Best retail FX platform of the year: IG

Bringing a firm with a 45-year history to the US market – being one of the first to take a trade by phone and over the internet – was a major milestone, says Rupert Osborne, chief executive officer at IG US.

IG Group launched its new US-based subsidiary earlier this year, to provide retail foreign exchange services to online traders in the country, as FX Week reported in February. 

“Launching the business as planned was a massive milestone that allowed us to lay the foundation for long-term future success. We pride ourselves on giving traders an excellent platform to help them be the best traders they can be,” says Osborne.

The expansion into the US market is not an overnight move. IG has existing operations in the US market through subsidiary Nadex, which offers FX binary options, and research arm DailyFX.

IG felt the US market for retail FX had become uncompetitive, and that traders were craving a new choice offering lower prices, a better platform and improved customer service.

Real Vision, the Netflix of finance, provides original content that we will provide directly on our platform for free

Rupert Osborne,  IG US

IG says the active online investor population in the US is 7.6 million, while the current leverage trading population is 90,000, meaning there is a lot of room for expansion in the market.

“We have been really happy with the way traders have responded to our competitive prices,” Osborne says. “There’s strong demand for better customer service and overall customer experience – this is vital for any trading provider and it was clear this had been neglected by the competition.”

He points to the responsive nature of the platform IG has built, with an onboarding process that allows most customers to open an account, fund it and start trading in five minutes.

New ideas

The company has further ideas in the pipeline to help improve the overall trading experience, and bring better education and information to traders.

For example, starting in July, IG will provide all US clients with a free subscription to Real Vision, a new financial media content provider.

“Real Vision, the Netflix of finance, provides original content that we will provide directly on our platform for free. We’ll continue to focus on improving the overall customer experience through educational avenues, and trading seminars and events,” Osborne says.

“We’re still a new entrant to the US market though, and so we will continue to tell our story to US customers,” he concludes.