IG Trading Platform: Review Pros and Cons Uncovered
IG was established in the UK in 1974 and is one of the largest CFD brokers in the world. It is regulated by several agencies around the world, including senior regulators such as the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). IG Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
IG is considered safe because it is listed on exchanges, discloses its financial data and is overseen by top regulators.
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money quickly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your funds. CFDs are not offered to US clients. Foreign exchange transactions involve risks. Losses may exceed deposits.
Read: Investment Broker
Advantages and disadvantages of IG
IG has a well-designed, user-friendly, and easily customizable web trading platform. There are many useful teaching resources on the website. Deposits and withdrawals are easy and there are several options.
On the other hand, IG’s forex and stock CFD trading fees are high. The product portfolio is limited as IG only offers CFDs and options trading in most countries. Customer support could be better.
How we categorize expenses
We rate IG's fees as low, average, or high based on how IG compares to all brokers reviewed. First, let's look at some basic terms related to brokerage fees. What you need to focus on are transaction fees and non-transaction fees.
Transaction fees are charged when trading. These can be commissions, spreads, financing rates and switching fees. Non-transaction fees include fees that are not directly related to the transaction, such as withdrawal fees or inactivity fees.
In the following sections you will find IG's most relevant fees for each asset class. For example, in foreign exchange and stock index trading, the most important fees are spreads, commissions and funding rates.
We also compared IG’s fees with those of two similar brokers we chose, eToro and XTB. This selection is based on objective factors such as products offered, customer profiles, fee structures, etc. Check out a more detailed overview of IG alternatives.
To get a clear picture of IG, let's start with transaction fees.
IG transaction fee
IG transaction fees are average. The fee structure is transparent and you can easily find all the necessary information on the website. Different asset classes have different fee structures:
- Trading commissions for stock CFDs, physical shares and options.
- All-inclusive spreads on Forex, Stock Indices CFDs, Commodities CFDs and Bond CFDs.
- Smart portfolio management fees and spreads.
We know that it is difficult to compare the trading fees of CFD brokers. So how do we address the issue of making their fees clear and comparable? We compare brokers by calculating all fees for a typical trade in selected products.
We've selected popular tools within each asset class:
- Stock Index CFDs: SPX and EUSTX50
- Share CFDs: Apple and Vodafone
- Forex: EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, EURCHF and EURGBP
A typical trade is to buy a leveraged position and hold it for a week before selling it. For trading volume, we selected a position of $2,000 for stock indices and stock CFDs, and a position of $20,000 for foreign exchange. The levers we use are:
- Stock Index CFD 20:1
- Stock CFD 5:1
- 30:1 Forex
These general benchmark fees include spreads, commissions and financing costs for all brokers. Let's look at the IG fee verdict.
Read: Best Forex Trading Platforms
CFD Fees
IG's CFD trading fees are mostly average. Fees for stock index CFDs are fairly cheap, but brokers charge high fees for stock CFDs, mainly because of the high minimum fees ($15/£10). In the UK and Ireland, you can use spread betting instead of CFDs.
Read: TradeStation
actual stock expense
- IG only caters to some of its clients such as B. UK and Australian residents of real stocks.
- IG charges higher actual stock fees than its peers.
In the UK, a custodian fee of £24 per quarter is charged if you hold any share trades or ISA investments at the end of the quarter.
You will be exempt from tax if you meet one of the following conditions:
- Trade your stock trading account 3 or more times during the quarter
- or Only hold investments of £15,000 or more in your IG Smart Portfolio account at the end of the quarter
Commissions on IG, UK and US markets depend on the volume of trades you have made in the preceding months. For example, if you trade UK stocks more than twice, your commission on UK stocks will be £3 per trade instead of £8 next month. If you have traded more than two U.S. stocks, you can trade commission-free for the next month.
Read: