Margin rates
Our tiered margining system means we can offer rates that remain competitive while reflecting the size of your position and associated liquidity of the market.
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What is margin?
CFDs are leveraged products, meaning you don’t have to pay the full value of your exposure to deal. Instead, you only need to put up a fraction of your trade’s total value to open your position. This opening amount is called initial margin – it is also sometimes referred to as deposit margin.
Our margin rates
At IG, we offer tiered margining, applying different margin requirements at different levels of exposure. Smaller deal sizes generally benefit from better market liquidity, so these positions attract our lowest margin rates. Our tiers start at one, with the lowest margin rates, and go up to four, with the highest margin rates.
You can see a summary of tier one margins for some of our most popular markets below. For all tier one margins, you can reduce your margin requirement by using stops. Adding a stop reduces your exposure by limiting your potential losses.
- Indices
- Forex
- Commodities
- Shares
CFDs |
||||
Stock index | Retail | Leverage equivalent | Professional1 | Leverage equivalent |
FTSE 100 | 5% | 1:20 | 0.45% | 1:222 |
Wall Street | 5% | 1:20 | 0.45% | 1:222 |
Germany 40 | 5% | 1:20 | 0.45% | 1:222 |
US 500 | 5% | 1:20 | 0.45% | 1:222 |
US Tech 100 | 5% | 1:20 | 0.45% | 1:222 |
1 Margin per contract
1 Margin per contract
See how FX margins are calculated here
Find our margin rates for all markets here
CFDs |
||||
Commodities | Retail | Leverage equivalent | Professional1 | Leverage equivalent |
Spot Gold | 5% | 1:20 | 0.45% | 1:222 |
Spot Silver (5000oz) | 10% | 1:10 | 1.80% | 1:55 |
High Grade Copper | 10% | 1:10 | 1.80% | 1:55 |
Oil - US Crude | 10% | 1:10 | 1.35% | 1:74 |
Oil - Brent Crude | 10% | 1:10 | 1.35% | 1:74 |
1 Margin factor is the variable used to multiply your bet size, to define your margin requirement.
2 Margin per contract
CFDs |
||||
Shares | Retail | Leverage equivalent | Professional | Leverage equivalent |
Apple | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
Barclays PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
BHP Group PLC (LSE) | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
GlaxoSmithKline PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
Vodafone Group PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
Find our margin rates for all markets here
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*Demo accounts are only available for spread betting and CFD trading.
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Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
React faster with powerful technology
Our platform and apps are intuitive and highly responsive, so trading opportunities are always within reach
Grow your confidence with an established provider
We’re a FTSE 250 company that’s been leading our industry for nearly 50 years, so our expertise is second to none
*Demo accounts are only available for spread betting and CFD trading.
Open an account now
Open an account now
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
React faster with powerful technology
Our platform and apps are intuitive and highly responsive, so trading opportunities are always within reach
Grow your confidence with an established provider
We’re a FTSE 250 company that’s been leading our industry for nearly 50 years, so our expertise is second to none
Margin for professionals
Professional clients are exempt from regulatory limits on leverage that are in place for retail clients. If you qualify as a professional client, you won’t have to commit as much of your capital to the initial margin deposit as a retail client would.
For example, if a retail client wanted to take a position on the FTSE 100, a margin of 5% would be required. A professional client, on the other hand, would only need to put down a margin of 0.45%.
You can find out more, and check if you are eligible for professional status, on our professional trading page.
Maintenance margin
Maintenance margin, also known as variation margin, is extra money that we might need to request if the market moves against you. It ensures that you have enough money in your account to fund the present value of the position – covering any running losses.
Maintenance margin is charged via a margin call, which is a status applied to your account when it has fallen below the minimum required to keep a position open. We will notify you of this by email.
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All retail client funds are held in segregated bank accounts, in line with FCA rules.