Spreadbetting with guaranteed stops

Broker Discussion
1

Hi everyone this is my first ever post on a forum and i would like to share my trading experience and ideas in the future but first would like to get some advise for the right brokers

Hi all, i am new to this forum but i have been a active FX trader for the last 9 years. I have mainly spread betted on fx pairs with IG index in UK. Over the last 12 months i have been using a really good feature with IG which is guaranteed stops. when i trade fx pairs, mainly USD/JPY or USD/CAD, the guaranteed stops have been as low as 5 points at least 90% of the time. This does change during news release. With guaranteed stops, I could trade £20 a point with just £118 margin requirement. I will break this down, £100 margin requirement is for guaranteed stoploss of 5 points at £20 a point and £18 for the 0.8 point premium only if my stop gets triggered,
Now using this method, combined with my trading strategy, i have always managed to pull in a minimum of £200 a day. This has now changed unfortunately, IG have still kept the guaranteed stop loss at 5 points but they have increased the margin requirement for the same trade from £120 to £1104. When i questioned them, they said this is new FCA rules and they don’t want people to take big risks. I kindly explained its my money, i have a track record of successful trades so can you please change the margin requirements for me but they refused.
Now my question is, are there any other brokers out there who I can trade with using this format of tight guaranteed stop loss and a margin requirement that just covers my guaranteed stop loss?

2

£1,100 seems very reasonable margin for spreadbetting at £20 per point?

If you’ve been trading successfully for 9 years, and are making £200 per day, why would putting up a bit of margin be an issue anyway? It’s only margin, isn’t it, and that’s only 6 days’ takings?

I can’t see why this is such a problem that it would make you seek another spreadbetting company?

3

Hi. I have been trading markets for 9 years not successfully for 9 years. It’s only been a year since I have been profitable. Regardless of what I can make, it’s a massive increase in margin as sometimes when i feel confident on a trade, I will increase my size so again margin required has just gone through the roof

4

Honestly, I’m surprised your margin requirement was so low in the first place.

For myself, I wouldn’t spread-bet with less than £1,000 in the account for every £1 per pip I was betting (minimum!), so I’d want £20,000 in the account to trade at £20 per point.

Sorry if I sound unsympathetic, but honestly it’s surreal to be betting at £20 per point if you’re short of £1,100 margin.

I can imagine the regulator would freak out if they knew spreadbetting firms were taking £20-per-point bets without even £1,100 in the account. That can’t be right, surely? My guess is that IG should never have been doing this in the first place, and their compliance department has only just realised they were, and is very quickly and sensibly correcting it.

But still, as Quickly said, it’s only 6 days profits for you, surely?

I’ll be amazed if you can find lower margin requirements than this anywhere else.