Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown plc is a financial service company based in Bristol, England. It sells funds and shares and related products to retail investors in the United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Hargreaves Lansdown plc
Public limited company
Traded asLSE: HL.
FTSE 100 Component
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1981 (1981)
Headquarters
Bristol, England, UK
Key people
  • Deanna Oppenheimer (chair­person) 
  • Chris Hill (CEO) 
ProductsISA, SIPP, Annuities, Income drawdown
Revenue£480.5 million (2019)[1]
£303.3 million (2019)[1]
£247.6 million (2019)[1]
Number of employees
circa 1,570 (2018)[2]
Websitewww.hl.co.uk

History

The company was founded on 1 July 1981[3] by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown who had initially traded from a bedroom.[4] Hargreaves Lansdown initially provided information to clients on unit trusts and tax planning matters.[5] Now, the company has grown to be one of the largest in Bristol, located at One College Square, Harbourside.[6]

The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2007, with the company's two founders then holding combined stakes equivalent to 80% in the business.[7] In April 2009, Lansdown sold a stake of 4.7% for a sum of £47.2million to put towards the cost of building Bristol City FC's new football stadium, reducing his stake to 22.9%.[8]

In 2019 Hargreaves Lansdown suffered reputational damage when trading was suspended on 4 June 2019 in the Woodford Investment Management fund, which Hargreaves Lansdown had been promoting through its Wealth 50 list despite concerns about the fund's investment strategy and underperformance.[9][10] On 5 October 2019, retired founder Peter Hargreaves, still the owner of 32% of Hargreaves Lansdown, was reported to say:

It’s annoyed the hell out of me that it would appear he [Woodford] has not been truthful with Hargreaves Lansdown. But it’s also annoyed me that they [Hargreaves Lansdown] let it go on so long ... The clients have been stuffed in this horrible Woodford fund.[11]

Operations

The HL platform enables investors to hold different types of investments together in one place with one valuation and dealing service. Available products include ISA, SIPP, and a Fund & Share dealing account. The company also operates multi-manager unit trusts each of which in turn own a share in a number of underlying funds, as well as its own internally managed equity funds under the HL Select brand.[12] The group also provides financial advisory, stockbroking and annuity broking services to private investors and advice to companies on group pension schemes. The company also offers a Currency Service enabling investors to access exchange rates and send money abroad.[13]

In the first quarter of 2018 Hargreaves Lansdown net revenue rose by 16% and assets under administration rose 3% over the previous quarter, despite the uncertain market environment.[14]

Hargreaves Lansdown is UK's largest direct to investor investment platform. In winter 2018 it administered £91.6 billion of investments for over 1,090,000 clients.[15]

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gollark: Anyway, we could *totally* do nice-looking random colors.
gollark: OR DO THEY?

References
  1. "Annual Report 2019" (PDF). Hargreaves Lansdown. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  2. "Investor Relations". Hargreaves Lansdown. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  3. Public and Ceremonial Events Office. "Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown Doctor of Laws". University of Bristol 16 February 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  4. Ringshaw, Grant (25 February 2007). "£9m pay packet for investment chief". The Sunday Times. UK. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  5. "About us". Hargreaves Lansdown. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  6. "Map & Reviews of Hargreaves Lansdown, Bristol". Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  7. "Asset manager 'plans £600m float'". BBC News. 27 January 2007.
  8. Leroux, Marcus (16 April 2009). "Share sale puts £47m in the back of Bristol City's net". The Times. UK. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  9. "Top stockpicker Neil Woodford suspends flagship fund". BBC News. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  10. Goodley, Simon (22 September 2019). "Hargreaves Lansdown founder attacks Neil Woodford over frozen fund". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  11. Farrell, Sean (5 October 2019). "Hargreaves Lansdown set for further grief over Woodford debacle". The Observer. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  12. "HL Multi-Manager funds - Managed by our team of experts". Hargreaves Lansdown. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  13. "HL today". Hargreaves Lansdown. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  14. "Hargreaves Lansdown Q1 net revenue rises 16% in "uncertain market environment"". Proactiveinvestors UK. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  15. "Hargreaves Lansdown - Fundamentals | Shares & Markets - Telegraph". shares.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
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