Hargreaves Lansdown Expert Review: The Waitrose Of the Investing World

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Hargreaves Lansdown is a bit like the Waitrose of the investing world. Yes, it may be a bit pricier sometimes, but I think it’s just a nicer, safer place to shop for stocks.
Richard Berry
Richard Berry
Good Money Guide Founder

Hargreaves Lansdown Customer Reviews

3.8
1,758 Good Money Guide users have given this provider a review rating of 3.8 out of 5 based on their genuine experience.
Excellent27%
Very good38%
Average24%
Poor7%
Terrible4%
Tell us what you think of this provider.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

18th October 2024

1. I Sold isa to pay deposit for house. 2. I Changed my address which stopped me nominating a bank for transfer.

3. Spoke to them was asked to provide proof of house purchase which I did.

4. 10 days later despite an email saying they would be in contact in next few days I heard nothing.

5 Rang them , nothing had been done! I wasn’t allowed to speak to the relevant department they don’t speak to customers.

6. Looks like at least another week before I can even nominate my bank for a transfer exchange date is before that.

IF YOUR HAPPY TO BE ABUSED AND DONT WANT CONTROL OVER YOUR FINANCES HARGREAVES LANSDOWN IS THE COMPANY FOR YOU, FOR OTHERS AVOID THESE SOULLESS COMPANY.

Katrina Edmonds
Verified

Professional & efficient

18th October 2024

People & platform – professional, competent & efficient. Overall, great value.

Richard
Verified

Does the job

17th October 2024

No fuss – just really good platform and service

Grant Holland

Platform is good but difficult to navigate sometimes

17th October 2024

I find the platform good but it is difficult sometimes to navigate around. Customer service can be slow. Overall it is ok

VN
Verified

Hargreaves Lansdown

17th October 2024

I’ve been using Hargreaves Lansdown for about 20 years for my investments and have been very satisfied with the service provided. They provide a one stop shop for all my needs which include Stocks & Shares ISA, Cash ISA and their Active Savings product.

Alan Mayo
Verified

Really easy to use platform,…

1st July 2024

Really easy to use platform, good range of choices offered

Steve Ball

provides the complete package for…

1st July 2024

provides the complete package for an investor.

Richard Hurst

None

30th June 2024

None

Stuart

outstanding

29th June 2024

outstanding

Kevin William Henderson

Efficient but pricey, easy to…

28th June 2024

Efficient but pricey, easy to use website.

Stuart J Duff

Hargreaves Lansdown Expert Review

Hargreaves Lansdown Review: The Waitrose of the investing world
Hargreaves Lansdown

Provider: Hargreaves Lansdown

Verdict: Founded in 1981 Hargreaves Lansdown is one of the largest investment platforms in the UK. They offer investing, savings, ISAs and SIPP account to over 1.8 million clients with 142bn in assets under management.

Is Hargreaves Lansdown a good broker?

Yes, Hargreaves Lansdown is one of our best-rated stock brokers and investment platforms. HL offers access to a huge range of investment types, through a wide range of general and tax-efficient accounts and is suitable for almost all types of investors.

I always think of Hargreaves Lansdown as the Waitrose of the investing world. Yes, it may be a bit pricier sometimes, but I think it’s just a nicer, safer place to shop for stocks.

Pros

  • Wide range of investments and accounts
  • Top-notch customer service
  • Excellent research and analysis

Cons

  • There are cheaper options for fund investing
  • Limited portfolio hedging tools
  • Pricing
    (4.5)
  • Market Access
    (5)
  • Online Platform
    (5)
  • Customer Service
    (5)
  • Research & Analysis
    (5)
Overall
4.9

Capital at risk

Hargreaves Lansdown Facts & Figures

⬜ Public Companyβœ”οΈ
πŸ‘‰ Number Active Clients1,800,000
πŸ’° Minimum DepositΒ£1
πŸ’Έ Client FundsΒ£142 billion
πŸ“… Founded1981
Account Costs
πŸ‘‰ Investment Account
0%
πŸ‘‰ SIPP
0.45%
πŸ‘‰ Stocks & Shares ISA
0.45%
πŸ‘‰ Junior ISA
0%
πŸ‘‰ Lifetime ISA
0%
Dealing Costs
πŸ‘‰ UK Shares
Β£11.95
πŸ‘‰ US Stocks
Β£11.95
πŸ‘‰ ETFs
Β£11.95
πŸ‘‰ Bonds
Β£11.95
πŸ‘‰ FundsΒ£0

Capital at risk

Hargreaves Lansdown News

Hargreaves Lansdown Junior ISA

Hargreaves Lansdown Wins Best Junior ISA (JISA) 2025

Richard BerryRichard 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

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Share Dealing

Hargreaves Lansdown is cheaper than you think for share dealing

In our HL share dealing review below, we explain how much Hargreaves Lansdown charges for buying and selling shares and how they compare to other share dealing platforms.   Richard BerryRichard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a

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OEICs Open-Ended Investment Company

How much does OEIC investing cost on Hargreaves Lansdown?

It’s free to buy and sell OEIC (open-ended investment companies) on Hargreaves Lansdown, but there is an ongoing charge. In our HL OEIC review below we go through the charges and specifics about investing in open-ended investment companies with Hargreaves Lansdown. There is no charge for buying and selling open-ended investment companies. Accounts are charged

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ETF Investing Platforms

Is Hargreaves Lansdown good for ETF Investing?

We rate Hargreaves Lansdown as one of the best ETF investment accountsΒ as HL has access to a huge range of UK and international Exchange Traded Funds. Plus the costs of holding ETFs are capped as they fall into their stocks and shares category. Hargreaves Lansdown’s ETF platform offers a huge range of exchange-traded funds tailored

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currency hedging for business

Does Hargreaves Lansdown offer currency transfer services?

Yes, you can transfer currency abroad with Hargreaves Lansdown, but not directly, HL uses a specialist third-party currency specialist to facilitate international payments. Here’s a look at its currency transfer services in more detail. Currency transfers with Hargreaves Lansdown If you want to use Hargreaves Lansdown’s currency transfer services, you need to open a currency

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Hargreaves Lansdown Review

Hargreaves Lansdown Global Income fund targets DIY investors

The launch of the Hargreaves Lansdown Global Income fund brings another easy-to-use portfolio building tool to do-it-yourself investors on the platform. The new Global Equity Income fund invests in a portfolio of dividend-paying companies around the world favoured by selected expert managers. The strategy seeks to strike a balance between risk and return and offers

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Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings

Hargreaves Lansdown clients swap investments for cash

Hargreaves Lansdown clients have been switching their investments to cash, the broker stated in its most recent quarterly trading update. Client cash balances at the firm rose to Β£12.7 billion during the three months to the end of September, up from Β£12.4 billion at the end of the first quarter of the financial year. Hargreaves

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Hargreaves Lansdown Review

Hargreaves Lansdown Versus Interactive Investor

Is it time to move your money away from Hargreaves Lansdown? Hargreaves Lansdown has been making headlines recently. This is due to the fact that the firm – which operates the largest investment platform in the UK with nearly two million customers – has received multiple bids from a private equity consortium (good news for long-term

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Are Hargreaves Lansdown in trouble because of short sellers?

Hargreaves Lansdown is one of Britain’s largest stockbrokers and retail investment platforms helping millions of retail investors manage their savings investments and stock trading. So there is a certain amount of irony that the stock should be in the sights of that most speculative group of market participants, the short sellers. Why would you short-sell

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Hargreaves Lansdown Review

Hargreaves Lansdown announces a new ready made pension plan for SIPP holders

The UK’s largest direct-to-consumer investing platform and stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown has announced that it plans to introduce a new all-in-one investment plan for the firm’s Self-Invested Personal Pension or SIPP. Hargreaves Lansdown Ready Made Pension Hargreaves Lansdown hopes will remove β€œ a lot of the difficult decision-making” that clients face, when they try to pick

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown now offers ready-made and managed investments

Ready-Made Index Funds and Managed Hargreaves Lansdown Investments are now available on HL for those who want a bit of help with their investments. A new range of index funds were made available from June 6th and complement the firm’s existing HL-managed ready-made fund range that was launched in 2023. The four new Hargreaves Lansdown

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown cut direct debit & dividend reinvestment fees

Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the UK’s largest brokers and direct-to-consumer investing platforms,Β  has removed fees for investors who invest regularly via direct debit and reinvest their dividend payments. Reducing direct debit and dividend reinvestment fees As of Tuesday, April 11th customers who invest regularly via direct debit payments to Hargreaves Lansdown, will no longer be

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Hargreaves Lansdown Financially Fearless

Hargreaves Lansdown launches Financially Fearless

Hargreaves Lansdown has launched β€œFinancially Fearless” a new initiative to coincide with International Women’s Day,Β  that aims to help close the gender investment gap between men and women. What is the gender investment gap? Men and women invest differently, men have historically been more inclined to invest, and have had more money to invest when

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Why is the Hargreaves Lansdown falling? (LON: HL)

Hargreaves Lansdown is a leading investment platform in the UK Stock is stuck in a bear trend due to macro uncertainty LON:HL remains profitable; watch to buy on a further setback WhenΒ Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown started their financial ventureΒ back in 1981 in Bristol (reputedly in Peter’s bedroom!), few would have anticipated the financial colossus

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown’s trading update disappoints the market

The Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HL) trading update showed net new business in Q1, worth Β£0.70 billion, though that figure was below analysts’ forecast of Β£0.85 billion. AUA or assets under administration rose to Β£122.70 billion as a result The D2C investing giant attracted 17,000 new customers in the first quarter and now has 1.754 million clients

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Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings

Hargreaves Lansdown adds Santander to its Active Savings service

Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s largest investment and savings platform, has added Santander International to its Active Savings lineup. Santander International is the trading name for the Jersey and Isle of Man branches of Santander Financial Services plc, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Santander UK Group Holdings plc, which itself is part of

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Jefferies highlights the challenges of old age at Hargreaves Lansdown

US investment bank Jefferies has published a research note on the UK’s largest and some argue best investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown. Jefferies has updated their coverage of Hargreaves Lansdown in an 11-page note the upshot of which is that the broker has downgraded the investment platform to underperform from its prior rating of hold, and

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Hargreaves Lansdown boosts its Cash ISA interest rates

Hargreaves Lansdown the UK’s largest D2C savings and investment platform has raised the interest rate available to new Cash ISA customers. Hargreaves Lansdown cash ISA interest rates Hargreaves Lansdown has raised the interest rates that new customers can expect to receive on cash ISAs at the firm. The rate has been hiked by 20 basis

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Hargreaves Lansdown bets on data and ESG, with a human touch

Hargreaves Lansdown the UK’s largest D2C investment and share trading platform, published interim results for the 6 months until the end of Dec 2021, this morning. Client funds up 17% The earnings release showed net new business of Β£2.30 billion taking assets under administration to Β£141.20 billion, a gain of +17.0% over the same period

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Is Hargreaves Lansdown’s keeping up with the cool kids?

The last 18 months have been a period of strong growth for investment platforms and businesses within financial services particularly those that meet the needs of retail clients. Or so we thought because, despite headlines about sharply increased online trading activity and thousands of new accounts being opened, that hasn’t translated into increased profitability at

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Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown between the rock and the hard place

The UK’s leading retail investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown reported figures for the full year ending 30th of June 2021 this week, and though the headline numbers looked impressive, as is so often the case the devil was in the detail. HL net new business grew by Β£8.70 billion and assets under administration, or AUA rose

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Peter Hargreaves Blue Whale Capital

Peter Hargreaves, Chairman of Blue Whale Capital on investment strategies and the importance of investing in the next generation of fund managers

What do you do when you’ve stepped away from a FTSE 100 listed investment firm valued at around Β£9 billion you set up and have run for nearly four decades? Evidently, you set up another one. That’s what Peter Hargreaves the co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown has done with Blue Whale Capital. Sometimes doing these interviews

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Hargreaves Lansdown FAQs

Yes, we rate Hargreaves Lansdown as one of the safest share dealing accounts in the UK because they are well established, listed on the London Stock Exchange, and regulated by the FCA. Hargreaves Lansdown is also a profitable company with millions of private and corporate customers.

As an FCA-regulated stock broker, if Hargreaves Lansdown were to go bust, client cash on account would be protected by the FSCS scheme. Client investments are held in nominee accounts on CREST and can be transferred to another FCA-regulated investment platform.

Yes, Hargreaves Lansdown is considered one of the more expensive trading apps, as they charge a commission per share deal as opposed to commission-free investing apps like Freetrade, CMC Invest or Dodl, where it is free. Hargreaves Lansdown is also very expensive for holding funds on account as there is no cap on their fund account charge. Whereas, AJ Bell fund fees are capped and Interactive Investor charges a flat monthly subscription.

Hargreaves Lansdown is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange meaning anyone can buy shares. But only around 25% of HL shares are traded on the LSE as 75% of the company is still owned by the founders Peter Hargreaves, and Stephen Lansdown and employees. You can see the breakdown of Hargreaves Lansdown shareholders in our HL share price performance section.

Yes, Hargreaves Lansdown offers access to a huge range of UK-listed Government and corporate bonds that you can invest in to build an income-generating portfolio. We actually used Hargreaves Lansdown to demonstrate buying Retail Charity bonds when we reviewed them.

No, you cannot buy commodities directly on Hargreaves Lansdown directly, to do that you need a commodities broker. But, you can invest in commodities on HL through a commodity ETF which is listed on the stock exchange like the Legal & General Longer Dated All commodities UCITS ETF (CMFP).

No, you cannot buy fractional shares on Hargreaves Lansdown, you can only buy whole shares, ETFs and units of funds. If you want to invest in small slices of company shares or want to invest in monetary amounts rather than shares you can compare the best brokers for fractional shares investing here.

No, you cannot trade options on Hargreaves Lansdown. I view this as quite a significant disadvantage because options are a great way to hedge your long-term investment portfolio against potential short-term stock market falls. If you want to trade or invest with options you can compare the best options brokers here.

No, you cannot buy or invest in gold directly on Hargreaves Lansdown, to do that you need a gold trading platform. But, you can get exposure to gold and invest in a gold ETF that tracks the price of the gold and can be bought and sold on the Hargreaves Lansdown platform just like shares for example, SPDR Gold Trust, iShares Gold Trust or Aberdeen Standard Physical Gold Shares ETF.

No, you cannot short stocks or go short on the Hargreaves Lansdown platform. But if you think that the Hargreaves Lansdown share price will go down it is possible to short Hargreaves Lansdown shares with a short-selling broker using CFDs, options or financial spread betting. However, if you want to go short the overall stock market to hedge your portfolio held at Hargreaves Lansdown you can buy an inverse ETF (which goes up when the market goes down) like

Absolutely not! Hargreaves Lansdown is a traditional stock brokerage and is most suitable for those investing in the long term. Cryptocurrency is a very high-risk product and not apprapriate to hold alongside ISA or SIPP accounts. Having said that, the SEC has recently approved a Bitcoin ETF, which can be bought and sold on the stock market, so some UK investors may be able to buy cryptocurrency on HL if they pass the sophisticated investor threshold.

Capital at risk
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