IG Markets Extends Market Lead in Volatile Conditions

22 AUGUST 2011

• IG Markets extends its market lead
• 40% of active CFD traders have an account with IG Markets*
• Traders shift from share trading towards forex

An independent survey of Australia’s CFD market has named IG Markets as the number one CFD provider for active traders, new traders and traders switching from other providers.

Over onethird of active traders now choose IG Markets as their main CFD provider consolidating IG Markets’ lead, with the closest competitor some 14% behind. The drivers behind traders’ choice of IG Markets included the trading platform’s easeofuse and features, the range of markets available and tight trading spreads.

According to the sixth annual report by Investment Trends, a specialist market research organisation in the financial services sector, in the twelve months to May 2011 the volume of trading on underlying markets shifted, moving away from shares to forex trading, which accounted for 27% of CFD trades over the year. This does not come as a great surprise with the amount of coverage global currencies have received over the last 12 months.

The report also highlighted that the growth in the number of active CFD traders slowed. However, there was still significant movement within the industry with many traders switching between providers with over a third of switchers moving to IG Markets. Charting and platform features were cited as important factors for CFD clients moving providers. Demonstration accounts played an important role too, with almost half of those who opened one, using it to compare platforms. IG Markets received the highest satisfaction scores for the range of markets available, trading platform features, charting, reporting and trading tools.

Mr Tamas Szabo, Head of IG Markets Asia Pacific, attributed much of the company’s growing market share to developments over the past twelve months that have strengthened IG Markets’ role as an industry pioneer. “We are thrilled to be the provider of choice for so many CFD traders. IG Markets is committed to offering clients the very best trading tools to improve their trading experience. Our awardwinning platform, PureDeal, offers traders an extensive charting package including pattern recognition software, and we are at the forefront of mobile technology with apps and browseroptimised platforms for a range of smartphones.”

“In June 2011 we also released Australia’s first iPhone App offering DMA CFDs, allowing traders to trade inside the market spread and straight into the order book of global exchanges, as well as view full market depth and liquidity.”

“Alongside consistently offering great value through marketleading software and quality pricing, we have also cut the minimum spreads across our most frequently traded forex pairs. With the recent increase in forex trading, we believe in the importance of giving our clients value for money in this popular market and they can trade the AUD/USD, EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, GBP/USD and USD/JPY from just 1 pip.”

“More recently, we have also reduced our minimum spread on some of our most popular stock indices, with the FTSE 100 cash and the Germany 30 cash now available for trading from 1 point, and the Wall Street cash available from 2 points.”

IG Markets is a part of IG Group, a FTSE 250 company established in 1974 which now employs over 1000 staff in 15 countries. IG Group has over 130,000 clients globally making over 5 million transactions a month, with 99% of them online. A CFD (or Contract for Difference) is an agreement to exchange the difference in value of a particular asset between the time at which a contract is opened and the time at which it is closed.

IG Markets advises that trading CFDs may not be suitable for everyone, since CFDs are a geared product and can result in losses that exceed an initial deposit, and that product disclosure statements are available from w

• 40% of active CFD traders have an account with IG Markets Investment Trends May 2011 Australia CFD Report

ENDS

© Scoop Media