- Experts rate Hargreaves Lansdown highly for its extensive fund access and excellent research capabilities, noting that while the account fees can be relatively high at 0.45% for the first £250,000, the platform offers significant discounts on ongoing fund charges, which can be beneficial for larger investments. The overall rating is 4.7/5, with particular strengths in market access, online platform usability, and customer service.
- Across 1,775 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 3.8/5, customers frequently highlight the platform's user-friendly app, excellent customer service, and the wide range of investment options available. However, some users express concerns about high fees, particularly for fund management, and report issues with account management and customer support responsiveness.
Hargreaves Lansdown Fund 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 Fund Investing across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing3.5
- Market Access5.0
- Online Platform5.0
- Customer Service5.0
- Research & Analysis5.0
Pros
- Over 4,040 funds
- Excellent fund research
- No charge for buying or selling funds
Cons
- 0.45% account fee* is relatively high
See full expert review
Our verdict
Hargreaves Lansdown lets you invest in over 4,040 funds or choose from HL funds picked by a team of in-house investment experts that manage a range of Multi-Manager funds (fund-of-funds) and HL Select range of equity funds.
Capital at risk.
Is Hargreaves Lansdown good for funds?
Fund investing is where Hargreaves Lansdown gets very expensive. There is no charge for buying and selling funds on Hargreaves Lansdown. Fund accounts are charged at 0.45% for the first £250,000. Then 0.25% up to £1m, 0.1% up to £2m. There is no charge above £2m.
This is quite high compared to AJ Bell's scaled fund fees starting at 0.25% and Interactive Investors' flat account fee of £11.99.
However, because of it's size, Hargreaves Lansdown is able to negotiate Fund discounts where they say their clients save an average of 17% on the ongoing charges figure (OCF), which is the fee charged by the fund manager as opposed to your broker.
OCF fees are rarely capped, so having a discount on the fund charge is even more valuable for people holding large sums in funds.
Hargreaves does have a pretty good research offering for funds alongside their excellent market data portal. HL, as well as offering access to more funds compared to other fund platforms, currently have 72 funds on the Wealth Shortlist for which they provide full research and recommendations. In addition, HL provides research updates on 32 Open-Ended Funds, 38 Investment Trusts, 15 ETFs.
One thing they are particularly good at is flagging funds that are underperforming so investors can switch out of them. This is particularly helpful as in a recent update the also flagged four of their own funds, including; HL Global Bond Fund, HL Emerging Markets Fund, HL Multi-Manager UK Growth Fund and HL Select UK Income Fund and include notes on what they are going to do to improve performance.
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
Expensive. Clunky platform
Expensive. Clunky platform
Efficient and quick Good reports...
Efficient and quick Good reports on line
Adequate
Adequate
Ok for small investments costs...
Ok for small investments costs quite high
Great range of products for...
Great range of products for flexible investing
Reliable online platform
Reliable online platform
Not the cheapest but very...
Not the cheapest but very good in most respects an investor needs
Very good administratively
Very good administratively
Expensive and regressed functionality since...
Expensive and regressed functionality since onboarding
Reliable and easy to use
Reliable and easy to use
Quality platform easy to use...
Quality platform easy to use and good backup
Used for years. Efficient platform
Used for years. Efficient platform
online platform needs updating and...
online platform needs updating and resilience
Security of transactions and funds.
Security of transactions and funds.
4/5
Well designed and easy to...
Well designed and easy to use website
functional service
functional service
Excellent web site easy to...
Excellent web site easy to use
I have been with this...
I have been with this broker for many years.
Bit too complicated and clunky;...
Bit too complicated and clunky; also parts of the offering are difficult to interpret
In this review we take a look at if Hargreaves Lansdown is good for fund investing, and how they rate for coverage, pricing and added value.
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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