More private investors are resorting to contracts for difference in their equity market trades, according to a survey carried out in September of 501 online investors, Barclays Stockbrokers said while announcing product enhancements to its trading systems.

One in seven online investors used CFDs, up five per cent from 14 per cent a year before. The survey was conducted by Accent Research in late September this year, at the height of the financial crisis and market volatility.

CFDs are offered by a variety of firms including Barclays Stockbrokers, Société Générale, IG Index and Saxo Bank. In the UK, CFDs are free from stamp duty tax. They enable investors to get exposure to market movements by putting up a relatively small fraction of their total exposure up-front, although they can be exposed to an adverse price move unless they have bought pre-arranged stop-loss orders to close a bet. CFDs in the UK are subject to capital gains tax, however.

As a result of growing demand for CFD trading, Barclays Stockbrokers today announces a series of updates to its active trading platform which was launched in September this year with BARX, the automated trading system operated by Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays.

As a result of enhancements, Barclays Stockbrokers has added features such as access to new markets such as Australian stocks, streaming tradable prices, real-time market news, research and charting and more order management tools.