The term spread betting broker is, for
this particular product, incorrect as all Spread
Betting companies are acting as a market maker and
are therefore taking your trade onto their risk books. They may
choose to hedge your trade in the underlying market and equally may
decide to take the other side of your trade in the hope that you
have made the wrong decision and will lose money.
There are now over twenty spread betting companies in the market
with some offering bespoke trading platforms built by internal
developers and others offering white label services (this is where
they use someone else's trading software but re-brand it as their
own). There are also a number of providers with mobile trading
solutions allowing clients access to the markets whilst on the
move.
With so much competition for spread betting clients the cost to
place a trade (width of the spread) is now as low as has ever been
seen in the industry which is attracting new retail clients and
also encouraging experienced investors to try spread betting for
the first time.
Other areas of competition are around client education and trading
tools with many firms offering spread betting seminars and webinars
for first time users as well as advanced charting and real
time news feeds to assist in making trading decisions. These
services are often free and provide further encouragement for new
clients to open accounts.
Spread betting is an FSA regulated product but opening an account
is often simpler than opening accounts for other financial
products. Most spread betting companies offer online applications
with many able to approve accounts within minutes.
With so many spread betting companies offering services it can be
a difficult to decide which provider to use. Trading.co.uk has
looked at the current providers and has put together a quick
reference chart to assist in you decision making process. As we
have mentioned earlier, the cost to trade is now as low as it as
ever been but it's important not to become too blinkered by
this when you are making your choice. Finding a broker that can
offer you a service that suits your type of trading style, risk
appetite and technological requirements is just as important as
getting the lowest spreads. If you have a question about a specific
broker that is not already covered please get in touch. We are
an independent company with many years of experience in the retail
market and will endeavour to find answers to any queries you may
have.
| Broker | Minimum Account Opening Balance | Rolling Spreads £/$ | Broker Features | Apply |
 | £150 | 0% | - News
- Seminars
- Demo Account
- Order Type Markets
- Order Type Limits
- Order Type Stops
- Order Type Trailing Stops
- Charting
- Deal Through Charting
- Autochartist
- Research
- Webinars
- Video Tutorials In House
- Video Tutorials Independant
- Android
- Blackberry
- iPhone
- iPad
- Account Opening Online
| Applyfor accountDemothe platforms |
 | £0.1 | 1% | - Order Type Markets
- Order Type Limits
- Order Type Stops
- Order Type Trailing Stops
- Order Type Guaranteed Stops
- Charting
- Deal Through Charting
- Autochartist
- Research
- Webinars
- Video Tutorials In House
- Android
- Blackberry
- iPhone
- iPad
- Account Opening Online
- Account Opening Download
| Applyfor accountDemo unavailable |
 | £50 | 1% | - Seminars
- Demo Account
- Account Opening Offer
- Order Type Markets
- Order Type Limits
- Order Type Stops
- Order Type Guaranteed Stops
- Charting
- Research
- Video Tutorials In House
- Account Opening Online
| Applyfor accountDemo unavailable |