IG's investment platform is one of the most competitive options for UK investors seeking broad market access at a low cost. It combines commission-free online trading, access to more than 3,000 UCITS ETFs, thousands of UK, U.S. and European shares, comprehensive UK tax wrappers, and an intuitive desktop platform alongside the simplified IG Invest mobile app. Free recurring investing across all supported exchanges further strengthens its appeal for long-term investors, making it one of the most compelling Tier 1 investment platforms in the UK. While the platform offers one of the broadest investment universes available to UK retail investors, the absence of multicurrency accounts and securities lending may limit its appeal for more sophisticated investors.
Passive Investors: Very Suitable.commission-free online trading, free recurring investing and no custody fees for General Investment Accounts and Stocks & Shares ISAs. Passive investors can invest through the Simplified IG Invest mobile app.
Semi-Active Investors: Very Suitable. Investors benefit from one of the broadest investment universes available in the UK, including more than 3,000 UCITS ETFs, thousands of international shares and comprehensive UK tax wrappers. While all online share trading is commission-free using the default Instant FX Conversion setting, the 0.70% foreign exchange fee can make frequent international investing more expensive than with brokers offering lower FX conversion costs or multicurrency accounts.
IG Trading complements the IG Invest app for more advanced investing if needed.
Active Investors: Very Suitable. Eligible investors may qualify for Elective Professional Client status, allowing access to U.S.-domiciled ETFs. IG Invest does not support margin borrowing, securities lending or multicurrency accounts. Investors seeking leveraged trading can instead use IG Trading, which offers dedicated derivates trading with margin capabilities.
Pros & Cons And Suitability
▶ Pros & Cons
Large, profitable with long history
Listed on LSE (FTSE 100) rated by Fitch
Two apps - one for passive, one for active investors
Commission-free
Broad range of ETFs and international exchanges
Elective Professional Investor Status
Good Cash Interest
High FX fees
Historical emphasis on traders
▶ Suitability
Passive
Very SuitableCommission-free, no custody fees and a comprehensive range of UK tax wrappers. Simplified IG Invest App.
😍
Semi-Active
Very SuitableBroad range of products, although foreign exchange fees are relatively high
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Active
Very SuitableGreat advanced features with IG Trading app
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Broker Snapshot
Why is IG Invest UK a Tier 1 Broker?
IG Invest UK benefits from the financial strength and reputation of IG Group Holdings plc, one of the UK's leading listed financial services companies. The group serves more than 750,000 active customers globally and administers approximately £19.5 billion of client assets across its investment platforms. Through its UK investment platform, IG competes directly with providers such as Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, Interactive Investor and Fidelity Personal Investing UK.
One of the UK's Leading Online Investment Platforms
Founded in 1974, IG Group has grown into one of the UK's largest online financial services companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Although best known for its leveraged trading business, the group has expanded its long-term investing offering through its Share Dealing, ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP and Smart Portfolio accounts, which can be accessed via the IG Invest mobile app or the web-based Share Dealing platform.
▶ Company Info
Inception Year: 1974
Headquarters: London, UK
Key Owner: Largest shareholders: Artemis (~11%), BlackRock (~8%)
Bank Affiliated: No
Listed on Stock Exchange: LSE (FTSE 100)
Parent Rating: Fitch BBB (Stable)
Net Income: ~£380 million (CY2025)
▶ Regulation
Key Regulators: UK
UK Entity: IG Trading and Investments Limited
UK Regulator: UK (FCA)
UK Guarantee: Max. £85k
Competitive Pricing with Broad Investment Choice
IG combines competitive pricing with one of the broadest investment universes available to UK retail investors. The platform provides access to thousands of UK, U.S., European and international shares, ETFs and investment trusts across multiple global exchanges. Commission-free online trading and free recurring investing further strengthen its appeal for long-term investors, making IG one of the lowest-cost Tier 1 investment platforms in the UK. However, the 0.70% foreign exchange fee can make frequent international investing more expensive than with some competitors, while the platform does not offer securities lending or multicurrency accounts. This review primarily focuses on IG Invest's long-term investment accounts. However, where relevant, we also reference IG Trading's separate leveraged accounts to help investors understand the group's full product offering.
We rate the company 4.0 out of 5. IG Group is one of the UK's largest listed financial services companies, serving more than 750,000 active clients globally and operating for over five decades. As a FTSE 100 constituent, the company provides a high degree of transparency through financial reporting and corporate governance disclosures, while its investment-grade credit rating reflects a decent financial position. However, unlike traditional investment platforms such as Fidelity or Vanguard, IG's core business remains leveraged trading products, including CFDs, spread betting and foreign exchange. Although the group's long-term investment offering has expanded significantly in recent years, it continues to represent a relatively small part of the wider business.
IG Group was founded in 1974 and has grown into one of the UK's largest online financial services companies. Today, the group serves more than 750,000 active clients globally and administers approximately £19.5 billion of client assets across its investment platforms. Its business is organised around four principal activities: Over-the-Counter (OTC) derivatives, foreign exchange and options; Exchange-Traded Derivatives (ETDs); long-term investing through its investment platform, including Share Dealing, Stocks & Shares ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP and Smart Portfolio accounts; and financial content and education through brands including DailyFX and Tastylive. Historically, the overwhelming majority of the group's revenues and profits have been generated by leveraged trading products. Based on the last published product revenue breakdown, OTC derivatives, foreign exchange and options accounted for approximately 83% of revenues, Exchange-Traded Derivatives for around 15%, while stock trading and investments represented only around 2% of total revenues. This illustrates that, despite the continued growth of its investment platform, long-term investing remains a relatively small part of the wider group. Nevertheless, IG's investment accounts benefit from the financial strength, technology and infrastructure of one of the UK's largest listed financial services companies. This review focuses exclusively on IG's long-term investment offering and does not evaluate its separate CFD, spread betting or cryptocurrency trading accounts. IG Group is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company is predominantly owned by institutional investors, including Artemis, BlackRock, MFS and Vanguard.
IG Group is highly profitable, well capitalised and benefits from the transparency associated with being a publicly listed company. As a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, the group publishes detailed financial statements, strategy updates and regulatory disclosures on a regular basis. Unlike most UK investment platforms, IG also maintains an investment-grade credit rating from Fitch. The agency currently assigns the group a long-term issuer rating of BBB with a Stable Outlook, indicating that expectations of default risk are low (single digits likelihood over 10 years based on cohort PD analysis) and that the company's capacity to meet its financial obligations is considered adequate under most adverse business or economic conditions.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects up to £85,000 per institution in event of firm failure. Importantly this is per customer per institution. Eligible cash balances held with UK banking institutions are generally also protected up to £120,000 per person, per bank, subject to the applicable FSCS rules.
Shares: Client investments are held in segregated nominee accounts with Citibank N.A. (Citi) acting as custodian. Investors remain the beneficial owners of their securities.
Cash: Client money is held separately from IG's own funds in segregated trust accounts with a number of regulated banks in accordance with the FCA Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS). IG may also place cash in qualifying money market funds but does not publicly disclose all client money banks.
IG's reputation has historically been built around leveraged trading products, including CFDs, spread betting and foreign exchange, where it is recognised as one of the global market leaders. Like many providers of leveraged products, IG has been affected by regulatory changes over the years. For example, it offered binary options before the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) prohibited their sale to retail investors in 2018. There is no comparable history of material regulatory intervention relating specifically to IG Invest, ISAs or SIPPs, which operate under a more traditional investment platform model. IG has also attracted attention regarding its treatment of client cash. The group retains a significant proportion of the interest earned on customer cash balances and historically paid no interest to investment account holders. In December 2023, the FCA wrote to investment platforms and SIPP operators expressing concerns that some firms were retaining interest on client cash without providing sufficiently clear disclosures or demonstrating fair value to consumers under the Consumer Duty. The FCA's concerns applied across the industry rather than being directed at IG specifically, but they nevertheless highlighted an area where greater transparency was expected from investment platforms. Since 2026, IG has introduced interest on eligible GBP cash balances, although eligibility conditions apply.
Fee Structure ⓘ
We rate the fee structure 4.5 out of 5. IG offers one of the most competitive pricing structures among UK investment platforms. General Investment Accounts, ISAs and Junior ISAs incur no platform or custody fees, while online dealing in UK and international shares and ETFs is commission-free when using the default Instant FX Conversion setting. Investors making regular monthly contributions also benefit from free recurring investing. The main drawback is the 0.70% foreign exchange fee applied to trades in foreign currencies, which effectively replaces traditional dealing commissions for most international investments. SIPP investors should also consider the flat £210 annual administration fee, although this does not apply to other account types.
IG Invest.
Custody Fees.
IG's fee structure is designed as follows:
Share Dealing and Stocks & Shares ISA Accounts: There are no platform or custody fees for General Investment Accounts or Stocks & Shares ISAs.
SIPP Accounts: A flat £210 annual administration fee applies, payable to Options UK Personal Pensions LLP, the third-party pension administrator that operates IG's SIPP. This fee applies regardless of portfolio size.
IG Smart Portfolios: IG's discretionary investment service charges an annual management fee of 0.50% on the first £50,000 of assets, capped at £250 per year, with no management fee on assets above £50,000. Investors also pay approximately 0.09% in transaction costs and around 0.13% in underlying fund costs. For Smart Portfolio SIPPs, these charges are payable in addition to the £210 annual SIPP administration fee.
Trading Fees.
For IG Invest (not CFDs):
UK shares & ETFs: £0 commission.
US shares & ETFs: $0 commission.
European shares & ETFs: €0 commission.
Australian shares: A$0 commission.
Regular Investing: Available across eligible investment products at no additional cost.
Foreign Exchange: A 0.70% FX conversion fee applies when trading securities denominated in a foreign currency using the default Instant FX Conversion setting.
Note: The commission-free pricing above applies when using IG's default Instant FX Conversion. Investors who choose Manual FX Conversion instead pay dealing commissions (e.g. £3 for UK shares, 3¢ per US share with a $15 minimum, 0.10% with €10/A$10 minimums for European and Australian shares).
Note: This review covers IG's Share Dealing, Stocks & Shares ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP and Smart Portfolio accounts. IG also offers separate CFD, spread betting and cryptocurrency trading accounts through its trading platform. These leveraged products follow a different pricing model based primarily on spreads, overnight financing charges, foreign exchange conversion fees and derivative commissions, and are therefore not included in this review.
Currency Exchange Fees
IG aims to find the best available conversion rate for FX, then adds a 0.7% fixed fee to the transaction.
Fee Simulation vs Competitors
Most of our readers invest in simple ETF portfolios through regular monthly contributions. Using our Broker Total Cost Calculator, you can estimate the total cost of investing over your chosen investment horizon. In the simulated scenario below, IG is the lowest-cost broker, followed by Fidelity Personal Investing UK, while AJ Bell incurs the highest overall costs. The difference is primarily driven by IG's commission-free dealing and the absence of platform or custody fees for General Investment Accounts and ISAs.
Fee Simulation
The simulation below assumes that ETF purchases are executed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for all brokers shown. Where available, we always assume investors use each broker's free or lowest-cost regular investing service, as this reflects the most cost-efficient approach for long-term buy-and-hold investors making monthly contributions. For all brokers, we assume the lowest-cost pricing structure available for the simulated portfolio. Foreign exchange costs, bid-ask spreads, stamp duty (where applicable) and market impact costs are excluded from the analysis.
Other Fees
Deposits, withdrawals and transfers of investments into or out of IG Trading and Investments Limited are generally free of charge.
Platform & Features ⓘ
We rate the platform 4.5 out of 5. IG's investment platform combines one of the broadest investment universes available to UK retail investors.
IG makes two platforms available - a desktop Share Dealing platform and the simplified IG Invest mobile app, for long term investors.
Investors benefit from access to thousands of UK, U.S. and international shares, more than 3,000 UCITS ETFs and recurring investing. Eligible investors may also apply for Elective Professional Client status, allowing access to certain investment products unavailable to retail clients, including U.S.-domiciled ETFs. While the desktop platform offers more advanced research tools and functionality, both interfaces provide access to the same underlying investment accounts and holdings. However, the absence of multicurrency accounts and security lending prevents it from achieving a higher rating.
Account Opening Process
Opening an IG investment account is a straightforward process that typically takes between 10 and 15 minutes. Investors first choose the type of account they wish to open, such as a General Investment Account, Stocks & Shares ISA, Junior ISA or SIPP. The application requires basic personal information, identity verification, tax residency details and a linked UK bank account for funding. Most applicants receive an immediate decision, after which they can fund the account and begin investing. Existing IG trading clients can also open investment accounts using their existing login credentials, making the process even quicker.
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Following the UK's departure from the European Union, UK retail investors continue to have access to UCITS ETFs through IG Invest. The platform offers more than 3,000 UCITS ETFs across its Share Dealing, ISA, Junior ISA and SIPP accounts, providing one of the broadest ETF selections available to UK retail investors.
IG provides access to shares, ETFs and investment trusts listed on major UK, U.S. and European stock exchanges, including the London Stock Exchange, NYSE, NASDAQ, Xetra, Euronext, SIX Swiss Exchange, Borsa Italiana and the Warsaw Stock Exchange. UK-listed securities are primarily executed through the Retail Service Provider (RSP) network, while international orders are routed to the relevant exchanges or approved execution venues. Additional markets, such as the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), are also available.
Smart Portfolios: Investors seeking a hands-off approach can choose IG Smart Portfolios, a discretionary investment service available through General Investment Accounts, Stocks & Shares ISAs and SIPPs. Portfolios are managed according to the investor's selected risk profile and are constructed in partnership with BlackRock using predominantly iShares ETFs. Investors can also choose an ISA Smart Portfolio, allowing them to combine discretionary portfolio management with the tax advantages of a Stocks & Shares ISA.
Customer Service:Customer support is available via telephone, live chat, WhatsApp and secure messaging during extended business hours. While IG has historically been recognised for its trading support, the investing platform also benefits from comprehensive online help articles and educational resources, although the overall service remains more investment-focused than personalised wealth management providers.
Elective Professional Investor Status: Eligible investors can apply for Elective Professional Client status, allowing access to certain investment products unavailable to retail investors, including U.S.-domiciled ETFs restricted under PRIIPs. Applicants must satisfy the FCA's eligibility criteria before being approved.
No Multicurrency Accounts: All cash balances are held in sterling, with foreign exchange conversions applied automatically when investing in overseas securities.
For long-term investors, IG's investment platform remains clearly differentiated from the group's leveraged trading offering. Within General Investment Accounts, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Junior ISAs and SIPPs do not support margin lending, CFDs, spread betting, options, futures or foreign exchange trading. However, IG's technology has historically been built around its global trading platform, and this heritage still benefits its investment platform. Investors benefit from advanced charting powered by TradingView, real-time market data, custom watchlists, price alerts, economic calendars, market news, analyst research and integrated educational content. The platform also provides access to financial news, earnings calendars, company fundamentals and sophisticated order types, making it well suited to investors who value research and portfolio monitoring tools.
IG Trading and Investments Limited does not offer security lending.
For UK-listed securities, IG Invest primarily uses the UK's Retail Service Provider (RSP) network, where multiple competing market makers provide executable quotes in accordance with the FCA's best execution requirements. Orders in international securities are routed to the relevant regulated exchanges or execution venues. IG does not rely on payment for order flow or a single market maker as its primary execution model.
As July 2026, 3.75% AER (variable) on eligible uninvested GBP cash balances (up to £100,000), subject to activity requirements.
IG Invest provides access to physical investments, including shares, ETFs (including Commodities) and selected bonds, through cash-only General Investment Accounts (GIAs), Stocks & Shares ISAs and SIPPs.
IG Trading, on the other hand, focuses on leveraged products and offers access to CFDs, spread betting (UK only), forex, commodities, indices, options, futures and other derivative instruments through dedicated trading accounts. Together, the two platforms provide one of the broadest product ranges available among UK brokers.
IG Invest does not offer U.S.-domiciled ETFs to retail investors due to the UK's PRIIPs regulation. However, clients who qualify for Elective Professional Client status may access U.S.-domiciled ETFs, subject to IG's approval and FCA eligibility requirements.
IG offers margin trading through its CFD Trading and Spread Betting accounts, enabling clients to trade leveraged positions by depositing only a percentage of the total trade value as margin. However, its IG Invest share dealing accounts, including General Investment Accounts (GIA), Stocks & Shares ISAs and SIPPs, are cash-only and do not offer margin borrowing facilities.
IG offers one of the broadest derivatives ranges available among retail brokers through dedicated CFD Trading, Spread Betting (UK only) and Options accounts, with access to CFDs, spread bets, vanilla options and turbo warrants, depending on the client's jurisdiction. However, derivatives are not available through IG Invest share dealing account.
User Satisfaction ⓘ
IG enjoys a broadly positive reputation, particularly among experienced traders and professional reviewers who consistently rank it among the top brokers globally. User sentiment on review platforms moderately positive, with praise centred on platform reliability, regulatory trust, and product breadth. The primary recurring criticism is that the platform is less beginner-friendly than dedicated long-term investment platforms, and some users note steeper costs relative to newer competitors.
Positive
40+ mentions · over past 12 months
What Users Like
Strong regulatory standing and long-established reputation (FCA-regulated, one of the oldest UK brokers)
Broad multi-platform suite praised for reliability
Customer service perceived as more responsive than some rivals
Common Complaints
Not beginner-friendly, platform complexity and product depth can overwhelm new traders
Some review scores only moderate, suggesting a meaningful share of dissatisfied retail users
Fees and spreads may be less competitive than newer low-cost brokers for some asset classes
⚠️ This sentiment analysis is based on our proprietary algorithm relying on sentiment from public user reviews and discussions. This section does not represent the view of Banker on Wheels.
Country Considerations
Broad UK tax wrapper offering, including General Investment Accounts, Stocks & Shares ISAs, Junior ISAs and SIPPs.
Available Tax Wrappers
ISASIPPJunior ISA
Tax Reporting
IG provides downloadable account statements, contract notes and transaction history, allowing investors to maintain their own tax records. Capital gains and income calculations are not automatically prepared for non-UK tax jurisdictions.
Click on a flag below to read more:
United Kingdom Investors
HMRC Tax Report
IG provides annual tax certificates and account statements to support UK Self Assessment reporting, including dividend income and other relevant tax information for taxable investment accounts. Tax reporting is not required for ISAs, while SIPP reporting is handled in accordance with UK pension rules.
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