About the Interactive Brokers Group
In January 2024, Interactive Brokers began its 47th year as a broker/dealer. We provide direct-access trade execution and clearing services to sophisticated investors, active traders and institutions and have a consolidated equity capital of $14.7 billion.1
Our mission remains unchanged:
Create technology to provide liquidity on better terms. Compete on price, speed, size, diversity of global products and advanced trading tools.
Interactive Brokers LLC is rated investment grade by Standard & Poor’s.
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. was founded by its Chairman Thomas Peterffy.
Now in its 47th year, Interactive Brokers is one of the premier securities firms, with $14.7 billion in equity capital.1
IBKR conducts its broker/dealer business on over 150 market destinations worldwide. In its broker dealer agency business, IBKR provides direct access (“online”) trade execution and clearing services to institutional and professional traders for a wide variety of electronically traded products including stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds, gold, crypto* and funds worldwide. Interactive Brokers Group and its affiliates execute approximately 2,350,000 trades per day.1
In May 2023, Thomas Peterffy was the keynote speaker at the SIFMA meeting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of listed options trading. The speech chronicles his experiences in listed options trading and the founding of Timber Hill and Interactive Brokers. Read the Speech
A Global Firm for Global Investors
Interactive Brokers is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut and has 2,950+ employees in its offices in the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Hungary, India, China (Hong Kong and Shanghai), Japan, Singapore, and Australia. IBKR is regulated by the SEC, FINRA, NYSE, FCA and other regulatory agencies around the world.
Interactive Brokers History
Equity Capital
1977
Thomas Peterffy (now Chairman of the Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Group) buys a seat on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and becomes a member, trading as an individual market maker in equity options.
1979
T.P. & Co. expands to four employees, three of whom are AMEX members.
1981
Efforts are made to code and test a system that identifies potential delta-neutral trade pairs. Our greatest challenge: how to electronically read the prices of options as they are posted.
1983
Timber Hill creates the first handheld computers used for trading. Their ability to track positions and continually re-price options on one stock quickly gives Timber Hill traders an advantage over their counterparts at the exchange, who continue to use fair value pricing sheets that are updated only once or twice a day.
Timber Hill begins trading at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
Timber Hill expands to 12 employees.
1985
In February, Timber Hill's new computer system and network is brought online, ushering in a new era of computerized trading. The system allows Timber Hill to centrally price and manage risk on a portfolio of equity derivatives traded in multiple locations around the country.
We install stacks of computer screens on the exchange floors at strategic locations. They are connected to our computer systems in our offices. The screens include color-coded strips so traders can easily see the firm's bids and offers. The screens also take touch input so that completed trades can be entered.
Timber Hill becomes a member of the New York Futures Exchange.
Timber Hill begins trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
1987
Timber Hill becomes self-clearing in equities, joining the National Securities Clearing Corp. and the Depository Trust Company.
The stock market crash creates the impetus for cross-margining between clearing houses with Timber Hill as a major proponent, as Peterffy is a member of the Board of the Options Clearing Corporation. (Cross-margining emerges several years later).
Timber Hill expands to 67 employees, most of them on exchange floors, trading with color-striped screens.
Timber Hill establishes a fully automated trading system where its computers trade directly with NASDAQ's Central Matching computer without any human intervention other than NASDAQ traders and brokers. The first automated trader on Wall Street. When NASDAQ orders Timber Hill to operate through the keyboard, Timber Hill builds a computer-driven mechanical system that punches keys on the keyboard.
1990
The first electronic options exchange in history opens in Germany.
Timber Hill agrees to make a continuous market on options in return for permission to communicate with the exchange electronically. Timber Hill connects its automated market making system, but though the exchange begins sending trade confirmations to a screen, it does not agree to digital.
Timber Hill must build a photo lens and optical recognition system to understand trades.
Timber Hill Deutschland GmbH is incorporated in Germany. Shortly thereafter, the firm begins trading equity derivatives at the Deutsche Terminborse (DTB) (now Eurex). This is the first application of Timber Hill’s trading system on a fully-automated exchange.
Timber Hill becomes one of the leading market makers at the DTB, with more than 10% of the trading volume.
1993
Timber Hill Europe AG is incorporated in Switzerland and takes over the Group's trading at SOFFEX.
In the United States, Timber Hill floor traders begin using commercially available handheld computers on exchange floors, communicating by radio with the firm's Central pricing system. The handheld computers allow traders to create electronic trade tickets.
The CME grants the firm’s floor traders permission to use handheld computers in the trading pit, connected by radio waves. Timber Hill’s clients can now INTERACT with the world through the pit, its traders and its screens.
Interactive Brokers Inc. (now known as IB LLC) is incorporated as a US broker-dealer. Timber Hill's vast intercontinental electronic network and trade execution services are now available to clients.
1995
Timber Hill France S.A. is incorporated and begins making markets at the Paris Traded Equity Options Market and the Marché à Terme International de France futures exchange.
Timber Hill Hong Kong begins making markets at the Hong Kong Futures Exchange.
Timber Hill Europe expands its activities into the Italian Mercato Italiano Futures and Spanish Meff Renta Variable markets.
IB LLC creates a workstation through which professional clients gain access to exchanges around the world.
IB LLC executes its first trades for public clients.
1997
The Hong Kong Futures Exchange lists stock index futures on an electronic market. Timber Hill Hong Kong is the only committed market maker.
Timber Hill Australia Pty Limited is incorporated in Australia.
Timber Hill Europe begins trading in Norway and becomes a member of the Austrian Derivatives Exchange.
With continuous electronic liquidity provided by Timber Hill, the S&P 500 E-Mini futures becomes the first US electronic market and the most successful electronic futures contract ever introduced.
The Timber Hill Group now makes bids and offers for 60,000 items.
Timber Hill trades nearly 5% (15,000 transactions) of the daily volume in listed equity derivatives worldwide. The firm expands to 284 employees.
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IBKR provides "smart routing" linkage for multiple listed equity options.
IBKR begins to clear online trades for clients who trade stocks and equity derivatives through the IB system.
IBKR becomes the first firm to offer online, direct-access brokerage services in Hong Kong to the HKFE.
2001
The corporate name of The Timber Hill Group LLC is changed to the Interactive Brokers Group LLC.
The group's combined electronic brokerage and market making volume now exceeds 200,000 trades per day.
Standard & Poor's issues an investment grade rating to Timber Hill LLC. For more information on Standard & Poor's visit: http://www.standardandpoors.com.
2003
The Interactive Brokers Group companies transact approximately 12% of the exchange-listed equity and index options worldwide.
Interactive Brokers expands execution and clearing services to include Canadian stocks, equity/index options and futures, Italian index options and futures, German equity options, Japanese index options and futures, Dutch index options and futures, UK equity options and Belgian index options and futures.
2005
Barron's names IBKR the #1 software-based broker overall and #1 for lowest trade cost.
Institutional Investor ranks IBG as the 16th largest US securities firm.
The Interactive Brokers Group companies execute over 16% of the world's options in markets where they actively trade.
IDEALPRO is launched, providing traders with tight forex quotes from multiple bank dealers in a single quote montage.
2007
On May 3rd Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. sells 40,000,000 shares in a public offering at $30.01 per share. The float represents approximately 10% interest in Interactive Brokers Group LLC. Members of the firm have the right to sell an additional 12.5% interest to the public in each of the following seven years. Please refer to the chart at the bottom of the page for the firm’s new ownership structure.
A real-time portfolio margin platform is introduced, allowing clients trading multiple asset classes to increase their leverage with greater safety.
Exchange for Physicals (EFP) are launched, providing clients with a market-determined, AAA-rated financing alternative to randomly set broker rates.
Equity Capital: $3.6B
2009
According to Barron's Magazine, Interactive Brokers maintains its position as "the least expensive trading venue for investors" and holds its ranking as the #1 Lowest Cost Broker for the fifth straight year.
The free iTWS trading app for the iPhoneTM is launched for clients. It also offers free utilities to non-clients, including real-time forex quotes, email price alerts and exchange-delayed market data, charts and scanners.
Interactive Brokers releases PortfolioAnalyst, an online tool that allows investors to evaluate the performance of their portfolios against over 80 popular benchmarks.
Interactive Brokers offers electronic market access via TWS to AQS®, the first automated, centrally- cleared electronic marketplace for Stock Borrow and Loan transactions.
Interactive Brokers now supports trading on over 80 different venues, including the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) for both India residents and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
Equity Capital: $4.9B
2011
IBIS, Capital Introduction for hedge funds, Stock Yield Enhancement and mobileTWS for iPad are released.
Interactive Brokers becomes the largest online US broker as measured by Daily Average Revenue Trades Reported.
Equity Capital: $4.7B
2013
IBKR's Hedge Fund Capital Introduction ramps up with 60% of funds receiving at least one investment. For the year, funds report a 20%.** average rate of return.
IBKR releases the Probability Lab options trading tool in TWS, providing a revolutionary and practical way to think about options without complicated mathematics.
IBKR integrates IB FYI automated portfolio-relevant notifications into the TWS, providing guidance such as shares becoming available for borrowing and options that make sense to exercise.
IBKR launches the Traders' Insight, providing market insight directly from global market participants to the trading and investing public.
For the second year in a row Barron's ranks IBKR Best Online Broker Overall in its annual Best Online Brokers review.
Equity Capital: $5.1B
2015
IBKR launches Investors' Marketplace, an online service where traders, investors, advisors, fund managers, research analysts, technology providers, business developers and administrators can meet and do business together.
IBKR introduces additional resources for advisors, including CRM (Client Relationship Management), a fully-integrated system where advisors manage the entire client relationship life cycle in one place, and the RIA Compliance Center, a resource for advisors starting and registering their own advisory firms.
For the fourth year in a row Barron's ranks IBKR Best Online Broker Overall in its annual Best Online Brokers review.
IBKR acquires Boston-based Covestor, an online investing marketplace and digital asset management company.
IBKR releases the Portfolio Builder trading tool in TWS, allowing traders to create an investment strategy driven by top-tier research and fundamentals data, then back-test and adjust as needed.
Equity Capital: $5.3B
2017
IBKR introduces the Interactive Brokers Debit Mastercard, which allows cardholders to spend and borrow directly against their Interactive Brokers account.
IBKR is among the first brokers to offer client access to Bitcoin futures trading on the Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) and the CME.
IBKR introduces a new Order Management System (OMS) for Institutional clients at a groundbreaking low cost of $100 per seat per month.
Equity Capital: $6.4B
2019
Milan Galik is appointed Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Brokers Group, succeeding founder Thomas Peterffy. Mr. Peterffy remains as Chairman of the Board.
IBKR once again rated #1 – Best Online Broker by Barron's 2019.
Interactive Brokers launches IBKR Lite, a new offering that provides commission-free, unlimited trades on US exchange-listed stocks and ETFs.
IBKR adds the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and Moscow Exchange (MOEX) to its offering
IBKR broadens access to more expensive stocks and facilitates portfolio diversification by offering Fractional Share Trading and Cash Quantity stock orders.
Equity Capital: $7.9B
2021
IBKR introduces cryptocurrency trading through Paxos Trust Company.
IBKR launches US spot gold trading, allowing clients to trade in amounts as small as one ounce, side-by-side with other asset classes, from their IBKR account.
IBKR launches IMPACT, a patent-pending mobile trading application that helps investors align their investments with their values.
IBKR releases GlobalAnalyst, an online tool that helps investors find undervalued companies that may have greater growth potential.
Interactive Brokers Prepaid Mastercard card is launched for Canadian clients.
Equity Capital: $10.2B
2023
Interactive Brokers surpasses 2.5 million accounts
Preqin named IBKR the #5 prime broker overall for hedge funds
Expanded US Overnight Trading to over 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, enabling clients to trade US equities nearly 24 hours a day, five days per week
Introduced IBUSOPT, a new US equity and index options order destination
Added access to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Copenhagen and the Prague Stock Exchange
Equity Capital: $14.1B
1978
T.P. & Co. is formed to expand trading activities to several members under badge number 549. The firm is the first to use computer-generated fair value sheets printed daily.
1980
Plans are made to restructure T.P. & Co.’s operation and to identify price anomalies in several securities at the same time.
1982
Timber Hill Inc. is formed. Initially, the company trades equity options at the AMEX, clearing through Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. Traders receive telephone instructions identifying pairs and prices.
1984
Timber Hill begins coding a computerized stock index futures and options trading system.
Timber Hill becomes a member of The Options Clearing Corporation.
1986
Timber Hill becomes a member of the Pacific Stock Exchange and the Options Division of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), enabling the firm to make automated markets on all US options exchanges.
Timber Hill’s trading software is rewritten to run on SUN workstations, hugely increasing processing speed. The firm's traders generate a 430% return on equity for the year with the new system.
1989
Timber Hill becomes a clearing member at the CME.
1992
Timber Hill expands European trading to the Swiss Options and Financial Futures Exchange (SOFFEX), another fully automated exchange.
Timber Hill expands to 142 employees.
1994
Timber Hill Europe begins trading at the European Options Exchange in the Netherlands, the OM Exchange in Sweden (an electronic exchange) and the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) in the U.K.
Timber Hill Deutschland becomes a member of the electronic Belgian Futures and Options Exchange.
IB LLC becomes a member of the NYSE and begins executing stock trades through SuperDot, the electronic order routing system.
IB LLC is regularly named one of NYSE’s top ten program traders.
Timber Hill UK Limited is incorporated. Shortly thereafter, Timber Hill UK takes over Timber Hill's trading at LIFFE.
Timber Hill Hong Kong Limited is incorporated.
The Timber Hill Group LLC is formed as the holding company for all of Timber Hill's operating companies.
1996
Timber Hill doubles the number of underlying stocks that it trades to more than 800.
Timber Hill Securities Hong Kong Limited is incorporated and begins trading at the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
Timber Hill secures permission to hang large electronic screens showing the firm’s option quotes on the floor of the CBOE, in exchange for providing continuous, minimum-guaranteed liquidity.
1998
IB LLC begins to clear online trades of S&P futures for retail clients connected directly to Globex.
Timber Hill Canada Company is formed.
2000
On average, more than six percent of the daily global volume of exchange-traded equity options and equity futures is now traded across the Timber Hill/IB network.
In the course of the year, IB LLC's client base increases by nearly 500%.
Timber Hill becomes a Primary Market Maker on the ISE (International Securities Exchange), the first fully electronic US options exchange. Timber Hill guarantees continuous electronic liquidity and reaches over 50% of the volume on the exchange. The electronic exchange that everyone said would fail in the US is a spectacular success.
Interactive Brokers Limited (U.K.) is formed.
2002
Interactive Brokers (IBKR), the Bourse de Montreal and the Boston Stock Exchange announce the formation of a partnership to create the Boston Options Exchange (BOX).
Timber Hill begins electronic market making in Japan.
Interactive Brokers provides clients with an Integrated Investment Management Account that allows trading of stocks, options, futures and exchange-traded funds around the world from a single account.
Interactive Brokers allows Financial Advisors to open Separately Managed Accounts to manage money for multiple clients.
Application Program Interface (API) introduced, giving clients and third-party developers the ability to directly integrate with the IBKR trading system.
MobileTrader launched, giving IBKR clients the ability to trade anywhere.
Timber Hill becomes the major market maker for the newly introduced US Single Stock Futures.
2004
Interactive Brokers introduces Direct Access Bond Trading, Institutional FOREX, Singapore Futures, German Warrants, French and Dutch stocks and options, CBOE Futures and trading on the Frankfurt/Stuttgart exchanges. Our Intermarket Spread Router searches across all exchanges for the best price on each leg of a spread order. IBKR upgrades its account management platform to include a new release of Trader Workstation, real-time charts, scanners, fundamental analytics, BookTrader, OptionTrader and advisor account allocations.
Standard and Poor's issues an investment grade rating for Interactive Brokers Group LLC. For more information on Standard & Poor's, visit: http://www.standardandpoors.com.
2006
The IB Options Intelligence Report is launched to focus investors' attention on unusual concentrations of trading interests and changing levels of uncertainty in the options markets.
The Interactive Brokers Group takes stakes in OneChicago, the ISE Stock Exchange and the CBOE Stock Exchange in its efforts to further innovation in the trading industry.
Interactive Brokers leaps ahead of the industry by being the first to offer penny-priced options.
2008
The IB Risk NavigatorSM is launched, a real-time market risk management platform for clients that provides unified risk data across multiple asset classes around the globe.
Interactive Brokers adds Mexican stocks/options/futures, Spanish stocks, US Treasury bonds/bills/notes, and US no load mutual funds to its suite of trading products.
A complete family of trading algorithms is introduced to the Trader Workstation, including the Accumulate-Distribute Algo, an industry first that allows traders to take advantage of a temporary lack of liquidity.
Equity Capital: $4.4B
2010
Enhanced support for bond trading is added to Trader Workstation, including a more powerful US Corporate Bonds scanner and support for trading municipal bonds.
IB LLC is awarded a stand-alone rating of "A-/A-2; Outlook Stable" by Standard and Poor's based on its solid financial profile.
2010 TAG statistics show that IBKR continues to top the industry in US stock and options price improvement.
Interactive Brokers pays a special cash dividend of $1.79 per share, amounting to approximately $1 billion pretax, and still has consolidated equity capital in excess of $4 billion.
Equity Capital: $4.2B
2012
Interactive Brokers pays a special cash dividend of $1.00 per share, amounting to approximately $409 million pretax, and still has consolidated equity capital in excess of $4 billion.
IBKR begins offering wealth manager and money manager advisor accounts and opens the fully- electronic Money Manager Marketplace.
IBKR launches the TWS Mosaic trading interface and Tax Optimizer for managing capital gains/losses.
IBKR takes first place in Barron's annual Best Online Brokers review, receiving four-and-a-half out of five stars as the Best Online Broker overall.
Equity Capital: $4.8B
2014
IBKR begins publishing "Simple Monthly Cost of Execution" data and comparing the firm’s all-in execution cost to the daily VWAP value for all client executions. The company encourages the SEC to consider requiring all broker-dealers conducting client business to supplement their existing Rule 606 routing reports with these simple monthly statistics.
IBKR introduces the Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) reporting tool to help clients evaluate execution performance and optimize execution strategies.
For the third year in a row, IBKR is ranked number one and named Best Online Broker overall in Barron's annual Best Online Brokers review.
IBKR becomes an exchange participant in the groundbreaking Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program, allowing our Hong Kong and international clients to trade designated securities on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Equity Capital: $5.2B
2016
IBKR introduces Greenwich Advisor Compliance Services Corp. (Greenwich Compliance), a new resource that helps experienced investors and traders looking to start their own investment advisory firms meet their registration and compliance needs.
IBKR releases IBot, a text-based trading interface that accepts text commands entered in plain English and responds quickly with the requested data or action, allowing traders to complete key TWS trading tasks all in one place.
IBKR becomes an exchange participant in the groundbreaking Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program, allowing its clients around the world to trade designated securities on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Equity Capital: $5.8B
2018
Once again, IBKR is named Best Online Broker in Barron's annual Best Online Brokers review.
IBKR launches Client Portal, a simple web-based experience that gives clients single-login access to trading, managing and monitoring IBKR Accounts.
IBKR introduces bill pay and direct deposit in the US. Clients can make electronic payments and issue checks to almost any company or individual in the United States, and receive automatic deposits from third parties.
IBKR creates a corporate bond trading desk to facilitate larger US and European corporate bond trades where electronic liquidity is insufficient.
Equity Capital: $7.2B
2020
Interactive Brokers surpasses one million client accounts.
Global expansion continues, with new IBKR offices established in Singapore, Ireland and Hungary.
Bonds Marketplace is launched to help investors find the best pricing on a wide range of fixed income products.
Mutual Fund marketplace is launched, providing access to more than 37,000 funds globally including more than 34,000 no load funds from over 380 fund families.
Impact Dashboard is introduced to help clients interested in sustainable investing align their investments with their values.
IBKR commits USD 5 million to assist Covid-19 relief efforts in the United States.
Equity Capital: $9B
2022
Interactive Brokers surpasses two million accounts.
Overnight Trading Hours on the IBKR Eos ATS ("IBEOS") launched, enabling clients to trade select US ETFs 23.5 hours a day, five days a week.
IBKR EventTrader, a web platform that lets investors use event contracts to trade binary options in key markets, is introduced.
IBKR GlobalTrader, a simple mobile trading application for investors to trade stocks worldwide, is released.
Equity Capital: $11.6B
Organizational Structure
* Cryptocurrency trade execution and custody are provided by Paxos Trust Company to eligible clients of Interactive Brokers LLC.
** The 60% figure is as of January 1, 2014 and includes all funds that had been participating in the Program for at least three months
- Interactive Brokers Group and its affiliates. For additional information view our Investors Relations - Earnings Release section by clicking here.