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, IG Markets Japan and Nadex 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 ten 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.
One of the cornerstones of IG Group's success is PureDeal, our multiple-award-winning, browser-based dealing platform, which lets clients trade quickly and securely. PureDeal takes millions of trades each month, with around five million trades placed each month so far during 2011.
The platform combines reliability, even during periods of intense client activity, with a huge range of resources and cutting-edge trading technology. An intuitive trading interface and a fully customisable layout allow clients to optimise PureDeal according to their trading strategies.
Some of the Group's other 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 millions of transactions per month, over 99% of them online. In the year to May 2011, the Group achieved a turnover of £320.4 million, and generated a record adjusted profit before tax (PBT) of £163.0 million. Find out more about how the business operates today by visiting our Corporate Profile page.
To learn more about the companies that make up IG Group, including information about where we are located globally, our client base and our commitment to providing all our clients with an excellent service, please visit the Our Businesses section.
While IG Group is proud of its history, we are constantly looking forwards and focussing on new challenges and opportunities. With many of the Group’s member businesses being at the forefront of the market in their respective territories, and offering cutting-edge products, one of our key objectives is to maintain market leadership. We are also committed to technological innovation, continued global expansion and maintaining our excellent levels of customer service. You can learn more about our plans for the future on our Strategic Goals page.