Our History
IG Group Holdings is a London-based company with a global presence. The Group consists of a number of market-leading brands, including IG Index – the world’s longest-running and largest financial spread betting firm.
IG Index was founded in 1974 to enable people to trade the price of gold as an index rather than trading the commodity itself, making the market far more accessible and removing the prohibitive costs surrounding commodity trading. Thus ‘Investors Gold’ Index was born. The name was soon shortened to IG Index, paving the way to introduce a wide range of other products over the years ahead.
The company expanded rapidly, underpinned by market-leading technology which supported round-the-clock client trading. IG Index became the first spread betting firm to introduce online dealing in 1998, capitalising on the emergence of the internet and an increased awareness of investment products. The company became IG Group in 2000.
IG Markets, FXOnline, Nadex and extrabet.com were all added to the Group as it continued to grow and it is now one of the UK’s top 200 firms and is listed on the FTSE 250. The Group has also developed internationally, opening 10 offices across the world during the past five years.
Innovation and technology
Product and technological innovation have been key elements of the Group's successful development. As pioneers of financial derivatives trading online, our businesses have repeatedly broken new ground, helping IG Group as a whole to become a highly successful business.
Some of the Group's key innovations include:
- DealThru Charts: advanced, real-time charts that let clients trade directly from the chart
- Mobile technology: powerful tools for mobiles and smartphones, including the iPhone
- Price Improvement: a unique tool that offers clients the best price in volatile markets
- PureDMA: the UK’s first browser-based Direct Market Access service
- MTFs: we source multiple price feeds to ensure clients get the best prices
Our commitment to outstanding trading technology that is as reliable as it is powerful sets us apart from our competitors and ensures IG Group’s status as a true market leader.
IG Group today
IG Group companies have tens of thousands of clients worldwide making hundreds of thousands of transactions a month, over 95% of them online. In the year to May 2010, the Group achieved a turnover of £299 million, and generated a record profit before tax of £166 million. Find out more about Our Businesses.