An in-depth analysis of the top Australian forex broker

Introduction to the top CFD broker

IG Markets Ltd is the world’s #1 retail and institutional forex broker in terms of brokerage revenues. The top online and DMA forex broker, incorporated in 1974 in the United Kingdom (UK) is also one of the oldest in an industry comprising of a massive number of CFD brokers thronging the markets every other day. IG is the trading name for IG Markets Ltd and IG Index Ltd, both registered in England & Wales, and authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. In Australia, the top forex broker functions under IG Markets Ltd, governed by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). IG Markets operates in 15 countries across five continents, with a client base of close to 200,000.

The parent, IG Group Holdings Plc. is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IGG, with a market cap of about £2.6 billion as of December 2019. The FTSE 250 company settled at 697.40 pence on 18th December 2019, returning more than 23% YTD.

What sets IG apart from most of the other top global forex and CFD brokers is the global market coverage along with a wide range of product offerings, accessible across the MetaTrader 4 and the proprietary L2 trading platforms. Clients of IG can trade in over 16,000 products spread across forex, and CFDs on indices, shares, commodities, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, bonds, interest rates, and options. The Australian forex broker also has a few exotic offerings like digital 100’s, IPO grey markets, knock-outs trading, and weekend trading in indices and cryptocurrencies. Besides, clients in the UK can opt to carry out spread betting by initiating long/short trades on all the products across the major global markets.

In our review of the best forex brokers in Australia, we take a look at the range of markets covered by IG forex, evaluate the trading platforms and trading conditions, including trading costs. Besides, we also review the educational resources provided by the broker, the various customer support channels, and list out some of the reasons for retail clients to trade with one of the top ASIC regulated forex brokers.

Range of markets offered by one of the best CFD brokers

Clients signing up with IG Markets have the option to trade in more than 16,000 CFD products across a variety of asset classes and markets. All you do is open any of the following account types with the ASIC registered CFD broker or register for a demo account for a first-hand trading experience on some of the globally renowned trading platforms:

• Personal Account
• Corporate and Trust Accounts
• Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) Account
• Joint Account
• Swap-free Account

In addition, the CFD broker offers UK clients the alternative to spread bet on the entire range of products from the proprietary web platform. The benefits include exemption from the capital gains tax, zero commissions, and negative balance protection.

We have listed all the tradable asset classes and some of the key product categories offered by the forex broker below:

• Forex- You can trade in 68 FX pairs comprising of major, minor, crosses, and exotic currencies. Clients can either trade CFDs in forex or gain Direct Market Access (DMA) through the Forex Direct.
• Indices- The top forex broker offers CFD trading in indices, which include more than 100 stock indices across various exchanges in the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas.
• Commodities- Clients can trade in 47 commodities, including spot and futures contracts. The commodities comprise of base and precious metals, energy, grains, meat, oil, cotton, soft commodities, etc. The ASIC regulated forex broker also offers cash-settled futures and mini contracts in precious metals, base metals, and energy.
• Cryptocurrencies- You can carry out margin trading in five of the well-renowned cryptocurrency CFDs, along with the Crypto-10 index. The index represents the performance of the 10 largest digital currencies weighted by market cap and is managed by BITA GmbH.
• Shares- IG Markets offers an assortment of more than 10,500 equity CFDs listed on all the key markets.
• Bonds- At IG Markets, clients can trade in a choice of Government debt instruments, comprising of short-long term gilts, and CFD futures in European Government bonds, and US Treasury-Notes and bonds.
• Interest rate futures- As part of the other market offerings, the top CFD broker permits clients to bet on the short-term direction in the interest rates of six countries.
• IPO grey markets- Here, clients can take short-term bets by either going long or short on a company’s proposed IPO. The settlement price is calculated as the official closing price on the first day of listing in the secondary markets.
• Sectors- IG Markets offers more than 35 Sector CFDs that track industry-specific stocks in the UK and Australia, including the banking, mining, and retail businesses.
• Digital 100s- This is an exotic offering by the top forex brokers that allows clients to speculate on a statement, based on the likelihood of a market event taking place, with a YES or a NO answer. Clients can trade in the digital 100s in forex, indices, commodities, and macro-economic data, with a timescale of 5 minutes- one-month. The price of the digital 100s oscillates between 0-100, reflecting the likelihood of an event occurring in the future.
• Options- You can trade in a variety of daily, weekly, and futures options contracts in equities, stock indices, FX instruments, and commodities across diverse markets. There are two advantages of trading options with the top CFD broker:

1. All the option contracts are settled at the official settlement price of the underlying instrument traded on the corresponding exchange.
2. The CFD broker allows clients to sell/write options.

• Knock-outs- These are CFDs in forex, commodities, and index options that enable clients to choose their margins and the corresponding risk. You can cherry-pick knock-outs depending on whether you are bullish/bearish on the markets, select the trade size, and the max risk you are willing to accept on a trade.
• Weekend trading- Clients can trade 24/7 on the global stock indices and cryptocurrency offerings of the top CFD broker. While the advantages of trading stock indices over the weekend include taking positions on a news event in advance before the exchange-traded markets open on Monday, the disadvantages could be low liquidity resulting in a higher spread and stops getting triggered.

Trading Conditions at IG Markets CFD broker

In our review of the forex trading review of IG Markets, we cover client costs, which broadly comprise of the spread and commissions, besides the trading margin.

While IG Markets charges a spread for every non-share CFD, clients trading with the top Australian forex broker are charged a commission on every share CFD.

Beginning with the spread, the minimum bid-ask difference on FX pairs starts at 0.6 pips, while the average spread quoted by the broker comes to 0.75 pips. For stock indices, the lowest spread offered by the forex broker starts at 1 point for the Australian and UK stock indices, while in commodities, the spread starts from 0.3 points in Spot Gold. In our review of the forex trading platforms, the minimum spread quoted by IG Markets on the website was corresponding to the spread offered by the broker in the demo account.

In the UK, the forex broker charges a guaranteed stop premium if the price is triggered, driving up the spread cost to 0.8 pips for the AUD/USD pair and 1.2 pips for the EUR/USD.

Illustrated below are the spreads for some of the product offerings from IB Markets

FX SPREAD

 

 

INDEX SPREAD

COMMODITIES SPREAD

FUTURES SPREAD

When it comes to CFDs in shares, the top forex broker does not charge a spread. Instead, you have to pay a commission while opening and closing a trade. Besides the commissions, the CFD broker charges a fee or interest on overnight positions plus an additional charge of 2.5% on regular contracts and 3% on mini/micro CFD contracts. For forex positions, the funding is on the current tom-next rate, and for futures and forwards contracts, the overnight funding charges are a part of the spread.

Illustrated of the commission charges for equity CFDs and the overnight lending cost

In addition to the above costs, clients also have to shell out to use the following services-

Service	Charges
Direct Market Access (DMA)	A monthly exchange fee to access live DMA prices for some shares.
Live price data feeds	A monthly fee to receive live share prices from the corresponding stock exchange.
ProRealTime Charts	A subscription fee of $40 per month for real-time charts, which is refunded if you place four or more trades a month.
Inactivity fee	A fee of $18 on the first of every month, if no trading activity has occurred for two years or more.
Account documentation fee	A $50 fee on accounts that have failed to supply the mandatory W-8 or W-9 form prior to the ex-dividend of a US-incorporated stock.

While IG Markets offers one of the lowest spread in the industry, the commission and fees charged by the forex and CFD broker are comparatively higher to some of the other globally acclaimed CFD brokers.

Margins

Clients registering with IG Markets have different margin structures depending on the regulation and leverage rules governing the CFD broker. UK residents have higher margin requirements compared to International clients signing up with the top forex broker.

The margining system comprises of the Initial or Deposit Margin and the Maintenance or Variation Margin. Besides, the CFD broker offers the tiered margining system for International clients, excluding the Digital 100s.

The following table illustrates the minimum and maximum margin requirements for the various asset classes offered by IG Markets for International clients

Margin requirements
Trading Instrument	Minimum Margins	Maximum Margins
Forex	0.50%	10.00%
Index	0.50%	10.00%
Index futures	0.50%	14.00%
Shares	5.00%	5.00%
Energy	1.50%	10.00%
Energy futures	1.50%	10.00%
Precious metals	0.50%	5.00%
Metals futures	0.70%	3.50%
Base metals	4.00%	5.50%
Softs	1.50%	10.00%
Softs futures	1.50%	4.50%

Trading Platforms

IG forex broker offers a suite of three trading platforms: The proprietary IG platform for web and mobile users, the downloadable MetaTrader 4 desktop application, and the Advanced L2 dealer platform where clients can gain access to Forex Direct and Direct Market Access (DMA) to share trading. All the platforms are of the highest quality, come with a host of add-on tools, and a couple of them support automated trading as well. The top forex broker does not charge a minimum fee to use the exclusive Web, mobile or the MT4 desktop application. However, clients using the specialized ProRealTime or the L2 dealer terminals are charged a monthly fee of $40/ maintain a minimum account balance of $2000 correspondingly. Clients do not have to pay the ProRealTime charges if you carry out at least four transactions in a month.

In our review of the forex trading platforms, we manually analyzed the flagship web and mobile application in addition to the IG MT4 desktop trading terminal from a demo account, and we have underscored our analysis of the platforms, features, and the trading tools below.

IG Web platform

The state of the art web platform supports multiple browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari for individuals using Mac. Once connected, you can monitor the platform either in the CFD/spread bet mode or directly set up the options panel. The user-friendly platform comes with a menu button on the left that lets you access all the trading instruments offered by the CFD broker. You can choose the market you wish to trade or add your favorite scrips. The panels include the market watch, chart, news, trading history, and alerts, all of which can be docked or viewed separately in the full-screen mode. Coming to the individual panels, we begin with the watchlist window, which comes with a number of column options. You can view the spreads, swap rates, market range, choose your order size, and place one-click orders. You can also click on any of the symbols to activate the charts, which you can dock anywhere in the workspace.

The chart panel comprises of five chart types with 16-time frames, from the tick chart to the monthly, with plenty of customization options. Besides the 19 drawing tools, clients can open as many charts as they want, and carry out chart analysis, and employ the 30 indicators provided by the top CFD broker.

The news and analysis segment comprises of broadcasts from Reuters, IG Markets, with a link to the IG trading community where clients can access a whole lot of market-related information and tutorials. The signal segment consists of intraday and short-term buy/sell pointers from Autochartist and PIA First.

Summarizing the features:

• Order types include market, limit, stop, guaranteed stop, trailing stop, GTC, and GTD.
• Clients can hedge positions.
• You can place orders from the watchlist, chart panels.
• Place price/indicator alerts.
• Order execution at lightning speed.
• Place one-click orders from the watchlist panel.
• The terminal has the option to add multiple charts.
• You can activate the partial fill order feature to implement a large order size.
• Use the “Points through current” order to guarantee effective order execution of large trades at the best price.
• Connect to the IG trading community and access forums, blogs, IGTV, market tutorials, and the Leaderboard.
• Access to DMA, ProRealTime, and Forex Direct.

Drawbacks of the web platform:

1. Some of the orders were not reflecting in the positions panel.
2. The system stopped accepting orders in certain FX instruments, stating price volatility, in spite of placing limit orders that were 20 points away from the market price.
3. The platform does not support automated-trading.

IG MT4 desktop application

The MetaTrader 4 desktop platform is the standard offering by MetaQuotes with a few add-ons by one of the best CFD brokers globally. The trading terminal supports Windows and macOS and clients can trade CFDs, starting from micro-lots in forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and indices. IG Forex has included 55 FX pairs, spot gold/silver, WTI/Brent crudeoil, 14 global stock indices, and three cryptocurrencies. The platform backs three types of order execution, three chart types with nine-time frames, drawing tools, 30 in-built technical indicators, 24 graphic objects, and the quick trading function to place one-click orders. Also, clients can analyze the market-depth of individual products and access a large number of custom indicators and EA’s provided by the top forex broker.

On the flip side, clients using the platform can access a fewer number of trading instruments compared to the web application. Besides, clients will not be able to access the streaming news from Reuters while the Autochartist tools are a part of the add-ons.

Summarizing the features

• Order types include market, limit, stop, and the SL/TP function.
• You can access three chart types in nine-time frames, 30 technical indicators, and 24 graphic objects.
• Automated trading.
• Access the broad MQL4 IDE development environment to create, test, and optimize trading strategies.
• Expert Advisor editor/compiler tool.
• Access the strategy tester to assess and optimize EA’s.
• You can analyze 15 custom indicators and  12 EA’s provided by IG Markets.
• Technical analysis tools include Autochartist and Trading Central.

IG Mobile App for Android and iPhone

IG Markets’ handheld trading application supports Android-enabled phones, iPhone, iPad, and tablets. The mobile app can be downloaded from the Android Playstore or Appstore depending on your device. In our top forex broker review, we tested the CFD broker’s proprietary offering on an Android smartphone from a demo account.

The app comes with a simple user interface and has a number of identical features that are present in the web application. The menu button on the top-left lets you access the 1600 plus trading instruments offered by the CFD broker. You can choose the market you wish to trade or opt for the default watchlist, which comprises of some of the popular trading instruments across asset classes. The platform gives you one-click access to the signal center, streaming news from Reuters, the option to place alerts, monitor trades, and view all your account info.

Key features:

• Order types include market, limit, stop, guaranteed stop, and trailing stop.
• Clients can hedge positions.
• One-click access to charts.
• Multiple order placement options.
• Place price/indicator alerts.
• Speedy order execution.
• Place one-click orders from the watchlist panel.
• Trading signals from Autochartist.
• Streaming news from Reuters.
• Users can connect to the IG Academy or access the latest technical views, market news, and trading ideas from Daily FX.
• Connect to the top FX broker’s helpdesk via phone, email.

 

Education and support-

IG Markets offers plenty of free resources in terms of education to assist individuals in becoming successful traders. These include interactive education, online trading courses, news and trade ideas, live webinars, risk management, a glossary of trading terms, and many, many more. You can join the IG Academy by filling out some basic information about yourself. This would enable you to log in to the demo web trading terminal, monitor all the markets, access the trading tools provided by the CFD broker, and compare them with the other forex brokers.

For chartists, the top CFD broker provides free access to technical analysis tools from Autochartist and PIA First, which you can include in your workspace on the web terminal. Clients can execute trades based on the intra-day and short-term signals provided by the software.

You can also connect to the IG community, select the massive number of online educational resources, share your ideas, and interact with the other members in the forums.

IG Forex is one of the best CFD brokers in Australia when it comes to the variety of customer support options and the quality of the helpdesk. The support channels of the Australian forex broker are open 24/5, Monday through Friday, and clients can reach the best CFD broker via phone, email, twitter, and live chat.

Tabled below are the helpdesk options at IG Markets 

Customer Support- Australia
Phone	+61 3 9860 1734
Email	[email protected]
Twitter	@IGClientHelp

Final words- IG Markets is one of the best retail CFD brokers in the industry

IG Markets is a global leader in CFDs and spread betting. The top CFD broker operates in 22 countries across five continents, including the Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and North America. The FTSE 250 listed broker is a fully regulated International company, not only in Europe and Australia but also in the countries from where they operate.

If you are a client of one of the top global CFD brokers, you can be assured that your deposits are safe in segregated accounts and ring-fenced from the forex broker’s creditors. Besides, IG Markets provides a variety of risk management tools to ensure that your funds do not fall into negative balance, even during the most volatile market conditions.

When it comes to trading conditions, the CFD broker offers reasonably small spreads for FX traders, although the trading cost of some of the other products is slightly on the higher side. But, when you look at the bigger picture, especially the variety of products, trading platforms, tools, educational resources, and the safety of your funds, it’s only a small price to pay.