IG Group has revealed it intends to scrap hundreds of jobs as part of a goal to streamline its operations.
The online trading platform said its global workforce would be cut by approximately 300, equivalent to 10 per cent of employee numbers at the end of May.
Combined with other ‘efficiency measures,’ such as broadening the use of global excellence centres, the business believes the programme would lead to £50million in annual cost savings.
Redundancies: Online trading platform IG Group said its global workforce would be cut by approximately 300, equivalent to 10 per cent of employee numbers at the end of May (stock image)
It expects to make £10million in structural savings this financial year, followed by £20million in the following 12 months and £50million the year afterwards.
Like many other retail investment firms, IG has been impacted by a slowdown in trading volumes amid heightened economic uncertainty.
In the last financial year, the number of active trading clients on its platform fell by about 23,000 to 358,300, although this latter figure was still double their pre-pandemic levels.
Charlie Rozes, acting chief executive, remarked: ‘We want to position IG Group as a lean fintech company, and today’s decisive actions ensure a strong platform for future growth.
‘We will continuously evaluate and pursue cost-efficiency opportunities to create a more agile and scalable organisation.
‘Full support will be provided to our people throughout this process, and while these decisions are not easy to take, they will ensure the business is well positioned for continued long-term success.’
Rozes took charge two months ago after June Felix announced she was standing down as CEO because of her ‘health situation.’
IG achieved extraordinary growth under Felix’s five-year leadership as the Covid-19 pandemic led to a surge in first-time investors looking to make some cash from the heightened stock market volatility.
Whilst this was happening, the company bought the online brokerage Tastytrade, giving it a greater presence across the US retail options and futures market.
This helped IG’s annual turnover exceed £1billion for the first time ever last year, as did interest rate hikes and growth in the firm’s exchange-traded derivatives arm.
IG Group shares were 1 per cent higher at 646.5p on Tuesday afternoon but have fallen by around 18 per cent since the year began.
Meanwhile, investment management firm Brooks Macdonald announced that it was proposing to make 55 jobs redundant in order to save about £4million per year.
Andrew Shepherd, its CEO, said: ‘As an ambitious business, we must respond to evolving market dynamics by taking difficult decisions that will regrettably affect some of our colleagues, but make the group stronger.’
