IG Broker Review – Pros and Cons Uncovered

IG Broker Review

IG is a British broker that offers Forex and CFD trading, which is one of the oldest brokerages online. This broker offers flexible opportunities through others such instruments as options as well. In fact, IG offers access to over 15,000 financial markets. This is truly a global brokerage house.

They offer a couple of different types of accounts, one being commission free while the other one provides lower spreads plus a variable commission based on the order size. They have extensive knowledge and expertise in this field as they have been around so long.

IG Group Review – Regulation & Company information

IG was initially formed in 1974 in London England. It was initially called IG Index, thick created the concept of spread betting. IG was also the first spread betting firm to introduce online dealing in 1998. The company offers CFDs in the currency markets, indices, commodities, stocks, and of course financial spread betting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as binary options. IG also offers execution only stock broking in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as the Netherlands and Germany.

IG also owns the North America Derivatives Exchange, also known as the NADEX. This is the only place to trade binary options in the United States and has been growing for some time. The company has its head office in the City of London. They are also regulated by the FCA, while binary bets are regulated by the Gambling Commission in the United Kingdom.

Trading accounts

As mentioned previously, there are two different types of accounts with IG. The Standard account, which has a maximum leverage of 1:200, has no minimum deposit. The average spread is roughly 0.6 pips on the most liquid Forex pairs, and the client is simply charged the spread for the service. The DMA account offers a different scenario where traders have as little as 0.2 pips in spread, plus commissions that can vary depending on the size of the trade. It should be noted that micro lots are not available with this broker, so small accounts can be somewhat difficult.

IG Trading conditions

Minimum Initial Deposit

There is no actual minimum deposit required to open up an account at IG, but obviously you need to fund your account to open a trade. That being said, with the inability to trade micro lots, you may wish to have a larger deposit.

IG commissions and average spreads

IG has tight spreads, including an average of 0.6 pips on the EUR/USD in their commission free accounts, and even less on the commission based ones. The pricing is superior to most other brokers, which typically are about a PIP higher.

Leverage

The maximum leverage offered by IG reach as high as 1:200, which is roughly average. There are some out there that offer more in the way of leverage, but remember that leverage is a double edge sword, and can be very destructive if you are not careful.

IG Trading platforms

IG offers its own proprietary IG platform, web-based ProRealTime, a special platform for the commission free accounts called L2 Dealer, and then of course the standard MetaTrader 4 that we all know. The web-based ProRealTime has a customizable layout and is equipped with over 100 indicators. The L2 Dealer platform offers greater liquidity as it offers trading through primary exchanges, market makers, brokers, and MTF dark pools. Obviously, the MetaTrader 4 platform is known for its ease of use, and the ability to use expert advisors.

Methods of payment

IG UK’s clients are able to deposit and withdrawal currency via credit and debit cards, or wire transfer. There are some other popular e-wallets available as well, such as BPay, China Union Pay, and PayPal.

Extras

IB is not somewhere you will be going if you need a lot of extras. For example, the education section is diverse, but not overly in-depth, nor are there columns of information dedicated to the latest financial analysis. However, if you already know what you want to do and you are looking to trade the world, you would be hard-pressed to find a better provider. With access to over 15,000 financial instruments, you will certainly find something that you’re interested in trading. If you already know what you are looking to do, IB is probably one of your best options out there.

However, if you are looking for more of a “hands-on” customer experience, you will probably find other brokers much more to your liking and suiting your needs. Regardless, IG is probably a brokerage that you should aspire to be able to use, as it can offer access to markets that other brokers can only dream of. For example, they offer the ability to trade such diverse markets as carbon emissions, US shares, of binary options, bonds, Forex, and of course indices.

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