Spread Betting Account Meaning

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Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
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Speculate on whether an asset’s price will rise or fall with spread bets. Discover everything you need to know about what spread betting is and how it works.
Start trading today. Call 0800 195 3100 or email newaccountenquiries.uk@ig.com. We’re available from 8am to 6pm (UK time), Monday to Friday.
Start trading today. Call 0800 195 3100 or email newaccountenquiries.uk@ig.com. We’re available from 8am to 6pm (UK time), Monday to Friday.
Spread betting is a popular derivative product you can use to speculate on financial markets – such as forex, indices, commodities or shares – without taking ownership of the underlying asset. Instead, you’d be placing a bet on whether you think the price will rise or fall.
We invented financial spread betting in 1974, and today we enable you to trade over 17,000 markets, whether they are rising or falling in price. This gives you a much wider range of opportunities than traditional buy-and-hold investing.
Spread betting is leveraged, meaning you’ll use a small deposit (called margin) to open a larger position. Just remember that this means both losses and profits could outweigh your initial deposit as both are calculated on the full position size. As you won’t be taking ownership of the asset, spread betting is also tax-free.*
Spread betting works by tracking the value of an asset, so that you can take a position on the underlying market price – without taking ownership of the asset. There are a few key concepts about spread betting you need to know, including:
Going long is the term used to describe placing a bet that the market price will increase over a certain timeframe. Going short or ‘shorting’ a market is the reverse – placing a bet that the market will decline.
So spread betting enables you to speculate on both rising and falling markets. You would buy the market to go long, or sell the market to go short.
Let’s say you thought the price of gold was going to decline. You could open a spread bet to ‘sell’ the underlying market. The loss or gain to your position would depend on the extent to which your prediction was correct. If the market did decline, your spread bet would profit. But if the price of gold increased instead, your position would make a loss.
Leverage enables you to gain full market exposure for a fraction of the underlying market cost.
Say you wanted to open a position on Facebook shares. As an investor that would mean paying the full cost of the shares upfront. But by spread betting on Facebook shares instead, you might only have to put down a deposit worth 20% of the cost.
It’s important to note that leverage magnifies both profits and losses as these are calculated based on the full value of the position, not just the initial deposit. To manage your exposure, you should create a suitable risk management strategy and to consider how much capital you can afford to put at risk.
When you spread bet, you put down a small initial deposit – known as the margin – to open a position. This is why leveraged trading is sometimes referred to as ‘trading on margin’.
There are two types of margin to consider when spread betting:
Spread betting has three main features: the spread, bet size and bet duration. The spread is the charge you’ll pay for a position, the bet size is the amount of money you want to put up per point of market movement, and the bet duration is how long your position will remain open before it expires.
The spread is the difference between the buy and sell prices, which are wrapped around the underlying market price. They’re also known as the offer and bid. The costs of any given trade are factored into these two prices, so you’ll always buy slightly higher than the market price and sell slightly below it.
For example, if the FTSE 100 is trading at 5885.5 and has a one-point spread, it would have an offer price of 5886 and a bid price of 5885.
The bet size is the amount you want to bet per unit of movement of the underlying market. You can choose your bet size, as long as it meets the minimum we accept for that market. Your profit or loss is calculated as the difference between the opening price and the closing price of the market, multiplied by the value of your bet.
We measure the price movements of the underlying market in points. Depending on the liquidity and volatility of your chosen market, a point of movement can represent a pound, a penny, or even a one hundredth of a penny. You can find out what a point means for your chosen market on the deal ticket.
If you open a £2 per point bet on the FTSE 100 and it moves 60 points in your favour, your profit would be £120 (£2 x 60). If it moved 60 points against you, your loss would be £120.
The bet duration is the length of time before your position expires. All spread bets have a fixed timescale that can range from a day to several months away. You’re free to close them at any point before the designated expiry time, assuming the spread bet is open for trading.
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Say Apple is trading with a sell price of 11550 ($115.50) and a buy price of 11560 ($115.60). You anticipate that Apple shares are going to rise in the next few days, so decide to go long on (buy) Apple shares for £10 per point of movement at 11560.
If Apple shares did rise in price, you might decide to close your trade when the sell price hits 11590. As the market has increased by 30 points (11590 – 11560), you’d be coming out with a profit of £300 (30 x £10), excluding any additional costs.
If the market had fallen in value instead – down to a sell price of 11,510 – you would have ended up with a loss. As the market had moved by 50 points (11,560 – 11,510), you would have made a loss of £500 (50 x £10). Again, not including any additional charges.
Yes, if your prediction of whether the market will rise or fall is correct, you’ll profit and if it’s incorrect, you’ll lose.
It is important to remember that all forms of trading carry risk. So, although spread betting provides opportunities for profit, you should never risk more than you can afford to lose.
When you hedge using a spread bet, you open a position that will offset negative price movement in an existing position. This could be trading the same asset in the opposite direction, or on an asset that moves in a different direction to your existing trade.
For example, if you were worried that inflation might impact the value of your share portfolio, you might decide to take a long position on gold – an asset that typically has an inverse correlation with the dollar and can protect portfolios from inflation. If your shareholdings did decline, the profits from your spread bet on gold could offset any losses. But if your shareholdings rose in value instead, this profit could offset any potential loss to your gold spread bet.
Spread bets are not taxed.* Traditionally, when you buy and sell shares you have to pay stamp duty and capital gains tax on any profits that you make, but spread bets are tax-free. And because you don’t take ownership of the underlying asset, you won’t have to pay stamp duty either.
Spread betting is a bet on the future direction of a market, while a CFD is an agreement to exchange the difference in the price of an asset from when the contract is opened to when it is closed. There are a range of similarities and differences between these two derivative products.
Leverage is an inherent part of spread betting, so you can’t open a position without it. Before you start trading on leverage, it’s a good idea to build up your knowledge on the subject and create a risk management strategy.
Dividend payments have no impact on your spread betting position. If you hold a spread bet open on an equity or index when a dividend payment takes place, we’ll make an adjustment to your position. This means that capital will either be credited or debited to your account if a dividend is paid, depending on whether you have incurred additional running loss/profit.
Find out more about spread betting and test yourself with IG Academy’s range of online courses.
Find out more about spread betting and test yourself with IG Academy’s range of online courses.
Discover the differences between spread betting and CFD trading
Learn about risk management tools including stops and limits
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* Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
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Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Professional clients can lose more than they deposit. All trading involves risk.
The value of shares, ETFs and ETCs bought through a share dealing account, a stocks and shares ISA or a SIPP can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
CFD, share dealing and stocks and shares ISA accounts provided by IG Markets Ltd, spread betting provided by IG Index Ltd. IG is a trading name of IG Markets Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 04008957) and IG Index Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 01190902). Registered address at Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2YA. Both IG Markets Ltd (Register number 195355) and IG Index Ltd (Register number 114059) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Akhilesh Ganti is a forex trading expert who has 20+ years of experience and is directly responsible for all trading, risk, and money management decisions made at ArctosFX LLC. He has earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and an MBA from M.S.U., and is also registered commodity trading advisor (CTA).
Spread betting refers to speculating on the direction of a financial market without actually owning the underlying security. It involves placing a bet on the price movement of a security. A spread betting company quotes two prices, the bid and ask price (also called the spread), and investors bet whether the price of the underlying security will be lower than the bid or higher than the ask.
The spread bettor does not actually own the underlying security in spread betting, they simply speculate on its price movement.
Spread betting should not be confused with spread trading, which involves taking offsetting positions in two (or more) different securities and profiting if the difference in price between the securities widens or narrows over time.
Spread betting refers to speculating on the direction of a financial market without actually taking a position in the underlying security.
The investor does not own the underlying security in spread betting, they simply speculate on its price movement using leverage.
It is promoted as a cost-effective method to speculate in both bull and bear markets.
Spread betting allows investors to speculate on the price movement of a wide variety of financial instruments, such as stocks, forex, commodities, and fixed income securities. In other words, an investor makes a bet based on whether they think the market will rise or fall from the time their bet is accepted. They also get to choose how much they want to risk on their bet. It is promoted as a tax free, commission free activity that allows investors to profit from either bull and bear markets.
Spread betting is a leveraged product which means investors only need to deposit a small percentage of the position's value. For example, if the value of a position is $50,000 and the margin requirement is 10%, a deposit of just $5,000 is required. This magnifies both gains and losses which means investors can lose more than their initial investment.
Spread betting may not be available to residents of the United States due to regulatory and legal limitations.
Despite the risk that comes with the use of high leverage, spread betting offers effective tools to limit losses.
Risk can also be mitigated by the use of arbitrage, betting two ways simultaneously.
Let’s assume that the price of ABC stock is $201.50 and a spread-betting company, with a fixed spread, is quoting the bid/ask at $200 / $203 for investors to transact on it. The investor is bearish and believes that ABC is going to fall below $200 so they hit the bid to sell at $200. They decide to bet $20 for every point the stock falls below their transacted price of $200. If ABC falls to where the bid/ask is $185/$188, the investor can close their trade with a profit of {($200 - $188) * $20 = $240}. If the price rises to $212/$215, and they choose to close their trade, then they will lose {($200 - $215) * $20 = -$300}.
The spread betting firm requires a 20% margin, which means the investor needs to deposit 20% of the value of the position at its inception, {($200 * $20) * 20% = $800, into their account to cover the bet. The position value is derived by multiplying the bet size by the stock’s bid price ($20 x $200 = $4,000).
Investors have the ability to bet on both rising and falling prices. If an investor is trading physical shares, they have to borrow the stock they intend to short sell which can be time-consuming and costly. Spread betting makes short selling as easy as buying.
Spread betting companies make money through the spread they offer. There is no separate commission charge which makes it easier for investors to monitor trading costs and work out their position size.
Spread betting is considered gambling in some jurisdictions, and subsequently any realized gains may not be taxable. Investors who spread bet should keep records and seek the advice of an accountant before completing their taxes.
Investors who don’t understand leverage can take positions that are too large for their account which can result in margin calls. Investors should risk no more than 2% of their investment capital (deposit) on any one trade and always be aware of the position value of the bet they intend to open.
During periods of volatility, spread betting firms may widen their spreads. This can trigger stop-loss orders and increase trading costs. Investors should be wary about placing orders immediately before company earnings announcements and economic reports.
Many spread betting platforms will also offer trading in contracts for difference (CFDs), which are a similar type of contract. CFDs are derivative contracts where traders can bet on short-term price moves. There is no delivery of physical goods or securities with CFDs, but the contract itself has transferrable value while it is in force. The CFD is thus a tradable security established between a client and the broker, who are exchanging the difference in the initial price of the trade and its value when the trade is unwound or reversed. Although CFDs allow investors to trade the price movements of futures, they are not futures contracts by themselves. CFDs do not have expiration dates containing preset prices but trade like other securities with buy and sell prices.
Spread bets, on the other hand, do have fixed expiration dates when the bet is first placed. CFD trading also requires commissions and transaction fees be paid up-front to the provider; in contrast, spread betting companies do not take fees or commissions. When the contract is closed and profits or losses are realized, the investor is either owed money or owes money to the trading company. If profits are realized, the CFD trader will net profit of the closing position, less opening position and fees. Profits for spread bets will be the change in basis points multiplied by the dollar amount negotiated in the initial bet. Both CFDs and spread bets are subject to dividend payouts assuming a long position contract. While there is no direct ownership of the asset, a provider and spread betting company will pay dividends if the underlying asset does as well. When profits are realized for CFD trades, the investor is subject to capital gains tax while spread betting profits are usually tax-free
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A seller is any individual or entity, who exchanges a good or service in return for payment. In the options market, a seller is also called a writer.
A contract for differences (CFD) is a marginable financial derivative that can be used to speculate on very short-term price movements for a variety of underlying instruments.
An assignable contract has a provision allowing the holder to give away the obligations and rights of the contract to another party or person before the contract's expiration date.
A leg is one component of a derivatives trading strategy in which a trader combines multiple options contracts or multiple futures contracts.
Futures are financial contracts obligating the buyer to purchase an asset or the seller to sell an asset at a predetermined future date and price.
A commodity futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell a commodity at a set price and time in the future. Read how to invest in commodity futures.
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