Professional trading

Professional clients gain access to account features not available to retail clients, but lose certain investor protections.

Discover pro trading

For professionals only. Losses can exceed deposits. Negative balance protection is not available for professional accounts.¹

Call 0800 195 3100 or email newaccounts.uk@ig.com to talk about opening a trading account. We’re here 24 hours a day, from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday.

Established in 1974 Over 178,000 clients worldwide Over 16,000 markets

Am I eligible to be an IG professional client?

If you answer ‘yes’ to two or more of the following, you could be eligible to be classified as a professional trader.

Has your trading averaged 10 significantly sized leverage transactions per quarter over the last 4 quarters?
Do you have a financial instrument portfolio, including cash deposits, exceeding €500,000?
Have you worked in the financial sector in a professional position, requiring knowledge of derivatives trading, for at least a year?

The benefits of choosing IG

Founded in 1974 as the first company of our kind, we’ve been at the forefront of our industry ever since. More traders trust us with their money than anyone else, making us the world’s No.1 choice for spread betting and CFD trading.²

Protected funds

Rest assured that when you trade with us, your funds are safeguarded in a range of ways.

Intuitive platforms

Find the perfect vehicle for your trading from our range of platforms and apps.

Greater opportunity

Choose from over 16,000 markets, with many available for out-of-hours dealing.

Find out more

Friendly, expert support

Get help 24 hours a day, from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday.

Effective risk management

Use our range of stop and limit orders to help protect your interests.

Timely news and analysis

Inform your decisions with in-platform market insight.

Find out more

You can still trade over 16,000 markets on our award-winning platform with a retail account, with the added bonus of negative balance protection.

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IG is home to more retail forex traders in the UK than any other forex trading provider. Why trade with anyone but the No.1?

IG professional client FAQs

What if I’m not eligible to become a professional trader?

Not a problem – you can trade as a retail client with us. You’ll have access to the same powerful platforms and great customer service we offer our professional clients. What’s more, you’ll automatically get negative balance protection on your account.

What’s the difference between an IG trading account and an IG professional account?

With an IG trading account, you’ll need to hold more margin to cover your positions than an IG professional client would. Your account will also have negative balance protection, meaning that the balance on your account can’t go below zero.

What protections do IG professional clients not get?

There are a few protections afforded to retail clients that professional clients don’t receive.

Negative balance protections don’t apply to professional clients, who have an obligation to make additional payments if their account falls into a negative balance.
We need to use clear language when talking to retail clients, but we can use more sophisticated language when talking to our professional clients.
We may assume a level of knowledge and experience when assessing whether our products are appropriate for professional clients.
We owe our clients a duty of best execution when executing orders. For retail clients we must prioritise overall prices and cost of a transaction in doing this. For professional clients we may prioritise other factors such as speed and likelihood of execution, if we determine they are equally or more important than overall price. In practice, it won’t change the way we execute your orders

What if I already have an IG trading account?

If you’d like, you can request that your account be reclassified as ‘professional’, by following the prompts in My IG. To check whether you could be eligible, see if you can answer ‘yes’ to at least two of these three questions.

Why is spread betting and CFD leverage being restricted?

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) imposed a range of leverage restrictions aimed at retail traders in early 2018, to try to increase conduct standards across the industry and improve outcomes for investors.

What is included in my ‘financial instrument portfolio’?

A ‘financial instrument portfolio’ includes:

Cash
Stock portfolios
Stocks and shares ISAs
Trading accounts
Mutual funds
SIPPs (excluding non-financial instruments)

It does not include:

Company pensions
Non-tradeable assets
Property

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¹ As an IG professional client, you’ll be responsible for ensuring that your account doesn’t fall into a negative balance. If it does, you’ll need to make additional payments to bring your balance back above zero.
² Based on revenue excluding FX (published half-yearly financial statements, June 2019).

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Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Professional clients can lose more than they deposit. All trading involves risk.

The value of shares, ETFs and ETCs bought through a share dealing account, a stocks and shares ISA or a SIPP can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

CFD, share dealing and stocks and shares ISA accounts provided by IG Markets Ltd, spread betting provided by IG Index Ltd. IG is a trading name of IG Markets Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 04008957) and IG Index Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 01190902). Registered address at Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2YA. Both IG Markets Ltd (Register number 195355) and IG Index Ltd (Register number 114059) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The information on this site is not directed at residents of the United States, Belgium or any particular country outside the UK and is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.

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Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 75% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.

Professional trading

Am I eligible to be an IG professional client?

The benefits of choosing IG

Protected funds

Intuitive platforms

Greater opportunity

Friendly, expert support

Effective risk management

Timely news and analysis

Not eligible?

Choose the UK’s No.1 retail FX provider1

IG professional client FAQs

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Trade faster than ever

Automate your strategies

Discuss trading tactics

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IG services

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