- Experts rate Hargreaves Lansdown highly, noting its extensive range of investment options and excellent customer service. While the platform is praised for its research and analysis capabilities, some experts highlight that there are cheaper alternatives for fund investing and limited tools for portfolio hedging.
- Across 1775 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 3.8/5, users frequently commend the platform’s ease of use and customer service, particularly appreciating the intuitive app and the range of investment accounts available. However, there are notable criticisms regarding high fees and occasional difficulties with the website’s navigation, alongside some negative experiences related to customer support during complex transactions.
Customer Reviews
5/5
Pros:
Growth of funds
Cons:
Allow different direct debit dates for regular investing
5/5
Pros:
Easy overview of shares
Cons:
Lower cost to buy shares.
5/5
Pros:
Nice dashboard
Cons:
Website navigation
4/5
Pros:
Knowledge
3/5
Cons:
apologise more for the Woodford mess
5/5
5/5
Pros:
The app
Cons:
Nothing
4/5
Pros:
Their lower dealing charges for regular traders
Cons:
Go back to providing trades data
5/5
5/5
Pros:
User friendly
Cons:
Na
4/5
Pros:
Lots of detailed inofrmation
Cons:
Easier to use Mobile app
3/5
Pros:
non
Cons:
ok
3/5
Pros:
Nothing
Cons:
Better return on investment
5/5
Pros:
Reliable and trustworthy
1/5
Pros:
Closing down my account…….
Cons:
Communicate more. Your tech platform is horrendous – IÔÇÖve never fully managed to be able to log on! Would not recommend this company to my worst enemy.
5/5
Pros:
Reputation
Cons:
Reduce trading price.
5/5
Pros:
Easy on line use
5/5
Cons:
Market Research
4/5
Pros:
Easy to use
4/5
Expert Review & Rating
Hargreaves Lansdown Review: The Waitrose of the investing world
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
4.9Leave A Review
Tell us what you think of this provider.
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
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.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
