IG Group

IG Group Holdings plc, trading as IG Group, is a United Kingdom-based online trading provider, offering access to spread betting and CFD trading, which allow traders to bet on the direction of equities, bonds and currencies without owning the underlying assets.

Established in 1974 by Stuart Wheeler, the company is based in London and employs 1,950 staff.

, it had a market value of £2.9 billion and offered trading in 17,000 investment markets. IG is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK's financial authority body. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Founding and early years (1974– 2000)
IG Group, founded as IG Index (Investors Gold Index), was founded in 1974 by British financier Stuart Wheeler. IG Index was launched as the first spread betting company. Rather than buying physical gold, the company allowed investors to trade gold prices.

In July 2000, IG Group was formed as a parent company of IG Index and shares first began to be traded on the London Stock Exchange.

Expansion (2001– 2010)
In 2002, IG Group entered the international market for the first time by expanding its business to Australia.

In 2003, private equity firm CVC Capital Partners backed a management buyout of IG Group for a total of £143 million. In April 2005, IG Group stock was brought back to the market valuing the company at £1.3 billion, and CVC sold off 15.1 million IG Group shares worth £58 million.

In 2007, IG Group entered the United States market for the first time by purchasing HedgeStreet, a digital marketplace allowing investors to trade financial derivatives online, for £2.9 million. In June 2009, the company was renamed to Nadex.

In September 2008, IG Group expanded into Japan by purchasing private online exchange trading firm FXOnline for £112 million.

In 2010, IG Index, IG Group's spread betting firm, was hit with a claim for €25 million by three former clients of defunct Scottish trading firm Echelon Wealth Management for unspecified losses.

Further development (2011–present)
In July 2011, IG Group shut down its sports betting service extrabet after they could not find a buyer. The service was shuttered due to its sales shrinking down to 2.5%, which was half its sales from the year prior. The closure cost IG Group 5.3 million pounds in charges to the company.

In September 2014, the company launched its own online stockbroking platform offering 4,500 stocks.

In January 2015, the Swiss National Bank announced it was abandoning the cap of the swiss franc, and roughly a few hundred IG customers were negatively financially impacted. IG customers incurred losses of £18.4 million after it happened, and customers who lost money considered taking legal action against IG Group. In October 2015, the U.K.’s ombudsman ruled that IG Group was to compensate customers who lost money.

In September 2016, IG Group acquired the foreign exchange trading news and research portal DailyFX from FXCM for $40 million. Later, in December, Peter Hetheringon, the CEO of the company, criticized the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK after it announced new measures to overhaul the industry, publicly blaming the regulator for weakness in some aspects of implementation and its lack of understanding of what the proposed changes could bring.

In January 2017, IG Group withdrew its binary options "sprints" betting product to new customers. The decision came after the company lost £1bn in value after the Financial Conduct Authority revealed new measures on spread betting.

In April 2017, IG Group partnered with BlackRock to launch IG Smart Portfolio, which includes model investment portfolios and asset allocation guidance from BlackRock. This move marked the first time IG joined the field of wealth management.

In February 2019, IG Group launched a new subsidiary IG US, which offers foreign exchange trading. In June 2024, IG US rebranded to tastyfx. In March 2021, FinanceFeeds and Financial Magnates reported that IG Group's system, supposedly accustomed to low volatility periods, faced frequent outages at the time of higher-than-usual trade volumes. Such crashes left clients unable to control the positions, leading to loss of funds. According to FinanceFeeds, during the January 2021 outage, IG Group provided no customer support (up to not answering the phone calls) but immediately reacted to request for commentary to protect its public image and deny the issues raised by the clients.

IG Group acquired Chicago-based online brokerage tastytrade in January 2021 for $1 billion, a trading platform catering to individual investors. Tastytrade was co-founded in 2011 by Tom Sosnoff, an entrepreneur and options trader, who also founded thinkorswim, a brokerage firm that was acquired by TD Ameritrade for $606 million in 2009, and Dough, Inc. In January 2017 subsidiary tastyworks was launched as a brokerage arm of tastytrade. In February 2023, tastyworks then rebranded to tastytrade.

In December 2021, IG brokered a deal for the sale of North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) and a 39% stake in Small Exchange Inc to Foris DAX Markets Inc, which trades as Crypto.com, completing the $216 million sale in March 2022. Nadex is a U.S. derivatives exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission encompassing short term binary options.

ESG Investing
In 2019, IG partnered with Teach First to train 16 teachers in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This partnership was extended to create a £2 million fund supporting children in disadvantaged areas, specifically affected by the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education system. IG Group launched its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy, Brighter Future, in 2020.

IG's Brighter Future Fund launched in early 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the education and development of young people irrespective of race, gender or socioeconomic background.

Senior management
Following his tenure as Chief Financial Officer, Tim Hawkins was appointed CEO in October 2006, retiring 9 years later in 2015. Following the departure of Tim Howkins, Peter Hetherington became CEO in October 2015, having started at the company as a graduate trainee in January 1994. He later stepped down in September 2018. In October 2018, IG Group appointed June Felix as CEO. Felix served as a non-executive director for three years before joining the board. After Felix resigned due to ill-health, Breon Corcoran was appointed CEO in December 2023.

Operations
IG Group is headquartered in London. The company operates out of the United States, Europe, Australia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Japan, and Dubai, with 18 sales offices across the globe.

IG Group offers leveraged and investment products to its customers but has different products depending on region as countries have varying regulations.

In European countries, IG Group offers customers turbo warrants In the United States, through its acquisition of tastytrade, the company offers options, futures, and crypto trading for individual investors.

Sponsorship
During its history, IG Group signed some notable sponsorship deals:


 * The company sponsored Getafe CF football club in the 2010–2011 Spanish season.
 * In November 2010, IG Markets signed a sponsorship deal to support Team Sky professional cycling team in 2011.
 * In December 2010, IG Markets announced sponsorship of two stages of Santos Tour Down Under cycling race in 2011.
 * In October 2013, IG signed a sponsorship deal with Harlequin rugby team for the next three years. In September 2014, the deal was updated to make IG one of three major sponsors for the team.
 * In May 2015, IG Group became a partner of Melbourne Football Club for 2015 and 2016.
 * In May 2021, IG Group became a partner of England Cricket Club for 2021 and 2022.