Hargreaves Lansdown
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| Hargreaves Lansdown | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Headquarters | Bristol, England, UK |
| Key people | Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Employees | 600+ |
| Website | Hargreaves Lansdown website |
Hargreaves Lansdown is a financial service company based in Bristol, England, that sells funds and shares and related products via its website and through the post as a discount broker, to retail investors in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1981 by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown, and initially traded from a bedroom.[1] As at the start of September 2007 the company has over 600 employees, 350,000 active clients and handles £10.2 billion in assets.
On the 15th of May 2007 the company floated on the stock market with a £600m valuation - the group's two founders holding a full 80% of the company.[2] The floated shares rose by 30% on the first day of trading, giving the company a valuation of over £1bn.
On the 3rd of September 2007 the company posted their first profits report as a stock market quoted company - it showed a rise of 67% for the year to June 2007.[3]
[edit] Vantage
Vantage is Hargreaves Lansdown's 'investment supermarket'. Available products under the Vantage brand include the Vantage shares ISA, SIPP, PEP, and funds and share accounts.
The company is popular for its discounts on fund products. The company typically rebates the initial charge (up to 5.5%) for investing in funds, which would normally go to the investor's financial advisor as payment for investment advice, and also typically rebates part of the trail commission (up to 0.5% annual trail paid out of an annual management charge of 1.5% on an actively managed fund). As the company's model is a low-cost one, where investors are responsible for their own investment decisions, and do not pay or receive formal investment advice, it provides fund research and opinion on its website [1], and lists a 'Wealth 150' of what it says are the best funds.
It also operates four multi-manager unit trusts [2], each of which in turn own a share in a number of underlying funds.
[edit] References
- ^ "£9m pay packet for investment chief", The Sunday Times, 2007-02-25.
- ^ "Asset manager 'plans £600m float'", BBC News, 2007-01-27.
- ^ "Asset manager posts profit jump", BBC News, 2007-09-03.
