The sensationalist headline “You Can Never Have Too Many Spread Betting Accounts!” is not exactly true, of course, because too many accounts can become unmanageable and time-consuming. But I believe that you do need more than one account, and ideally more than one account provider (because some brands are run by the same provider). Here’s why:
- I’ve lost count of the number of times I have wanted to trade XYZ plc (not a real company) only to find that it isn’t offered on a particular spread betting platform. Or, it is available, but the minimum stop distance for my preferred guaranteed stop order would be too wide to give a viable risk-reward ratio on my first-choice platform. Or, my first and second choice platforms are mysteriously inoperative the very minute I wish to trade, so I need to go to my third choice. Or, my third choice platform doesn’t have an Android app when I need to trade on-the-move, so I have to trade in my fourth choice account.
- I was mighty glad not to have placed all of my spread betting eggs in a single basket (i.e. with a single account provider) at the time of the World Spreads collapse. I eventually got my money back from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), but I would have been left impotent — from a trading point of view — if it was the only spread betting account that I held.
Even if you’re happy with your current provider, it may be time to look at opening a second- or third-choice account to reduce your risk and increase your trading flexibility. To help guide your choice, over the past few days I have posted my thoughts on the preferred spread betting providers that I use; and I have also provided this information as fixed mini-review pages for Capital Spreads, IG, InterTrader, ETX Capital, SpreadEx and Spread Co.
Two Steps to Better Spread Betting:
1) Buy the Better Spread Betting Book
2) Sign up with Capital Spreads, IG, ETX Capital, or Spread Co
Disclaimer: this posting is for general education only; it is not trading advice.