The story
Early years (1974–2000)
IG was founded in 1974 as IG Index (Investors Gold Index) by British financier Stuart Wheeler, with an initial investment of £30,000 from six friends. It became the first company to offer spread betting, allowing investors to speculate on gold prices rather than buying physical gold, which was restricted by UK exchange controls at the time.
In 1993, IG Group expanded into spread betting on sports events, and in 1996, it started offering foreign exchange trading.
Market expansion and IPO (2000–2010)
In July 2000, IG Group was formed as the parent company of IG Index, and its shares were listed on the London Stock Exchange, making it the first company of its kind to go public. Sports betting surged with the rise of the internet, bringing the company more than £10 million in revenue in the second half of 2001, nearly triple its earnings from the first half of 2000.
IG Group entered the Australian market in 2002, marking its first international expansion. In 2003, founder Stuart Wheeler sold his 23.68% stake in the company, netting £90 million. He was joined by some other major shareholders, so a total number of shares to be sold reached 30%. A management buyout backed by CVC Capital Partners valued the company at £143 million. In April 2005, IG Group returned to the stock market with a valuation of £1.3 billion, and CVC sold off £58 million worth of shares.
The company continued its global expansion, entering the United States market in 2007 with the £2.9 million purchase of HedgeStreet, an online derivatives trading platform, later rebranded as Nadex. In September 2008, IG Group acquired FXOnline, a Japanese trading firm, for £112 million.
Challenges and diversification (2011–2020)
In 2011, IG Group reported a net loss of £25.5 million, largely due to regulatory changes in Japan that restricted leverage to 10 times, significantly lower than the 100 times or more the company previously offered. The company also shut down its sports betting service, extrabet, due to declining revenues, incurring £5.3 million in closure costs.
In September 2014, IG Group launched an online stockbroking platform, offering access to 4,500 stocks. In September 2016, it acquired the financial news and research portal DailyFX from FXCM for $40 million. However, the same year, IG Group's shares fell 38% following the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) announcement of new industry regulations, wiping £1 billion off the company's market value. In response, IG withdrew its binary options product in early 2017.
In 2017, IG partnered with BlackRock to launch the IG Smart Portfolio, marking the company's entry into wealth management. In 2019, IG launched a new US subsidiary, IG US, which offers foreign exchange trading (in June 2024, IG US rebranded to tastyfx).
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In mid-2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) implemented new rules banning binary options for retail clients and placing leverage limits and other restrictions on CFDs. These measures, which took effect in the second half of 2018, were cited as a major factor in subsequent declines in IG Group's revenue and profit in Europe.
In 2020, IG Group launched its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy, "Brighter Future." As part of this initiative, the company established a £2 million fund to support education and development programs for young people, particularly in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recent developments (2021–present)
In January 2021, IG Group acquired Chicago-based online brokerage Tastytrade for $1 billion, enhancing its offerings for retail investors. The company, founded in 2011 by Tom Sosnoff, included the brokerage arm tastyworks, which was rebranded as tastytrade in 2023.
In March 2022, IG Group completed the sale of the North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) and its 39% stake in the Small Exchange to Foris DAX Markets Inc. (trading as Crypto.com) for $216 million. In April 2023, IG agreed to reacquire the Small Exchange from Foris DAX Markets.
In the first half of the 2024 fiscal year, IG Group reported a 32% drop in after-tax profits compared to the previous year. By the end of the 2024 fiscal year, pre-tax profits had fallen by 11%, annual revenue had dropped by 10%, and the number of active clients had decreased from 358,000 to 346,200. The company had announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce in October 2023. In July 2024, it announced a £150 million share buyback program, starting with a £75 million tranche in August.
In January 2025, it announced the acquisition of Freetrade, a UK-based commission-free trading app, for £160 million. The deal, completed on 1 April 2025, more than doubled the company's active client base to approximately 820,000 by the end of FY2025. In June 2025, IG launched direct cryptocurrency trading for its UK clients. In September 2025, IG agreed to acquire Independent Reserve, a regulated cryptocurrency exchange based in Australia. The transaction, valued at around A$178 million for a 70% stake, received regulatory approval in January 2026 and was then completed, with Independent Reserve's founders retaining the remaining 30% interest. On 30 September 2025, IG obtained cryptoasset registration from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, allowing it to expand its spot cryptocurrency offering. It also obtained a European cryptoasset licence under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) in November 2025. In October 2025, IG sold the Small Exchange, which it had reacquired in 2023, to Payward, parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, for $100 million.
The company's financial performance rebounded alongside these initiatives. For the year ended 31 May 2025, IG Group reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of £535.8 million, up 17% year-on-year, driven by higher trading volumes amid market volatility. The company authorised a new £125 million share buyback in July 2025, later increasing it to £200 million in December 2025. In November 2025, IG changed its financial year end from 31 May to 31 December, resulting in a seven-month transitional reporting period ending 31 December 2025.
During 2025, IG exited its commercial operations in South Africa, closing domestic client accounts and surrendering its local Over-the-Counter Derivative Provider licence. In February 2026, it closed its South African office.
In March 2026, IG began a strategic review that included potential acquisitions or partnerships and possible changes to its corporate domicile and stock-market listing. In July, the company proposed establishing a new holding company in Jersey, while retaining its London Stock Exchange listing, UK tax residence and London operations.
In mid-2026, IG Group agreed to acquire US daily fantasy sports and prediction markets operator Underdog for up to $1.3 billion, expanding its presence in the US prediction markets sector. For the first half of 2026, IG reported an 18% increase in revenue to £642.8 million and a 4% increase in core profit to £282 million.
From Wikipedia’s article on IG Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5