IG Index Interview
Spread Betting Trading Centre: Could you give us a little history about the company? IG Index: IG Index is the world’s oldest spread betting firm, established in 1974 by Stuart Wheeler; famous as much for playing poker with Lord Lucan and Omar Sharif as for donating £5 million to William Hague’s election campaign in 2001. From a modest product range of FTSE and Dow Jones bets, we launched bets on individual shares in 1997 and have been constantly expanding our product range ever since. You can now bet on pretty much anything from pork belly futures to the average price of a London house. We were the first firm to offer guaranteed stops and now offer G-stops on almost every market we quote. IG invented binary betting in 2003
Spread Betting Trading Centre: Does your company offer any services in addition to spread betting?
IG Index: Under the IG Group umbrella, in addition to financial spread betting, we offer sports spread betting, margin trading (CFDs) which offers clients L2, our direct market access platform, and institutional foreign exchange
Spread Betting Trading Centre: Do you personally spread bet? If so, how long have you been doing it?
IG Index: Yes, although not to the extent of some of my colleagues! As we are in an environment which gives access to so many different markets, it is possible to get a feel for how markets trade and having money on them can be both rewarding (if you get it right!) and helps to ensure you are fully informed as to how things are moving and why. This improves the service we can offer to clients. I was slow to start trading and have only bet on my own account for the last 5 years or so.
Spread Betting Trading Centre: What attributes do you think make for a good spread better?
IG Index: Nothing different from what makes a good trader. Primarily, you need to be disciplined in your approach. You need to think your strategy through and then stick to it. This, in turn, will enable you to run profits and cut losses which can tip the balance in your favour. Using spread betting to trade is the obvious choice as it is tax free in the UK.
Spread Betting Trading Centre: What do you think is the principal reason your customers spread bet - e.g. hedging short-term deals, capital gain, etc.?
IG Index: Primarily, and overwhelmingly, for speculation. The main reason clients spread bet rather than buy the underlying asset is because of the tax advantage but other aspects such as gearing and ability to short-sell makes the product attractive. Of course, spread betting can be used just as easily to hedge physical exposure and indeed this, too, is a strategy our clients use spread betting to pursue.
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