As the UK’s original over-the-counter (OTC) leveraged derivatives provider, we introduced a completely new, accessible way for people to trade on gold in 1974 – by defining it as an index.
Since then, we’ve challenged ourselves to build the world’s best technology platforms, products and exchanges. Our innovations have included the first online dealing platform for financial spread betting in 1998 and the first trading app for Apple Watch in 2015. Our award-winning app1 offers an intuitive, customisable interface with lightning-fast functionality and sophisticated tools for advanced traders, while still being easy to navigate for those with less experience.
We take a responsible approach to targeting and onboarding new clients. Recognising that our products won’t be right for everyone, we use sophisticated methods to check suitability during the application process.
We’re in it together with our clients, there with them at every step in their pursuit of financial freedom. That’s why we have a wealth of educational material available through our websites and IG Academy. From essential trading and risk-management techniques to providing market insights and alerts about upcoming economic events, we draw on nearly five decades’ experience to help people trade and invest more effectively.
In our 47 years, we’ve seen it all and tackled every challenge head-on. Numerous economic ups-and-downs, an uncertain regulatory landscape and other global events have tested our agility as a business – most recently the Covid-19 pandemic. Through this period of exceptional market volatility, our people have shown incredible resilience, demonstrating just how strong our operating model and risk management strategies are. We’ve handled unprecedented levels of client trading activity and account applications, all while our people adjust to a never-before-seen working environment. Our long-term investment in communications and technology proved to be one of the smartest decisions we ever made, enabling our people to work safely and effectively from home.
In FY21 we acquired tastytrade, an online brokerage and one-of-a-kind investor education platform with a growing share of the US derivatives market, primarily through options and futures. Much like us, tastytrade goes where no financial firm has gone before, making our two businesses the perfect pair. tastytrade shares our entrepreneurial ethos and always-innovating culture, and will be a valuable partner for IG Group.