In this article, we review the broker IG Markets. 
In the review, we evaluate them on the following parameters:
- Security
- Product selection
- Trading platforms
- Trading costs
- Charting package
- Customer service
- Demo account
- Bonuses
At the end of the article, we give them an overall assessment based on the above.
About IG Markets
IG Markets is the world’s largest CFD provider with annual revenue of over four billion (2015). IG Markets have existed since 1974 and are, therefore, one of the established brokers in the industry.
They have their headquarters in London and that’s where they are registered. They are also listed on the London Stock Exchange and are regulated by the UK Financial Supervisory Authority (FCA), thus meeting all the financial requirements of a trading platform.
They offer trading in over 10,000 markets and have different trading platforms, according to your needs.
The security at IG Markets
According to IG Markets, customers’ money is separated from their own funds. That is, if IG should go bankrupt, it does not affect the customers’ money as they are located elsewhere at different banks.
The depositor’s guarantee is on the statutory barely £ 500,000 in England. That part of the security must be said to be extremely satisfactory at IG Markets.
It is also extremely positive that they are regulated in England and not in Cyprus or offshore.
But it is possible to lose more than what you have in your account. It is a little different from broker to broker, whether they choose to secure the account against a negative balance. However, IG Markets has chosen to leave the risk to the customer.
“Unfortunately, this means that in theory, you can lose more money than you deposited.”
For example, for some customers, when SNB (Swiss National Bank) in 2015 chose to release the Swiss franc against the euro. This resulted in extreme volatility in the market combined with virtually no liquidity in the market, which meant that some customers were not taken out at their stop-loss. They did not only end up by losing everything in their trading account but also owing IG Markets money.
However, it does draw down in their score that you can lose more money than the deposited amount. So, we have difficulties recommending – especially new – daytraders to use the platform.
Products at IG Markets
As said, their range of products is very large and may be a bit overwhelming.
They offer these financial products:
- Shares (most major shares)
- commodities
- Forex
- Stock indices
- options
- Bitcoin
- Bonds
- ETFs
- Binary Options
In our opinion, it is not very serious that a broker offers Binary Options. The product itself is very controversial, but again, it is said to be a good source of income for the brokers. However, we do not consider it a positive thing that a broker offers binary options.
Trading platforms at IG Markets
IG offers both their own web-based platform and the opportunity to use Pro Real Time. However, it costs 300 kroner a month, but if you have more than four transactions per month, you will be refunded the amount. In addition, they offer their platforms on smartphones and tablets.
We have looked at their own platform.
The web-based platform is very classical and relatively easy to access. The design is simple and functional. The language is English without the possibility of Danish, so it may be a challenge for some daytraders if you insist that the trading platform is in Danish.
Trading costs at IG Markets
Spreads at IG Markets are excellent, but not as competitive as we have seen other brokers. They write that they can come a long way down, but they are not fixed, so you can experience really high spreads during news and at bad times of the day. Just because there is a spread of 0.8 (EURUSD), it does not mean that it is normal.
When we tested their spreads here at 16:00 on a daily basis, they looked like this:
- DAX about 1 point
- Dow Jones: 1.2 points
- EURUSD: 1.5 points
- EURGBP: 2 points
- AUDJPY: 3 points
- USDJPY: 1.5 points
- GBPUSD: 2 points
- Crude Oil: 4 points
- Gold: 5 points
They are slightly higher than the competitors – and as said – they are variable, which is not particularly positive. On the other hand, IG Markets opens very early Sunday and most of their instruments are open 24 hours a day on weekdays, so you have the opportunity to go in and out of the market whenever it suits one, though with slightly higher spreads.
The charting package as a work tool
Your charting package on the web platform is reasonably good. It is possible to trade directly from the chart and move around one’s orders via the chart, which is definitely a positive thing. You can either choose to view the price as a line graph or candlestick chart. Unfortunately, it is not possible to get the price shown as a Renko graph, which is a bit disappointing.
It is possible to set many time intervals, which is also a positive thing.
You have the option to choose from 22 technical indicators. There are the most important ones, such as MACD, ATR, RSI, and Volume. However, we miss a slightly wider range of indicators.
The drawing tools are also satisfying. Unfortunately, you cannot customize the Fibonacci tool so you can adjust the ratios. This is a minus in our opinion.
Entering trades works fine and smoothly. This can be done via the buy and sell buttons, as well as with limit orders. It is also possible to attach a trailing stop-loss to one’s trade. IG Markets also offers guaranteed Stop-loss, but it costs money and is not free as it is with for example Spreadmarket.com.
Customer Service at IG Markets
Customer service is at the top.
It is possible to contact IG Markets 24 hours a day on weekdays by phone and e-mail. It is clearly a plus that they are available 24 hours a day. There is nothing worse than sitting with a problem and being unable to get in touch with one’s broker.
Demo account at IG Markets
It’s super easy to open a demo account and do not require any hard work. However, I would recommend not entering your phone number as you may experience being called by their telemarketing salespeople with offers several times a day.
The demo account is, of course, free and even without a time limit, which is positive.
IG Markets does not offer bonus
They do not offer any kind of sign-up bonus or other bonuses. In any case, this is not advertised. We see this as a positive thing, as a bonus typically is quite difficult to realize and typically does more harm more than good. Many new daytraders may feel pressured to take a certain number of trades per day in order to realize the bonus, but it is rarely a good thing to trade that frequently, especially for new traders. It can of course work for some, but our experience is that, as a new trader, you should rather focus on good and well-considered trades and not just trade loosely to get a bonus.
Overall rating of IG Markets 
Our overall rating of IG Markets:
- Security – 3.5 points
- Product range – 4 points
- Trading platform – 3.5 points
- Trading costs – 3 points
- Charting package – 3 points
- Customer service – 4 points
- Demo account – 5 points
- Bonus – 5 points
Overall Rating: 3.9 out of 5.0
IG Markets is an excellent broker that covers the needs of most daytraders. They offer a huge selection of markets and their spreads are reasonable – though slightly higher than their competitors. Their charting package and trading platform are fine and the design is nice and simple. The security is good, but you can lose more than you have deposited, which is not very safe. All in all, IG is an excellent broker for the usual daytrader.
>> You can sign up for IG Markets here <<
Disclaimer: We do not receive any payment for this review. All ratings and attitudes in this article are as objective as possible and are not produced in collaboration with IG Markets. IG Markets is neither advertiser nor sponsor at DaytraderLand.com. If you sign up for the IG Markets trading platform through the above affiliate link, the writer will receive a smaller commission from IG Markets as part of their affiliate program.
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