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IG Group exec makes his own spread-bet

Chief product officer Matthew Brief has netted a handy profit from an unusual trade
September 23, 2020

The chief product officer of IG (IGG) has cashed out of a six-week spread bet on the shares of the derivatives trading platform, netting a profit of £54,409.

IC TIP: Hold at 831p

Matthew Brief – a 19-year veteran of the FTSE 250 firm – sold a derivative equivalent to 50,000 IG shares for £422,300 on 18 September, the day after a scheduled trading update revealed revenues for the group's August-end first quarter were up 62 per cent on the prior year.

That disclosure helped push up the stock by 6 per cent and allowed Mr Brief to cash out of the trade at a 15 per cent premium to the share price on 7 August, when he first purchased the derivative. A regulatory filing of the transaction did not disclose how much leverage Mr Brief used in the spread bet, a type of high-risk wager on the price move of a security which unlike contracts-for-difference are exempt from capital gains tax.

It is unusual for directors of publicly-listed companies to make leveraged bets on the share price movements of their firms, or trade over such short timeframes. IG declined to comment, though we understand the executive did not make the trade on the platform he helps to manage.

However, Mr Brief wasn’t the only insider to cash in on IG’s share price rise following the trading update. On 18 September, chief risk officer Joe McCaughran made two sales worth a combined £70,554, while his wife Helen McCaughran disposed of the 10,000 shares he had transferred her a day before – the same day Mr Brief also transferred 9,000 shares to his wife Jasmin Brief.

Buys      
CompanyDirector/PDMRDateNo. of sharesPrice (p)Aggregate value (£)Comments
Babcock InternationalDavid Lockwood (ceo)21 Sep 2046,924211.5299,254 
Crest NicholsonPeter Truscott (ceo)21 Sep 2044,000168.8774,301 
DX GroupRonald Series (ch)17 Sep 20210,50018.2738,449Average price
DX GroupDavid Mulligan (cfo)18 Sep 20116,00017.2520,010 
Finsbury FoodJohn Duffy (ceo)21 Sep 20173,91357.5100,000

Purchased by PCA

GreencoreGary Kennedy21 Sep 2036,4079835,679 
James FisherEoghan O'Lionaird (ceo)18 Sep 204,3291,148.5649,785Average price
Network InternationalSimon Haslam (ceo)21 Sep 2050,926216110,000 
Network InternationalRohinton Kalifa (ch)18 Sep 2035,000291101,704 
Network InternationalVictoria Hull21 Sep 2066,319224148,517Average price
Ninety OneHendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland17 Sep 20124,996208.72260,890

Purchased by PCA

Ninety OneHendrik du Toit/Kim McFarland18 Sep 201,000,718214.242,143,924

Purchased by PCA

Ninety OneColin Keogh18 Sep 2020,00021142,280Average price
Photo-Me InternationalSerge Crasnianski (ceo)16 Sep 203,568,448531,891,277

Purchased by PCA

RedrowJohn Tutte22 Sep 2025,000366.491,600

Purchased by PCA

RotalaBob Dunn15-16 Sep 20102,50020.9521,475Average price
SuperdryJulian Dunkerton (ceo)21 Sep 20846,883135.771,149,813

Residual interest of 19.5%

TT ElectronicsJack Boyer18 Sep 2012,92619825,593

10,126 shares purchased by PCA

UnipharPaul Hogan21 Sep 2032,99822775,037

Converted from €

Vistry GroupGreg Fitzgerald (ceo)21 Sep 2018,288542.799,249

Purchased by PCA

WANdiscoDavid Richards (ch/ceo)18 Sep 206,00040524,300Average price
Sells      
CompanyDirector/PDMRDateNo. of sharesPrice (p)Aggregate value (£)Comments
AnparioKaren Prior18 Sep 2085,000398.41338,650Average price
DS SmithStefano Rossi18 Sep 2046,000292.3134,458

Sold to meet tax obligations

Dechra PharmaceuticalsJulian Heslop17 Sep 204,0003,248129,930 
ElectrocomponentsKaren Guerra16 Sep 2024,756716177,263Average price
Gaming RealmsJim Ryan15-17 Sep 201,000,00022.53225,300Average price
Highland Gold MiningEugene Shvidler (ch)18 Sep 2017,978,75830053,936,274 
Highland Gold MiningValery Oyf18 Sep 206,609,92230019,829,766 
IG GroupJoe McCaughran18 Sep 2018,356844154,925

10,000 shares sold by PCA

IG GroupMatthew Brief18 Sep 2050,000844.6422,300

Sale of derivative (spread bet)

Taseko MinesBrian Battison18 Sep 20100,000132132,371

Converted from US$