IG review

How we rated IG's investment features

What is IG?

IG is an investment platform that does it all. It’s got a stocks and shares ISA, a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), contracts for difference (CFDS), research resources, and even a learning academy.

IG has been around for a while – since 1974 to be exact and has aover 300,000 clients. It’s a comprehensive all-in-one investment provider. Despite what it says on the tin, IG is not really for novices. It’s got incredible depth in its web app and platform, which could be a bit overwhelming if you’re new to investing.

That being said, IG does offer hand-holding “Smart Portfolios” for those who need a hand creating and managing a portfolio. It’s also got the IG Academy, which can teach you all about investing and how you can get started – so beginners can still get in on the action. IG secured a spot as one of our best trading apps because of the range of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) it offers.

(Word to the wise – steer clear of the spread betting and CFD options IG offers if you’re new to investing! This is risky territory. If you’re an experienced investor and came here to read about these, we’ve covered them below.)

Expert test: I tried out IG's investing platform

George Sweeney

Deputy editor

IG is a great platform if you want loads of investing choice and you approach your strategy from more of a trading perspective. However, the layout and investing process isn't completely intuitive and it took me some time to get to grips with. It's solid value for regular investors, but a simplification of the fees wouldn't go amiss.

IG fees

The fees charged by IG depend on whether you choose to use the IG Smart Portfolio or IG Share Dealing account.

Share Dealing fees

In order to get the lowest costs with IG, you need to have traded at least 3 times in the previous month.

Not only does this give you reduced commissions on UK shares (dropping from £8 to £3) and US trades (lowering from £10 to free), it also means you’d qualify for no quarterly “custody fee” (which is basically the IG platform fee).

For European and Australian shares, the commission is 0.1% based on the size of the trade with respective commission minimums of €10 and $10 AUD.

Smart Portfolio fees

What are these fees for?

• Management fees

  There are management fees on IG Smart Portfolios, IG ISAs and IG SIPPs. These costs are for:

  • Portfolio management
  • Portfolio rebalancing
  • Customer service
  • Fractional dealing technology

• Fund costs

  These are the costs to trade with exchange traded funds (ETFs). ETFs have an ongoing charge, which IG deducts from the value of your fund. This isn’t a set amount, but usually averages around 0.15%.

• Transaction costs

  Transaction costs cover the difference in price when IG buys and sells the funds to rebalance your portfolio. It estimates this to be 0.07%.

IG investment choice and stocks

IG has an absolutely whopping number of investments on the platform, over 18,000 to be specific. The platform is well-known to be the place investors flock to when looking for more obscure or rare shares.

The huge selection of investments also cover a wide range of asset options such as:

• Stocks and shares
• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs)
• Investment trusts
• Commodities
• Currencies
• Bonds
• Funds
• Ready-made portfolios

If you want to invest in it, you can probably find it on IG’s platform, which is why it’s got an almost perfect score from us for investment choice. The only blemish on IG’s record is the fact that it doesn’t offer fractional shares, which allows you to buy portions of shares – super helpful if a single stock has a high price tag.

And if the thought of choosing from thousands of investments leaves you nervously quaking, you can always opt for IG’s Smart Portfolio service.

IG Smart Portfolios

If you’re not an experienced trader then you might want to choose an IG Smart Portfolio. These offer a similar experience to robo-advisors, which means an automated service that picks and manages a portfolio for you.

With IG’s Smart Portfolio account, the minimum deposit is a little bit weird. You can deposit a minimum of £50 by bank transfer or £250 by card. But there’s a flaw. IG will only start investing your funds once your Smart Portfolio balance reaches £500.

What is an IG Smart Portfolio?

With IG Smart Portfolios you can invest in a managed portfolio that matches your attitude to risk. It works by answering a set of questions about your knowledge and investing experience – along with your investment goals. You’re then matched to a portfolio based on your investing style.

Once you’ve taken the questionnaire, IG will ask about how much you intend to invest and how long you want to invest it for. It also asks how much money you have set aside as an emergency fund (and won’t match you to a portfolio if you have less than three months worth).

IG Smart Portfolios vs IG Share Dealing: Which should I go for?

If you’re new to investing, you might be wondering what the difference is between the 2 types of accounts with IG.

There’s no cookie-cutter answer. It depends on what you want to do. People usually choose IG Share Dealing if they want to take a DIY investing approach and are happy to spend time monitoring and making adjustments. You don’t have to be an experienced investor to go for this option, but it’s recommended.

Meanwhile, IG Smart Portfolios offer some broad guidance by matching you up to a pre-made portfolio. This is definitely a useful option for newbies, but you pay added fees for the privilege of expert support.

Is IG safe?

IG is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and your investments are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). So if IG were to go bust, you are covered up to £85,000.

IG is a trusted provider and is an established FTSE 250 company that’s been running for over 45 years.

Although as always when you invest, your capital is at risk.

IG account types and products

At the moment, you can invest in 3 account types with IG:

• General investment account (GIA)
• Stocks and shares ISA
• Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

General investment account (GIA)

You can open a general investment account with IG that allows you to make taxable investments outside of your ISA allowance. People usually go for this option if they’ve used up their annual ISA allowance as you may need to pay capital gains tax on your profits.

Capital gains tax is payable if you crystallise gains of more than £6,000 in each tax year.

Stocks and shares ISA

IG stocks and shares ISA is available with the IG Share Dealing account and the ready-made IG Smart Portfolios. You have to create an account first and then add your ISA afterwards.

As with all ISAs, you have an allowance for the tax year which you can use to invest tax-efficiently. The allowance for the 2023/2024 tax year is £20,000. This means that you can invest up to £20,000 and minimise any potential tax.

Features of the IG stocks and shares ISA include:

• Flexibility. You can withdraw funds during the year without reducing your ISA allowance.
• Free to open. There aren’t any transfer or exit fees either.
• Wide choice of investments. Choose from over 18,000 global stocks and assets.
• No custody fee. If you buy or sell 3 times in a quarter, IG will waive the quarterly £24 custody fee.

On the whole, IG’s ISA is a strong competitor. It offers exactly what most people are looking for in an ISA, but only if you plan to make at least 12 trades over a year.

We think the main drawback is the custody fee, which is only waived if you make more than 3 trades per quarter. Otherwise, it could set you back £96 each year, which is more than some other investment ISAs.

Self-invested personal pension (SIPP)

IG’s SIPP allows you to invest in your future with tax benefits. Your pension is locked until you turn 55 (rising to 57 in 2028).

The main features of IG’s SIPP include:

• Invest up to £60,000 in the 2023/2024 tax year with at least 20% tax relief on your contributions and no capital gains or income tax to pay
• Invest in domestic and international shares and ETFs
• Transfer one or more pensions from other pension providers
• IG’s technology helps you find lower prices when buying shares

If you want to invest for your future but don’t want to play around with share dealing, IG also offers a Smart Portfolio SIPP.

Standout features of the IG Smart Portfolio SIPP include:

• Invest up to £60,000 in the 2023/2024 tax year with at least 20% tax relief on your contributions and no capital gains or income tax to pay
  Get diversified global exposure
• Benefit from regular adjustments made by BlackRock
• Administered by James Hay
• Portfolio is matched to your risk profile

IG ease of use

IG scored well in our ease of use assessment. We particularly like that there are a few ways to get hold of the support team.

One downside is that the design and user interface of the platform isn’t very intuitive. It can really take some getting used to (which is why the demo account is a help).

On the App Store, IG scores 4.6 out of 5, and on Google Play it has a 4 out of 5 (as of December 2023).

IG customer reviews

In the 2024 Finder customer satisfaction survey, 87% of IG customers said they’d recommend the brand to a friend. Many said the platform was easy to use, with several commenting on the wide range of assets available.

One customer commented:”They do not break down in heavy usage times. They have a large number of assets to trade in multiple markets.”

Another said: “The fees are OK and (they) offer a range of investment tools to help make any investing decisions.”

Trustpilot reviewers gave IG a 4 out of 5 “great” rating (last updated: December 2023).

IG tools, resources and features

IG has a wide range of investing tools and resources to match its monster catalogue of investment options. IG offers things like:

• Company financials
• Advanced charting tools
• Ability to set automated order types
• Watchlists
• Technical analysis tools
• Community forums
• Demo account
• IG learning academy

Demo account

This lets you get an idea of share trading before you start investing real money. This is often popular with beginner investors who are hesitant while they don’t know exactly how it works.

Annoyingly, IG’s demo account is only available for its spread betting and CFD trading services, which is pretty complicated territory. You can try it out with £10,000 in virtual funds to see how it works and get an idea of what the platform allows you to do. We liked that the platform is customisable. It allows you to choose your layout and watch markets that you’re interested in.

The charts are helpful, as they give detailed information on the movements – that is, if you know how to read them. This is where IG Academy can come in handy, as it gives you the opportunity to learn how they work. We briefly cover IG Academy below.

If you’re planning to stay away from spread betting and CFDs (a wise choice if you’re a beginner!) then IG’s demo account won’t be of any use to you.

IG Academy

IG Academy is IG’s educational hub. It has online trading courses, webinars, and seminars to give you a little leg-up in the market. This is handy, as investing can be complicated, especially when you have as many options available as IG offers.

The online trading courses have videos and interactive quizzes and exercises. There are frequent live sessions, which are webinars where IG’s experts share their knowledge and insight. This gives you the chance to ask questions about share trading.

IG Academy has its own app, which means that you can learn about share trading and investing on the go. It’s pretty simple to use and gives you info on how long each section will take.

Contracts for difference (CFDs)

You can trade contracts for difference (CFDs) with IG. A fair warning, in case you didn’t see it earlier: CFDs are complicated and risky, so aren’t really suitable for beginners. We won’t be offended if you skip this section, honestly.

Now we’ve got that out of the way. The CFD section of IG’s site is a bit overwhelming with all the blue and red flashing as the buy/sell prices change, but it’s really just a sign of how comprehensive it is in this area. It’s got loads of live data and a newsfeed to keep you up to date on what’s going on in the market to help you make better decisions.

You can trade on indices, foreign exchange (forex), shares and commodities with IG and never have to own the underlying asset. Main benefits include:

• Negative balance protection. This ensures that your account balance doesn’t stay below zero. It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t available for professional traders.
• Competitive spreads. In line with competitors.
• Expert support. 24 hours a day from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday.
• Web-based platform and mobile apps available. Allowing you trade whichever way is convenient.
• Educational resources. These are through IG Academy.

IG CFD fees

The only direct charge you really need to worry about is the spread (a commission in the case of share CFDs). IG charges its own spread on top of the market spread as its fee for the trade.

Ultimately, this depends on market conditions. You can see the spread, as it’s the difference between the bid and ask prices.

Overnight funding

This is the charge for keeping your CFD positions past 10pm UK time. This charge is added to your account as an interest adjustment. You don’t pay overnight funding for futures or forwards as it’s built into the spread.

Guaranteed stop premiums

You can attach guaranteed stops to your position to help protect your investments. IG charges a fee if it is triggered. This is called the premium.

IG extra services

There are some extra services that IG charges you for if you use it. These are listed below and you can find details on the website.

• Direct Market Access (DMA)
• Live price data fees
• ProRealTime Charts
• Inactivity fee
• Account documentation fee
• Currency conversion charge
• Third-party charges (such as fees for credit and non-UK debit card payments)