This week we have June Felix, CEO of the £3.5bn IG Group (LSE:IGG) on the podcast. IG Group is a FTSE 250 stock and an online trading and technology giant, which has posted some excellent results recently.
IG Group has been an established name within the UK and international online trading segment for decades. It is arguably one of the leading brands in trading and investment globally. We had a lively discussion with June about how the broker and technology firm fared during the pandemic and why firms like IG were able to attract so many new traders during that period.
June Felix was a sound pick as CEO to take IG on to the next level. The firm was already a leading name in financial spread betting and CFD trading before she came on board, but Felix recognised the need to diversify the company into new areas of investment and also placed emphasis on its evolution into a technology business. Like many other brokers, IG migrated from a core focus on CFDs / OTC derivatives to offering physical share trading as well. But Felix saw further potential here.
On the podcast we talk about some of the major themes affecting online trading and companies like IG. This includes the thousands of younger traders who have started in the markets in the wake of the meme stock mania in 2020 and how the pandemic served to open the door to trading for a whole new generation. What do they want to get out of it? What sorts of demands are they making of brokers?
Expanding IG Group’s global footprint
IG Group has also been on the acquisition trail under Felix’s leadership. For example, in June 2021 IG completed the $1bn acquisition of tastytrade, a US trading and education platform with over 105,000 active investor accounts. Larger spread betting brokers have been contemplating the huge US options and futures market for years. Felix saw an opportunity with this deal to access the massive US online trading market, with its 1.5m retail traders. Timing was excellent too, as IG established its foothold at a time when online trading was booming in the US.We discuss international expansion for IG Group and how that is likely to work in practice, and how technology innovation is affecting online trading. The elephant in the room here is digital currencies, of course, and we touch on what potential cryptocurrencies now have to change the trading world, with so many thousands of traders now dedicated entirely to crypto markets.
Before she joined IG, Felix was President of Verifone Europe. She speaks about her experience at the top levels of dynamic companies and the lessons she learned there which she has applied at IG. For example, Felix has worked in the financial digital sector in senior roles at the likes of JP Morgan Chase, Citi, IBM and Deutsche Bank at a transformative time for those companies.
Finally we wrap up with her thoughts on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the implications for IG Group and its employees and customers.
