INTERES Invest in Spain

William Armitage, International Business Developement of IG Markets

1. Why did IG Markets select Spain to grow its business in Europe?

With the implementation of a pan-European financial services directive in November 2007, the possibility for IG Markets to launch a CFD Trading Service became a reality. After much research into the dynamics of the Spanish retail investor and having seen the success of warrants, it was obvious that Spain represented a great opportunity for IG Markets’ continued international expansion (offices already in UK, Australia, Singapore, Germany, USA & concurrently with the Spanish operation, France). We needed a knowledgeable client base whose stock market had seen impressive growth over the last five years and where another less transparent leveraged product was already well-known. Spain has duly provided such an opportunity.

2. Would you encourage other companies of your country to set up in Spain? Which are the main advantages of Spain as opposed to other European countries?

Yes. However, I would warn that it is vital to make use of local knowledge, such as INTERES, to aid with the fiscal, legislative and regulatory requirements which are unique to Spain. Without such experienced guidance, we would realistically been able to launch our trading service when we did.

Before coming to Spain to do business, we were well aware of just some of the following advantages:-
• One of the largest economies in Europe
• High level of disposable income
• Hard-working, talented and motivated employees
• Intelligence and understanding of the financial markets

The one which has really stood out, now that we have been operating for over three months, is the calibre of the staff in our Madrid office. They are all creative, intelligent and have a great work ethic. The same certainly cannot be said of an average office in many other European countries.

3. What are the main values and necessities in your business?

We are proud to adhere to our three core values:-
• Professionalism
• Innovation
• Transparency

What is deemed as an absolute necessity to maintain IG Markets’ position at the forefront of our industry:-
Only by maintaining such a reputation based around our three core values, continuing to invest heavily in improving our trading service/platforms/technology and given our extensive experience in offering leveraged products to the retain investor (nearly 35 years) can we do so.

The other key necessity when launching a new service in another country is the education of CFDs to a new potential market. This is why we are giving seminars around the country, as well as fortnightly ones in our Madrid office, and also having stands at the major retail investor fairs. To borrow

The final key necessity is to provide a truly Spanish service. Our sales office is in Madrid, clients deposit funds into a Spanish bank to trade (not to Denmark, Germany or the UK), whilst the entire sales process, trading and customer service is conducted by Spaniards or Spanish-speakers.

4. Which are the technology challenges for the next five years in your market?

For a business such as IG’s, which revolves around having the most robust and technically advanced platforms, the challenge over any time horizon will be to ensure that we are seen as the benchmark CFD service provider not just in Spain, but in every country we launch in.
We have reached our position of strength by spending heavily on our IT infrastructure particularly over the last five years. The challenge that lies ahead for the next five is that we must remain as proactive as ever in terms of our own innovation, yet all the while be reactive to new technologies and other competitors’ developments.

5. What are you offering different to your clients as opposed to other stock market dealers?

In one word “leverage” – “apalancamiento”.

With CFDs, the retail, corporate and institutional client has the means to trade with leverage on a far more transparent model than the other popular leveraged product. Our CFDs on Shares, of which we quote over 7500 around the world, are all quoted in real time with live streaming prices (“en tiempo real con streaming”).
This means that people trade at the same prices as they would with their traditional broker. The difference being they put down a percentage of the total amount as “margin” – yet the client receives all the profits or losses as if he/she had bought/sold the shares in the traditional way.
Also, with IG Markets, as well as our share CFDs, we offer CFDs on Indices which are quoted 24 hours a day, over 80 different currency pairs, a wide range of commodities (gold, oil, orange juice, greasy wool etc), bonds, interest rates, options and binary options.
It is suggested that CFDs should not replace a share portfolio, rather be used in conjunction with one (given the dangers of the leverage effect, 10% to 15% is deemed to be optimal)
Feel free to look at www.igmarkets.es to discover further differences between our CFD service and other stock market dealers.