Outlet profile

IG (UK broker research)

UK commercial financial services — market-focused, not politically oriented

Owned byIG Group Holdings PLC, a publicly listed company on the London Stock Exchange (FTSE 250). No single controlling shareholder. Largest institutional holders as of 2025 include BlackRock (~14.2%), Vanguard (~4.9%), and Schroders (~4.5%).

FundingCommercial broker revenue — primarily spreads, commissions, and overnight funding charges on CFD and spread-betting products. Research and market analysis content is produced as a client-facing service, not a standalone revenue line.

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

IG Group was founded in London in 1974 by British financier Stuart Wheeler, initially as IG Index, to offer spread betting on gold prices — a workaround for UK exchange controls that restricted direct gold ownership. It became the first company to offer financial spread betting and expanded into sports spread betting in 1993 and foreign exchange in 1996. IG Group Holdings was incorporated in 2000 and floated on the London Stock Exchange that year, the first of its kind to go public. In 2003, founder Stuart Wheeler sold his 23.68% stake for roughly £90 million, and a management buyout led by CVC Capital Partners followed; the company re-listed on the LSE in 2005. Wheeler, notable separately as a major donor to the UK Conservative Party and later UKIP treasurer (2011–2014), had no ongoing editorial or ownership influence on the company after his 2003 exit. IG Group is now a FTSE 250 company. Its research output — market commentary, technical analysis, economic data summaries, and trade ideas — is produced to support client trading activity and is explicitly labelled execution-only, not investment advice. The firm has grown into one of the largest retail CFD and spread-betting brokers globally, regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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