FNG Exclusive… FNG has learned via regulatory filings that longtime IG Group Head of Dealing Matt Brief has made a fairly large spread bet in shares of his own employer.

Mr. Brief, who has headed the dealing room at IG since 2001 (making him one of the longest tenured members of IG senior management), went long on a spread bet equivalent to 50,000 LON:IGG shares.

The trade was made last Friday, August 7, at an effective purchase price of £7.35783 per IG share, for a total outlay of £367,891.50 (or about USD $479,000).

So far Mr. Brief’s spread bet seems to be in the money, as IG shares moved up this week to sit currently at £7.785, or an increase of 5.8% in just a few days. What seems to have rallied the shares over the past two trading days were the latest financial reports from IG rivals Plus500 and Swissquote, each of which posted record results on Tuesday and saw their shares pop in the aftermath.

IG shares took a dive in late July after the company reported full year 2020 (May 31 fiscal year-end) results. The results included record six-month-period revenues and profits for IG – but apparently a less than stellar outlook for FY-2021 disappointed the market, sending IG shares down 11%. Soon after that IG Group Chairman Mike McTighe and CEO June Felix each scooped up some IG shares for their own accounts, as was also exclusively reported by FNG.

And now Matt Brief.

Profits from spread betting are not subject to capital gains tax in the UK.