- Good Money Guide experts rate Hargreaves Lansdown highly for its extensive selection of around 280 index funds and a well-curated Wealth Shortlist, which aids investors in building diverse portfolios. However, they caution that the platform can become costly for larger portfolios due to various fees, including account charges that can add up significantly.
- Across 1775 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 3.8/5, customers frequently commend the platform's ease of use and intuitive app, along with responsive customer service. However, there are notable criticisms regarding high fees, particularly for trading, and some users express frustration with customer support availability and account management issues.
Hargreaves Lansdown Index Funds Investing Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated Hargreaves Lansdown Index Funds Investing across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing3.5
- Market Access4.5
- Online Platform4.0
- Customer Service4.0
- Research & Analysis4.0
Pros
- £1 minimum deposit
- Wide range of index funds available
- Wealth Shortlist offers investment ideas
Cons
- No cap on fund fees
- Fees can be high
- Phone support only available between 8am and 5pm on weekdays
See full expert review
Our verdict
Hargreaves Lansdown is a good choice for those who want to access a wide range of index funds. However, the platform can get expensive for large index fund portfolios. To make index fund investing easy Hargreaves Lansdown analysts have selected a number of index funds from across the major sectors for the Wealth Shortlist.
Capital at risk.
Is Hargreaves Lansdown good for index funds?
Yes, Hargreaves Lansdown has around 280 index funds in their screener (excluding ETFs). HL also have what they call a "Wealth Shortlist" where their experts have curated a best buy list of index funds across a broad range of sectors to help investors build a diverse portfolio.
A good choice for those who want to include index funds as part of their overall portfolio. However, it can get expensive for large index fund portfolios.
Market Access: Hargreaves Lansdown offers access to over 330 standard index funds on its platform. There are also thousands of ETF index funds available.
Pricing: For Stocks and Shares ISA investors, Hargreaves Lansdown charges £2 per trade to buy regular index funds and £6.95 for ETF trades (£3.95 if you made more than 20 trades the previous month). Customers also need to pay account fees.
For portfolios with ETFs, account fees are 0.35% (capped at £12.50 per month). For portfolios with regular funds, fees are:
| Value of funds | Annual account charge |
| Up to £250,000 | 0.35% |
| £250,000 - £1mn | 0.25% |
| £1mn - £2mn | 0.10% |
| Over £2mn | No charge |
App & Platform: Hargreaves Lansdown’s platform and app are well designed and easy to use. However, they don't offer features that some of the newer platforms offer such as commission free-trading and fractional shares.
Customer Service: Hargreaves Lansdown’s customer service is reasonable. Staff are helpful if you have a query, however, support is only available between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am to 12.30am on Saturday.
Research & Analysis: Hargreaves Lansdown offers a good amount of index fund research on its platform. To make index fund investing easy, its analysts have selected a number of funds from across a range of sectors for a preferred list called the Wealth Shortlist.
Customer reviews for Hargreaves Lansdown
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 1,775 reviews
- Excellent27%
- Very good38%
- Basic24%
- Poor7%
- Bad4%
Read customer reviews
hideous experience
just speechless! I created the kids accounts. They changed the primary person on my child's account without telling either parent, locked me out when I Phoned about a login issue, then dictated what I do in my own home and with whom. Never had an experience like that!
Website
Excellent platform for stocks, shares and cash investing.
Class
Amazing customer service
Efficient
Very simple app. Brilliant customer service. Good range of ETFs, which I use for long-term investing. Brilliant Cash ISA also, with great interest rate. Trusted and credible. I trust my money is in a safe place.
Good
Communication
Intuitive
Good, intuitive app. Very responsive customer service.
Excellent
Easy platform to use
Confidence
Easy to use platform, very supportive and excellent telephone service.
fantastic
They listen then execute the right strategy
Accessible
Easy to use and patient/friendly when contacted. 5he brand provides access at all investment skill and money levels.
Great for junior ISA
Provide good junior stocks and shares ISA
Quality
Been with them for years and I have always felt they provide me with the best service for my needs as being retired now , not the force of old but heh ho still looking . Pb
Bereavement Support - Incompetent and Difficult
Where do I start.
Claiming they sent forms when they didn't. Then sent them in an email, but the forms were not attached.
Provided all information requested.
Week later I get an email requesting more information. We are all HL clients but they have made a bad situation so much worse because of their incompetence and awkwardness.
I have NEVER dealt with a more difficult organisation in thise who bereavement process.
They offer good products but I am seriously considering moving my considerable financial invesment away from HL.
Utterly appalled.
Overall good but the app could be easier to use.
One of only a few providers of a JISA where you can pick and manage your investments. Setting up the account was reasonably easy. The app UI is ok but not great. Can only fund the account through a card payment is a little frustrating but not a deal breaker.
Free JISA and app is great
Opened up a JISA on HL due to fees and ease of use. Good stock universe and the app works very well. Got no complaints
Good but room for improvement
HL Junior ISA is okay but their website and app need improvement compared to competitors like InvestEngine and Trading212.
Operating outside of Law Demanding Facial Recognition to Verify / Fake Reviews
Hargreaves Landsdown operate outside of the law demanding Facial Recognition to verify accounts of both new and existing customers. They will tell you its the only way to verify, but when you look into the privacy law, this is simply not the case.
The system they use is MITEK. A quick search will show you who owns MITEK. Its the same corporations whom own everything.
Furthermore, HL are using extremely unscrupulous resources to keep their image squeeky clean by using BLACK MARKETING sources to write positive reviews. They pay approx £10 a review. Search Black Marketing and you will find many people happy to lie and cheat for money.
Go onto Trustpilot and see how many reviews they receive per day. I just counted over 20 in 24 hours. This is a statistical impossibility.
Now, do you really want a company that lies and cheats and sells your data to look after your hard earning money?
Think about that
I have been a customer of theirs for many years and i am absolutely disgusted at their practices and you should be too.
Good service
one of the very few services that allows for some investments... It could be improved and made even more powerful (i.e. investments in other currencies) but really probably the best platform for easy access and universe of investments possible!
Not as good as they used to be
I've used HL for more than 10 years. They used to be low cost. Customer service was excellent. Online platform was great. Still not bad, but other platforms are now cheaper. Slower to resolve the occasional problem.
Cheap and easy to trade with, but lacking advanced features for active traders
Hargreaves Lansdown are good value for those that are low volume traders of stocks. If you hold funds then they are not such great value because of the admin fees that they charge. However, they don't charge dealing fees on funds which is a good point. A negative thought is that fund trades have to be placed by 9am or 8am for some in order to receive that day's valuation price. Many other brokers have a cut-off time of 11am-11.30am. HL are also one of the slowest to update fund prices - if you check Fidelity, Morningstar or AJ Bell, at 4pm, most fund prices are update, whereas HL take until 6pm or later.
The process of placing a deal with HL using the app is the best of many brokers that I have used as it is so smooth and quick. Very quick to login. However, there are many small companies, foreign companies or investment trusts that don't load up on the app and only can be viewed or traded on the desktop website.
The app and website are my first choice for checking share prices and news/RNS releases for UK stocks. Historical performance indicators are good too. However there is no provision of key metric data like P/CF, Forward P/E, Debt/Equity, Quick ratio, current ratio, Free cash flow yield, ROCE, ROE, ROA etc so I have to go to Reuters or other sites to check such details.
HL has always been very unaccommodating for those who wished to subscribe to IPOs or share offers, I have found other brokers providing access to new IPOs but HL will not.
They also have a strange system whereby they put dividends you receive into a hidden account and then only 2 weeks later transfer them to your capital account to allow you to trade with that cash.
Watchlists are very good in providing current prices and being well layed out.
It would be good if we could see futures prices for US markets and individual stocks in the morning when the UK is open. I have to check marketwatch or investing.com for that.
Why can't you make charts with HL of different stocks all on the same chart?
The total return chart function is great for funds but why can't that be extended to longer than 5 year periods and for stocks as well?
Yes, Hargreaves Lansdown is good for buying index funds in the UK. HL is one of the UK’s largest stockbrokers and investment platforms, and it launched a new range of four “ready-made” index portfolio funds in July 2025. The funds invest using the firm’s active asset allocation methodology, applied to a portfolio of index funds and ETFs selected by BlackRock, one of the world’s largest index investors.
Hargreaves Lansdown is introducing the multi-asset index portfolio funds in response to a growing demand for index investing from its client base which has increased by 80% over the last two years according to the Bristol-based broker.
HL Ready-Made Index Funds
The new index funds will be available from June 6th and will complement the firm’s existing HL-managed ready-made fund range that was launched in 2023.
The four new Hargreaves Lansdown index funds are ranked by risk from most potentially profitable to least:
- HL Multi-Index Adventurous – asset allocation typically 100% shares – aiming for 90-110% volatility of global equity markets.
- HL Multi-Index Moderately Adventurous – asset allocation typically 80/20 split between shares and bonds – aiming for 70–90% volatility of global equity markets.
- HL Multi-Index Balanced – asset allocation typically 60/40 split between shares and bonds – aiming for 50-70% volatility of global equity markets.
- HL Multi-Index Cautious – asset allocation typically 30/70 split between shares and bonds – aiming for 30-50% volatility of global equity markets.
Hargreaves Lansdown CIO, Toby Vaughan said:
“HL clients’ investment in index funds has risen by more than two and a half times over the last 7-years, and the number of clients holding index funds as their main investment has increased by 80% over the last 2 years.”
“Our new ready-made multi-index investment portfolios add further choice for investors to meet that demand and are an easy cost-efficient solution for those looking to get started with investing.“
He added that
“They are part of our evolving strategy, which aims to expand and improve the range of investment options we provide to clients at all stages of their investment journey, from beginners to highly experienced investors.”
A move towards managed investments
Robo-advisors or digital wealth managers are becoming more and more popular as new investors enter the stock market in search of better returns. However, as HL has traditionally been a DIY investing platform, some investors may have been put off by having to choose their own investments. With that in mind the HL Index funds aim to be:
- Straightforward – investors can choose from either an active or index all-in-one portfolios
- Managed – there is no need to pick investments as expert fund managers make investment decisions
- Diversified – you can gain exposure to a range of investment styles and approaches in global investments.
- Rebalanced – the investment managers update portfolios to stay on track and stay aligned to the chosen level of risk.
- Clarity – it is possible to view investment performance, online or via the Hargreaves Lansdown app 24/7.
A balancing act
Hargreaves Lansdown built its reputation and its business by being a platform, offering third-party products and low-cost brokerage services to retail investors.
One can see why the firm, which has more than 2.0 million active investment accounts and £142.0 billion of assets under administration wants to offer more in-house products to its end customers, rather than just be a re-seller of and portal for other firms’ funds and services.
However, it must not lose sight of the values and business model that built the firm in the first place. Not least because its 40% share of the UK investing platform market makes it the number one target for its competitors.
Compare Hargreaves Lansdown To Alternative Index Fund Investing Accounts
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| | GMG Rating | Customer Reviews | Annual Fees 0.1% - 0.25% | Dealing Fees £1.50 | Start Investing Capital at risk | Features:
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 | GMG Rating | Customer Reviews | Annual Fees 0.1% - 0.45% | Dealing Fees £5.95 - £11.95 | Start Investing Capital at risk | Features:
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| | GMG Rating | Customer Reviews | Annual Fees £47.88 | Dealing Fees £3.99 | Start Investing Capital at risk | Features:
| interactive investor Index Fund Investing Expert ratingOur expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.4.6Excellent Our experts have rated interactive investor Index Fund Investing across five key areas of our review framework.
Pros
Cons
Our verdictInteractive Investor offer a wide range of index tracker funds. A good choice for large index fund portfolios, as they offer good coverage and the fixed-fee model means that the bigger your account size gets, your costs stay the same. You can either pick your own or choose from some featured funds from their Super 60 investment list. Is interactive investor good for buying index funds in the UK?Interactive Investor is a sound choice for those seeking access to a broad range of index funds and a flat-fee structure. For those with large portfolios, it can be a very cost-effective platform. Market Access: Interactive Investor offers access to hundreds of standard index funds and thousands of index ETFs. Pricing: With this platform, there are three different fee plans:
App & Platform: Interactive Investor’s platform and app are well designed and offer a clean interface for long-term investors looking to track portfolios and execute trades. However, some users find the app a little basic. Customer Service: Interactive Investor scores well for customer support. However, while the phone team is generally knowledgeable and helpful, email support can be a little slow. Research & Analysis: On its website, Interactive Investor has a Research Hub which offers analysis and tools designed to help investors make better decisions. It also offers a Highly Rated Funds tool, to help investors build their portfolios.
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| | GMG Rating | Customer Reviews | Annual Fees £0 | Dealing Fees £0 | Start Investing Capital at risk | Features:
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Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
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