Hargreaves Lansdown – Should You Use It in 2024? (2024)

Investment Products – 8/10

You can access several investment opportunities on HL’s investment platform, such as active savings, stocks and shares (S&S), ISA, and self-invested personal pension (SIPP).

The flexibility allows seasoned investors with an aggressive investment strategy to build extensive DIY investment portfolios and for beginners to select from a range of ready-made options.

Assets Available

Here’s a look at the available assets and their availability:

Derivative Products

HL also offers two derivative products, including:

• Spread betting: The service provided by IG International for HL Markets is one of Hargreaves Lansdown’s most sought-after products. HL Markets spread betting provides tight asset spreads but does not charge Capital Gains Tax.

• Contract for Difference (CFDs): Is a derivative financial instrument allowing you to speculate on the price fluctuations of an underlying asset without actually purchasing or owning that item. In CFD trading, you can use leverage to make larger trades with a smaller initial investment.

Market Reach

Members can access over 8,500 shares traded in the UK, US, European, and Canadian exchanges, so it operates primarily in developed markets. HL has an online platform investors can reach wherever they are.

The charges will vary depending on the market you’re trading on, but not by much. For instance, the shares trading will attract a 1% stamp duty for purchasing Irish shares, 0.3% for French shares, 0.1% for Italian shares, and 0.2% for Spanish shares, compared to 0.5% for UK shares.

Account Types

In comparison to similar investment platforms, Hargreaves Lansdown distinguishes itself by offering a comprehensive selection of accounts that cater to various investment goals. While competitors may excel in specific aspects, such as low fees or specialised services, Hargreaves Lansdown's versatile array of accounts positions it as a holistic and competitive option for investors seeking a one-stop platform to manage their finances efficiently.

If you’re an active investor, there’s an S&S ISA platform where you can invest up to £20,000 tax-free. You can open an ISA with as little as £100 and invest in more than 2,500 available funds, shares, trusts, and other investment options.

Junior ISA

Hargreaves Lansdown Junior ISA is ring-fenced until the beneficiary turns 18, allowing you to invest tax-efficiently for your children’s future. You can invest up to £9,000 per year.

The firm removed all costs for its Junior ISA product in March 2023, making it one of the most cost-effective Junior ISA on the market.

Lifetime ISA

The UK government will boost your savings In Lifetime ISA by 25%, up to a maximum of £1,000 annually. Only UK residents under 40 who wish to save for retirement or their first home qualify for this product.

Cash ISA

The Cash ISA is a straightforward savings account offering tax-free withdrawals and no UK tax on accumulated interest. Additionally, there are no set fees or account administration costs.

Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP)

A SIPP account is a good option if you prefer making your own investment choices and want to save for retirement tax-efficiently.

Compared to traditional pensions, the Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP provides more options to investors. You can choose from over 2,500 funds, including bonds, ETF shares, stocks, and investment trusts.

HL’s general investment account is a convenient, low-cost stock trading and portfolio management platform. With no limit on investment amount, you can choose from UK and international shares, funds, VCTs, ETFs, investment trusts, and bonds.

Active Savings Account

Hargreaves Lansdown has entered partnerships with other financial institutions to provide clients with access to a savings account. The free service (Active Savings) offers a defined rate of return on cash deposits.

You don’t have to shop around for the best savings account rates as the company makes it easy to switch to a new account with a higher interest without swapping banks.

Features – 9/10

Veteran investors will appreciate the trading tools and market research resources provided on the platform. You could learn much from the frequently updated educational materials, even if you're a beginner.

Trading Tools

Hargreaves Lansdown offers a comprehensive range of in-depth investment tools and calculators to help in analysing and gauging returns on your investments, which they’ve itemised into the following categories:

• Savings: These will help you visualise what your savings will amount to after some time. The calculators provided under this category include ISA, longevity, regular investing, household budget, and active savings calculator.

• Inflation calculator: See how inflation will impact your savings over time.

• Tax: Use these automatically updated tools to figure out how much taxes you will pay on your returns. To this end, HL avails tools like pension, inheritance tax, capital gains tax, carry forward, emergency tax, and income tax calculators.

• Retirement: Retirement pots are subject to taxes, benefits, and reliefs, which makes predicting the actual amount you’ll receive quite tricky if you don’t use one of HL’s pension tax relief, drawdown, annuity delay, carry forward, income tax, or longevity calculators.

Market Research

The platform provides research resources, investment updates, and curated news feeds from reputable third-party publications like Reuters, The Telegraph, and The Guardian.

This includes market reports, company information, Alternative Investment Market (AIM) news, Small-Cap stock updates, investing podcasts, and more.

Share Research and Insight is another valuable resource provided by Hargreaves Lansdown, featuring share tips and comprehensive company analyses from the UK and globally.

You can also create customised watchlists and access real-time share prices, news, market data, and analysis from HL’s team of experts.

Educational Materials

Hargreaves Lansdown provides quality educational guides offering firm groundwork to help you expand your investment knowledge.

Novice investors can utilise the vast resources, including video tutorials and downloadable investment guides, to learn the ropes.

The company also has educational materials for novice and seasoned traders, regularly releasing the latest investing news and guides covering trading strategies.

Fees – 8.7/10

Investors can expect a combination of fixed fees and percentage-based charges, which cover account management, trading, and other services. While these fees may be slightly higher than some other platforms of similar caliber, it's important to note that Hargreaves Lansdown provides a comprehensive suite of research tools, educational resources, and a user-friendly interface.

When compared to its peers, such as Interactive Investor or AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown's fees could be considered on the higher side. However, the added value in terms of customer support, depth of investment options, and user experience could justify the cost for some investors.

Trading Fees

You will incur trading fees such as commissions, spreads, financing, and conversion fees.

ISAs and SIPP charges

Here are the annual platform fees for S&S ISA, SIPP, and Junior and Lifetime ISA.

The number of trades you made in the previous month will determine the cost per trade.

Comparison of trading fees

Spreads

A CFD is a leveraged product contract allowing investors to speculate on the rise or fall of an underlying commodity, hoping to benefit from price changes. For instance, if you think the price of oil will rise, you buy a CFD (or “go long”).

If the price goes up, then the value of the CFD rises. If it falls, then the CFD loses value. At the end of the contract, either the IG or investor will pay the other the difference between the closing and opening value of the contract.

The same scenario applies if you sell or go “short” on a CFD.

A similar thing happens in spread betting; only it’s tax-free, while CFDs will incur capital gains tax, and losses are tax deductible. You typically deal in currencies in spread betting but buy and sell contracts in CFDs.

HL offers the following CFDs and spreads betting products through IG Markets Ltd. and IG Index Ltd.:

• Forex

• Indices

• Shares

• Commodities

• Options

• Interest rates

• Bonds

Spread betting

CFD

Non-trading fees

The company does not impose fees on withdrawals, deposits, or inactivity.

Comparison between Hargreaves Lansdown’s non-trading fees and alternative platforms

Usability – 6/10

Hargreaves Lansdown’s web-based and mobile trading platforms are intuitive and easy to use.

Web Trading Platform Review

Hargreaves Lansdown's web trading platform boasts a user-friendly interface and a suite of tools that cater to both novice and experienced investors. Navigating through the platform is intuitive, making it easy to access a variety of investment options, research data, and account management features.

The platform offers a diverse range of assets, from stocks and bonds to funds and more, presenting investors with ample choices. Its comprehensive research tools, including real-time market data and in-depth analysis, contribute to informed decision-making. Additionally, the customisable dashboard allows users to personalise their trading experience, enhancing usability.

When compared to other platforms in its league, such as Fidelity or AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown's web trading platform holds its ground. However, some might find that certain advanced trading features are more limited compared to competitors. Nonetheless, the platform's simplicity and ease of use make it an attractive option for those seeking a streamlined trading experience.

Login and security features

Hargreaves Lansdown has a one-step login. However, like many modern apps, Hargreaves Lansdown has added Face and Touch ID to its mobile login functionality.

Search functionality

The search function allows you to find information and resources by typing the name of a fund, company, or asset’s ticker.

Alerts and notifications

The HL web trading platform allows users to set price alerts and notifications, but only for UK stocks.

Portfolio management

The share trading platform allows you to manage your portfolio on the go, so you can monitor and manage your assets and execute trades wherever you are.

Earning reports & fee breakdowns

The web trading platform also provides access to free reports on your account, allowing you to look up the long-term costs of an asset over five years.

Hargreaves Lansdown App Review

Hargreaves Lansdown's investing app presents users with a convenient and accessible way to manage their investments on the go. The app's user-friendly design and intuitive interface make it a valuable tool for both casual investors and those with more complex trading needs.

Navigating the app is straightforward, allowing users to easily access their portfolios, execute trades, and monitor market trends – although we should note that there's still room for improvement. The app's integration with account management features ensures a seamless experience, providing a holistic view of one's financial status.

While the investing app offers a range of research tools and real-time data, there are some drawbacks to consider. For more advanced traders, the app's lack of advanced charting and technical analysis features might be limiting. Additionally, while the app provides a comprehensive experience, some users have reported occasional glitches or delays in real-time data updates, which could impact timely decision-making.

When comparing the app to others in its class, it stands out for its simplicity. However, it's worth noting that competitors like Saxo Markets or IG might offer a more extensive array of features and more robust trading capabilities for those seeking advanced tools.

Customer Satisfaction & Reputation – 7.8/10

Hargreaves Lansdown has one of the highest customer satisfaction and reputation ratings.

Safety & Regulations

Hargreaves Lansdown complies with regulations from different financial bodies to ensure protection for its UK and global clients.

Is Hargreaves Lansdown regulated?

Like most other investment platforms, the FCA regulates Hargreaves Lansdown in the UK. The FCA typically monitors investment companies’ operations and cuts off any firm not compliant with its standards.

Here’s a complete list of all regulators HL answers to:

Is Hargreaves Lansdown safe?

Hargreaves Lansdown is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority(FCA) and covered by Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The firm uses depositaries and trustees to safeguard client funds in OEICs and unit trusts. As a result, your assets are protected from the fund manager’s creditors if they run into financial difficulties.

As a licenced broker, the company must follow Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. HL also uses encryption technology during account login.

Hargreaves Lansdown background

Founded in 1981 as a financial services firm by Bristol-based Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown, Hargreaves Lansdown was initially a tax strategies and unit trusts advisory firm.

The company first provided discretionary investment services in 1986 and later expanded to serve a broader clientele throughout the 1990s. It debuted on the London Stock Exchange in 2007 and is now a member of the FTSE 100.

Customer Reviews

Hargreaves Lansdown has earned positive and negative reviews among its clientele on different platforms. Here is a look at some of the reviews at the time of writing:

Hargreaves Lansdown on Trustpilot

Hargreaves Lansdown has a score of 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot from more than 8,000 customer reviews.

Many users celebrate the platform's ease of use, wide range of assets available, as well as the diverse option of accounts. There's a significant chunk of customers who are exceptionally happy with the tailored service and transparency of fees and charges.

On the flip side, many of the negative reviews point out HL's deteriorating customer service and the newly launched virtual assistant that replaced many agents. Given that one of HL's strongholds is customer service, which incidentally justifies the cost in many ways, we hope that the firm invests in expanding its customer support line to meet the growing demand.

Hargreaves Lansdown on Google Play

On Google Play, Hargreaves Lansdown has garnered an average rating of 4.1 stars based on over 12,000 ratings with over 500,000 downloads.

HL's Android app is significantly worse than its iOS product. The issues with usability and navigation seem to be accentuated for Android users with many of the users questioning whether the development team even tested the product. That being said, we need to note that a 4.1/5 rating is relatively high for a trading platform.

Hargreaves Lansdown on App Store

Hargreaves Lansdown has received over 49,000 ratings on the Apple App Store and has an overall rating of 4.7 stars.

While not as bad as its Android product, HL's mobile application for iOS still has some room for improvement. The main problem, as the reviews put forward, is that the app is not really user-centric: the app seems to push forward the various products the firm offers, rather than prioritising the ease of use and smooth navigation.

Customer Service

Members generally hold Hargreaves Lansdown’s customer service in high regard, and its customer awards virtually every year are a testament to this.

Customers can receive help through the following customer service channels:

Phone

Customers can receive help from customer service between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays. However, long wait times are a common complaint about the phone support service.

Email

You can reach Hargreaves Lansdown via email, but it may take up to 24 hours to receive a reply.

Website

Hargreaves Lansdown’s website features a contact form for your convenience. A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) addresses many common queries about the platform, accounts, and other topics. It minimises the need to contact customer service.

Should you invest with Hargreaves Lansdown?

The investment community considers Hargreaves Lansdown a reliable and trustworthy investment provider. HL is an FCA-approved institution with multiple awards, so investors can confidently invest with the financial provider.

It caters to clients with varying investing knowledge with a sleek mobile app, responsive customer service team, and various products.

Hargreaves Lansdown alternatives to consider

If Hargreaves Lansdown is not up your street, there are other investment platforms you could mull over:

• AJ Bell: AJ Bell is significantly cheaper than Hargreaves Lansdown. For instance, AJ Bell’s 0.25% rate on annual custody fees is lower than HL’s 0.45%. Moreover, AJ Bell’s cost per trade is £9.95, while Hargreaves Lansdown’s charges £11.95.

• Freetrade: If you’re looking for a cheaper shares investment platform, Freetrade is a serious contender. For example, Freetrade doesn’t charge a penny for trading shares, while HL’s range from £5.95 to £11.95. The app is user-friendly, enabling on-the-go monitoring of investments.

• Interactive Investor: HL and Interactive Investor significantly differ in charging structure. While HL charges a platform fee as a percentage of your total investment, Interactive Investor charges a fixed monthly fee depending on the subscription model, which ranges from £4.99 to £19.99. They also charge for switching unit trusts, but HL doesn’t.

FAQs