Cannabis industry trading and investing
The marijuana industry is growing – driven by legalisation that continues to spread and spurred on by ever-increasing support from the public. Discover how to trade and invest in the cannabis industry with us.
Call 0800 195 3100 or email newaccounts.uk@ig.com to talk about opening an account.
Contact us 0800 195 3100
Get info fast via our instant help and support portal. Available for account queries, ProRealTime, product info and more.
Visit help and support for more information.
Get info fast via our instant help and support portal. Available for account queries, ProRealTime, product info and more.
Visit help and support for more information.
Call 0800 409 6789 or email helpdesk.uk@ig.com if you have any questions about trading or investing. We’re available from 9am to 5pm (UK time), Monday to Friday.
Contact us 0800 409 6789
Call 0800 195 3100 or email newaccounts.uk@ig.com to talk about opening an account.
Contact us 0800 195 3100
Get info fast via our instant help and support portal. Available for account queries, ProRealTime, product info and more.
Visit help and support for more information.
Get info fast via our instant help and support portal. Available for account queries, ProRealTime, product info and more.
Visit help and support for more information.
Call 0800 409 6789 or email helpdesk.uk@ig.com if you have any questions about trading or investing. We’re available from 9am to 5pm (UK time), Monday to Friday.
Contact us 0800 409 6789
Why do people trade and invest in cannabis?
As more states and countries legalise cannabis – fueled by greater acceptance from the public – there’s reason to believe that the marijuana sector’s prospects for continued growth look good.
In fact, research suggests that the US legal marijuana industry could be worth as much as $75 billion by 2030.2 With forecasts like these, it’s no wonder that traders and investors have been flocking to the market, eager to get exposure to the latest trending marijuana stocks.
Get direct exposure to the top marijuana stocks with our Cannabis Index
You can trade the most popular marijuana stocks all in one place – including Canopy Growth and the 29 other biggest marijuana companies in the world – with our exclusive Cannabis Index. This way, you can get exposure directly to the cannabis industry and its star players.
When trading our index, you can choose between spread bets and CFDs. Both are derivatives, which means you can:
Go long or short
Because you don’t own the underlying asset, you can speculate on market movement, whether cannabis industry prices are rising or falling. Note that there is risk in both, but going short means your potential for loss (if predicting incorrectly) is theoretically unlimited
Trade with leverage
Deposit a fraction of your trade’s full value to open, with your profit or loss based on that full value. Just remember that leverage can be risky and any potential profits and losses will be magnified, which means losses can easily outweigh your deposit amount.
Get tax benefits
Generally speaking, profits made from spread betting are free from capital gains tax, while losses on CFDs can be offset against profits for tax purposes.3 However, you will pay capital gains tax on CFDs.3
Why trade the cannabis industry with us?
Access our unique Cannabis Index for direct exposure to the world’s biggest marijuana stocks
Invest in the most popular cannabis companies via share dealing and ETFs, or trade top marijuana stocks via spread betting and CFDs
Trade cannabis stocks with spreads from
just 1 point
Experience the best execution times for your trades with our industry-leading technology
Enjoy an award-winning platform4 with the UK’s No.1 choice for spread betting and CFD trading1
How to trade and invest in cannabis stocks with us
With us, you can trade and invest in three types of cannabis markets – each with their own features.
| Asset | Markets | How to trade or invest |
| Cannabis Index | Speculate on our unique Cannabis Index, tracking the 30 biggest marijuana stocks | Trade with spread bets or CFDs |
| Cannabis stocks | Trade or invest in marijuana industry shares like Canopy Growth, Tilray or Kanabo | Trade with spread bets or CFDs, or invest via share dealing |
| Cannabis ETFs | Get exposure to in ETFs tracking cannabis stocks like Han Med Cannabis UCITS ETF and Rize Med Cannabis UCITS ETF | Trade with spread bets or CFDs, or invest via share dealing |
Key cannabis markets
Prices above are subject to our website terms and conditions. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
Cannabis industry trading and investing costs
- Spread betting costs
- CFD trading costs
- Share dealing costs
Spread betting is a form of leveraged trading, meaning you can win, or lose, a significant amount more than you deposit initially.
Your key payment for trading cannabis using this method is the spread – the difference between the buy and sell price of an asset. Essentially, this is our commission for executing your trade. We work to keep our spreads among the lowest in the business.
| Margin | Minimum margin requirement of 10% for the Cannabis Index and 20% for shares and ETFs |
| Spread | From 6 points on the Cannabis Index. From 0.1% on major shares to 1% on other shares and guaranteed stop premiums from 0.3%. The same spreads apply for ETFs. |
| Overnight funding | Overnight funding applies to positions held overnight on cash (spot) positions only. Forwards do not incur overnight funding charges. Learn more about overnight fees |
CFD trading is also a form of leveraged trading, so you can gain or lose a significant amount more than you deposit. This initial deposit is called margin.
With share CFDs, you will be charged a commission. With all others markets, you’ll be charged a spread.
| Margin | Minimum margin requirement of 10% for the Cannabis Index and 20% for shares and ETFs |
| Spread | From 6 points on the Cannabis Index. We don’t attach our own spread to share CFDs |
| Commission | Commission from £10 for UK-listed shares and ETFs. No commission on the Cannabis Index |
| Overnight funding | Overnight funding applies to positions held overnight on cash (spot) positions only. Forwards do not incur overnight funding charges. Learn more about overnight fees |
When buying shares outright with us, you can get the best commission rates.5 Here’s how our costs compare to those of our competitors.
| Provider | IG | Hargreaves Lansdown | AJ Bell |
| Best commission rate on US shares and ETFs | Free | £5.95 | £4.95 |
| Standard commission rate on US shares and ETFs | £10 | £11.95 | £9.95 |
| FX conversion fee | 0.5% | 1% - 0.25% | 0.75% - 0.25% |
| Best commission rate on UK shares and ETFs | £3 | £5.95 | £4.95 |
| Standard commission rate on UK shares and ETFs | £8 | £11.95 | £9.95 |
| How to qualify for the best rate | 3+ trades in prior month | 20+ trades in prior month | 10+ trades in prior month |
Data as captured on 25 January 2024
Trade cannabis stocks with a live account
*Demo accounts are only available for spread betting and CFD trading.
Trade cannabis stocks with a live account
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to 17,000+ global markets, with reliable execution
Deal seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed, award-winning trading app
Feel secure with a trusted provider
With 50 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
*Demo accounts are only available for spread betting and CFD trading.
Trade cannabis stocks with a live account
Trade cannabis stocks with a live account
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to 17,000+ global markets, with reliable execution
Deal seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed, award-winning trading app
Feel secure with a trusted provider
With 50 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
Trade cannabis with a live account
Just follow these three steps:
Fill in our online form
We’ll ask a few questions about your trading experience.
Wait for approval
We verify your identity before completing your application.
Fund your account and trade
Start trading, or continue practising on a risk-free demo account.
What moves cannabis markets?
Changes in the law
Cannabis is currently legal, in some capacity, in 43 US states and Canada – which accounts for most of the industry’s business. Further legalisation will be positive for share prices, where a return to illegality would deal a blow.
Supply and demand
With the industry in relative infancy, cannabis suppliers are expanding rapidly to meet investor expectations and public demand. However, that can’t last forever, and a supply glut – where supply outstrips demand – could see share prices falling.
Company news
As with any stock, the speculators that drive price movement will look to company news – changes in executives, earnings reports – to decide what’s positive or negative for marijuana businesses.
Trade on marijuana with the UK’s best platform6
- Web-based platform
- Mobile trading app
Take control of your marijuana industry trading positions with our clean deal ticket, clear price charts and in-platform news and analysis.
Trade marijuana industry stocks wherever you are, and receive trading alerts and signals on the go through email, SMS or push notifications.
Get the latest cannabis news
FAQs
What is cannabis industry trading and investing?
Cannabis trading and investing are the two methods you can use to get exposure to the medicinal marijuana industry. Trading means you’ll speculate on the price of the underlying asset without taking ownership, while investing means buying and owning an asset outright.
With us, you can trade marijuana stocks, ETFs (baskets of stocks) or our Cannabis Index. You can go long or short using leveraged derivatives like spread bets and CFDs. This means you’ll open a position using margin (a deposit), while still getting exposure to the full value of the trade. Trading on margin magnifies both profits and losses, which means you could lose more than your deposit amount. Keep this in mind when opening a position and make sure you have the right risk management strategies in place.
Alternatively, you can invest in cannabis company shares or popular cannabis ETFs. This means you need to put up the full value of the position, and you’ll be the owner of the shares or ETF. It also means that you will only profit if the asset price rises, and your loss will be limited to your initial outlay (excluding any additional fees).
What is a cannabis index?
A cannabis index is a gauge of performance for a section of the marijuana industry. The price of a cannabis index will be derived from the prices of a selection of related marijuana assets. This could be the 20 top-performing marijuana industry stocks, for example.
Our Cannabis Index captures the gross total return performance of the 20 largest publicly listed US and Canadian companies with direct revenue exposure to the cannabis industry. The index is calculated and managed by BITA GmbH.
The constituents of our Cannabis Index
- Aurora Cannabis
- WM Technology Inc
- Curaleaf Hldgs Subordinate Voting
- Grn.Thumb Inds. Subd. Vtg.
- Trulieve Cannabis Corp
- AFC Gamma Inc
- Agrify Corp.
- Canopy Growth
- Greenlane Holdings, Inc.
- Innovative Indl.Props.
You might be interested in…
Learn how to trade on the performance of an industry in four steps.
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Discover the cannabis companies that are getting traders talking.
1 Based on revenue (published financial statements, 2023).
2 Cowen & Co, 2018.
3 Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
4 Awarded ‘best finance app’ and ‘best multi-platform provider’ at the ADVFN International Financial Awards 2024
5 Trade in your share dealing account three or more times in the previous month to qualify for our best commission rates. Please note published rates are valid up to £25,000 notional value. See our full list of share dealing charges and fees.
6 Trade in your share dealing account three or more times in the previous month to qualify for our best commission rates.
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