Here Are the 10 Pros and Cons

IG Fact sheet

It is no surprise that safety and security are among the biggest concerns of Forex traders. The market is full of scams and there are not so many ways one could avoid falling for these fraudulent companies.

One thing traders can keep in mind are the regulations. To somehow counter the issues usually associated with Forex brokers and financial markets, many jurisdictions around the world have created regulatory agencies, focused on ensuring traders’ safety.

IG is licensed by many of these regulators, which can act as a guarantee of safety for many traders. Among the licenses that IG owns are from tier-1 regulatory bodies, such as the FCA of the UK.

In fact, IG is regulated by as many as six tier-1 regulatory bodies. They are:

• Australian Securities & Investment Commission; 
• Japanese Financial Services Authority; 
• Monetary Authority of Singapore, 
• Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority; 
• Financial Conduct Authority; 
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission. 

Policies That IG Follows

To guarantee the highest safety and security of its clients, IG has adopted numerous policies. Some of them are required by the jurisdictions where the company is registered.

To ensure that the funds of their clients are kept safely and securely at all times, IG keeps them in segregated bank accounts. This is a very common policy that brokers have adopted, it ensures that no matter what goes wrong, the traders will be able to retain access to their balance.

IG has also adopted negative balance protection, which means that traders can feel safe that no matter what happens, their balance will never be negative. A negative balance usually occurs in the market whenever someone is opening an account with high leverage.

If the markets experience sudden drops, the trader will lose the investment. In fact, it can go as far as the balance of the trader going into the negative territory. The negative balance protection ensures that the positions of traders are closed automatically whenever the balance nears zero, which ensures that clients can never lose more money than they have in their accounts.

It should be noted that negative balance protection is not a requirement in every jurisdiction. To ensure the highest safety of traders, the broker offers a special account type for those jurisdictions - the Limited Risk Account.

In total, clients of IG can trade over 17,000 assets. While the availability of these assets depends on your location, no matter where you are from, there are always enough available trading assets to ensure anyone has access to things that they like.

Because there are so many assets available on IG, it is safe to say that everyone can easily find their favorite assets on this broker without much struggle. Such a large array of available assets allow traders to easily diversify their portfolio, without having to use different brokerages. Let’s discuss each of the available assets on IG below.

Forex

IG offers traders access to over 100 Forex trading assets. These currency pairs include major, minor, and exotic pairs. No matter which one you want to trade, you can have access to them thanks to IG.

Depending on your location, the broker offers traders to use leverage up to 1:200 for Forex trading. But keep in mind that there are some leverage restrictions in many parts of the world, including the EU and Australia, where the leverage for Forex trading is limited to 1:30.

On the other hand, many countries from Asia and other parts of the world allow traders to use higher leverage. While leverage can be quite helpful, it should be remembered that there are always some risks associated with leveraged trading. 

The spreads for currency trading are very low with IG, which makes it a great place for currency trading.

Shares

Shares can be traded in several different ways with IG. First of all, almost every client of IG can trade stocks as CFDs (excluding the US due to local regulations). On the other hand, the broker offers citizens of some countries the ability to trade the shares of leading companies directly.

Over 12,000 shares, as well as ETFs, are available for traders from Australia, the UK, the US, Germany, and Ireland. The representatives of the company are always ready to provide clients with detailed information about the stock trading requirements. 

If you have some questions about the stocks you want to trade but have a hard time finding answers, you can directly contact the representatives of the company who will gladly assist you. Among the available shares are leading US companies such as Apple, Tesla, and Meta. Shares from other parts of the world are also available for trading on IG. 

The commissions for trading stocks are very low. For the US stocks, there are no commissions. for Australian stocks, there is a $5 fee if you have traded stocks over the past three months. If not, you will have to pay $8. There might also be a special subscription fee, which depends on the activity on your account.

Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies have become one of the most popular assets over the past few years. IG offers clients access to 10 different cryptocurrencies. Crypto assets can be traded on their own, as well as using CFDs. With CFD trading, you do not have to buy the assets directly, you are simply speculating on the price movements.

You can buy and sell individual crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and many others, or get broad exposure to the crypto market by trading the Crypto 10 index. IG offers traders the opportunity to use leverage of up to 1:200 when trading crypto assets. But, keep in mind that the leverage for trading might be limited depending on your location.

Indices

If you are a trader looking for ways to diversify your investments, IG has a great offer for you. Indices are some of the best assets to use when working on portfolio diversification. There are over 80 indices available on IG for traders to use. 

There are numerous indices available on IG, including FTSE 100, Germany 40, and many others. With these indices, you will be able to get exposure to the economies of different countries and industries globally.

It can be used by traders to ensure that even if the price of a single stock drops, their investment can be kept safe thanks to other shares that are performing well.

Commodities

There are over 35 commodities available on IG, which gives you a large exposure to the market. Among the commodities that can be traded on IG are gold, silver, oil, and many others. The broker offers both soft and hard commodities. 

Commodities are offered to traders thanks to CFDs, which means that you won't have to worry about having physical ownership of the commodities.

Depending on your personal interests in the financial markets, there are numerous different account types that you can choose from. However, keep in mind that not all of these accounts are available for every trader. The availability of the accounts depends on your location.

Below, we will discuss the major account types of IG that traders should know about.

Pros & cons of IG account types

IG Demo Account

The demo trading account of IG is available for every single client of IG. This account can be a great way for beginners to get started in the financial markets. Thanks to the demo account, beginners can test out the offerings of the broker without having to risk any of their real-life funds. 

A demo account can also be a great choice for experienced traders who are looking for ways to test out new trading strategies and see how these strategies might be useful for their individual needs.

With a demo account, the broker offers traders a certain amount of virtual cash. If you run out of virtual money, you can contact the representatives of the broker and ask them to replenish the demo account to continue your trading activities.

IG Trading Account

The IG Trading account is a standard account that is offered by the broker. It can be used by traders of all different interests. The maximum leverage offered by this account is 1:200 and it offers traders access to all the services available.

But, keep in mind that depending on your location, there might be some additional restrictions applied. For example, traders from the EU are not able to use leverage over 1:30.

The minimum amount of money for creating an account also differs according to your location. Usually, it is $250 but can vary depending on your jurisdiction and local currency. Users with this account are able to trade every single one of the available assets and spreads are very competitive, starting from 0.6 pips for Forex pairs. 

IG Limited Risk Account

Earlier in the guide, we noted that the broker offers traders negative balance protection. But this is not available in every jurisdiction and depends on the regulatory framework of the country you are from.

However, to ensure that every single trader and client of the broker trades in the same environment, IG offers a special account type called a Limited Risk account. This account is very much the same as the standard IG account we have discussed above. 

The main difference is that this account was created mostly for non-EU and UK clients, who are not eligible for negative balance protection. Essentially, the limited-risk account ensures that traders' balance does not go into negative territory.

IG Share Dealing Account

If you are a trader who enjoys investing in stocks, this account is a perfect choice for you. This account is specifically created for stock traders and allows individuals to buy and sell stocks as well as exchange-traded funds using the IG platform. 

The broker offers over 12,000 shares to traders, which makes it a perfect place for stock trading. However, it should be noted that the IG share dealing account is not available to every trader around the world. It is offered to traders from the UK and Australia. 

IG Spread Betting & Turbo 24

The broker is able to offer traders spread betting accounts thanks to the FCA regulation. Those using spread betting accounts are able to place spread bets on over 17,000 assets. The spreads at IG are very competitive and generally start from 0.1 pips. Because of the high-quality services offered by the broker, it is among the best brokers for spread betting. 

The Turbo24 trading account is very similar to the spread betting account. It is generally considered to be an alternative for spread betting accounts created specifically for the European market. 

While not exactly the same, it shares numerous similarities with the spread betting accounts. It is available for traders from countries such as Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and other EU-member states.

Inactivity fee

IG charges traders an inactivity fee. This fee is charged to traders whose accounts are inactive for a period of 24 consecutive months. The broker charges a rolling monthly fee of $18. 

Clients of the broker will receive a special email from the representatives of the broker once the fee is charged.

Getting started on IG - Main steps

Now that we have discovered all the important things that every trader should know about IG, it is time to go into a little bit more detail about how to get started with IG, what to keep in mind, and what makes this broker better than the others.

Step 1: Choose & create an account

The first step that you will have to take before getting started with IG is to choose which account you want to use. For this, you should try to understand what your needs are in the market. The more you know about your individual interests, the easier it should be to decide which account is a better choice for you.

Once you know which account you want to use, you can continue by opening the account. Here, you will have to provide very general information about yourself. This includes your first and last name, location, email, phone number, etc.

Step 2: Verify your identity

The registration is not over with your providing your personal information. The broker follows the Know Your Customer policy, which means that it requires the clients to verify their identity before getting started. 

There are several ways traders can verify their identity. The first option that you have is to provide a copy of your government-issued documents, such as your ID, passport, or driving license. After this, you will also be required to provide a copy of a utility bill issued over the past three months. This is required by the broker to verify your location.

The verification can take between 1 to 3 business days, so keep this in mind.

Step 3: Make your deposit

After your account has been officially verified, you will be able to start depositing funds. In the majority of jurisdictions, the broker does not have any minimum deposit requirements to open the account. 

The only limitation that applies to traders is that they can’t deposit less than $300 using card payments. However, if you are using bank transfers, it is up to you to decide how much money you want to deposit.

There are numerous payment methods available depending on your location.

Step 4: Choose which platform to use

Once you have deposited funds into your newly-created account, it is time for you to decide which software you want to use. There are numerous trading platforms available for traders on IG, you can choose whichever you believe is best for you. 

There are both web-based and downloadable platforms available.

Step 5: Start your analysis

There are loads of options that traders have on IG to do market analysis. 

If you are not sure about your skills when it comes to analyzing the price movements in the market, you can use the educational material offered by the broker and go through all the different types of market analysis tools that are on offer to do an extensive and accurate analysis on future price movements.

Step 6: Start trading

Once you are done with your analysis, you can go on and start opening and closing positions. Do not forget that you can use smart orders with this broker to ensure the highest level of accuracy when trading.

There are different types of fees charged by the broker. The fees that you might have to pay depend on different factors. For example, your account type, location, and the asset you are trading. 

There are no commissions charged by the broker for making deposits and withdrawals. However, it does charge some commissions for trading. There is also an inactivity fee charged after 24 months of an account not being active.

Comparing IG fees with other brokers

As we have already mentioned, there are some fees charged by the broker. However, all in all, these fees are not too high. This is especially true when we compare it with other brokers. Let’s take a look at how IG fees compare to others below.

IG fees compared to Interactive Brokers fees

*Inactivity fee was eliminated by IB in 2021, it used to be $20/m

IG fees compared to eToro fees

IG offers traders numerous different types of platforms. These platforms are offered to ensure that traders of all different interests can find something that fits their individual interests. The broker also offers traders a mobile trading platform, which is a very important factor in today’s trading industry. 

But when it comes to FX trading MetaTrader 4 is king. This is one of the most popular trading platforms in the market, used by millions of traders. The web-based platform of IG is also a great option for traders, especially for those who do not want to download additional applications on their computers.

After reviewing every little detail about IG, we were able to find that this broker is an amazing choice for traders of all different interests. Offering over 17,000 trading assets makes IG a great option for anyone. 

The broker is known for low fees, very diverse offerings, and a long history in the market. It is available around the world and has offices in over 17 countries, with more than 300,000 active users, IG is a great place for traders. 

It offers a diverse array of products for you to choose from and getting started at this broker is not too hard either. So, after a careful review and detailed analysis of everything IG has to offer, we are able to recommend this broker to our readers.