	SPREAD RANGE
Forex	0.7 - 1.2
Commodities	0.3 - 2.5
Indices	1 - 2.0

IG DESPOSIT & WITHDRAWAL

When it comes to deposits and withdrawals, IG offers hassle-free operations through its secured client area. There are 3 options, traders can deposit funds via debit or credit cards, wire transfers, and cheque deposit. Surprisingly, there is no e-wallet option available so far. The funding through debit and credit card is instant, however, with credit card deposit there’s an additional cost which is one percent charge for visa and 0.5 percent for MasterCard. Wire transfers and cheque deposits are free of charge but they may take up to three business days. Third-party payments are not allowed and funds can only be sent or received via verified accounts. The accounts can be verified by sending a screenshot of your bank statement clearly showing your name, bank account number, and bank logo.

METHOD	AVAILABILITY
Credit/Debit Card	Yes
Wire Transfer	Yes
E-Wallets	Yes
Crypto	No
Withdrawal Fee	3 Free Withdrawals a month/ Afterwards $1 for each additional withdrawal

IG GROUP REVIEW SUMMARY

IGMarkets is truly an international broker that offers its clients access to more than 15,000 tradable assets. So if you want just a single broker to trade multiple assets like Forex, Stocks, Indices, commodities, and ETFs IG is a great choice for you. It has its own unique web-based trading platform along with several other third-party trading platforms which enable you to implement and explore various markets and test different trading strategies. However, many traders would also want the MT5 trading platform on IG’s platform list. Similarly, the absence of e-wallet payments would also be missed by seasoned traders. Overall you would find IG a decent broker especially to the US traders who can now also trade with a Non-US broker thanks to IG’s US regulations.