Hargreaves Lansdown overhauls fees in face of rising competition
The UK’s largest DIY investment platform is reducing fees for roughly half of its 2m-plus customers as it continues to face escalating competition within the industry.
Hargreaves Lansdown said it will cut its annual account and share dealing fees, but add a charge for fund trading in its first overhaul of pricing in more than a decade.
The move will cost the company, which was bought by a number of private equity firms including CVC Capital Partners, Nordic Capital and Abu Dhabi’s Platinum Ivy in a deal that was completed in March 2025, tens of millions of pounds.
The changes will take effect from March, meaning eight in ten customers will pay either lower fees or the same amount according to the firm.
Fee changes
But one in ten will pay up to £1 more each month, while three per cent will have to cough up a extra £10 or more.
Fund trades will also incur a new charge of £1.95, but customers who have a monthly automated investment set up will be exempt.
The firm’s platform fee, also known as a “headline” account charge, will also fall from 0.45 per cent to 0.35 per cent.
Share trading fees will be reduced from £11.95 to £6.95 per trade, while fees on ready-made pension plans will fall from 0.75 per cent per year to 0.45 per cent.
While some industry figures welcomed Hargreaves Lansdown’s decision, others noted the changes are “highly challenging for retail investors to understand”.
Andrey Dobrynin, chief executive and founder of Invest Engine, said: “Lowering expensive headline fees can help investors build up their longer-term wealth more quickly by boosting their returns over time without expensive fees eating away at the profits.
“However… a reduction in platform fees can be accompanied by the introduction of other costs, in this case new dealing charges to funds, something that was previously free for their customers.
“This makes it incredibly hard for average retail investors to know if they are truly getting a good deal on fees and charges from their provider.”
Competition heats up
The fee overhaul comes as competition within the industry heats up, with Hargreaves Lansdown facing pressure from across the sector.
Prominent financial service companies including JP Morgan and Chase have stepped into the sector, while digital only platform Robinhood has tightened its grip on the market, with other digital platforms clawing their way onto the scene.
Richard Flint, chief executive of Hargreaves Lansdown, said that the move was “more about us reinvigorating the business” in order to face other platforms.
He told the FT: “Competition has been developing for quite a long time and it’s not a surprise, it’s coming in many different forms.”
Shifting landscape
The move also marks yet another pivotal decision for the platform which has undergone significant changes over the past twelve months.
The company, which was the first to sell funds directly to investors, was founded in 1981 by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown, floating on London’s flagship exchange in 2007.
A group of private equity firms took over the firm last year in a £5.4bn deal for £11.40 a share.
Hargreaves retained roughly a 10 per cent stake, after selling half of his 20 per cent holding in the takeover, allowing him to scoop over £500m.
Meanwhile, Lansdown sold off his entire near 6 per cent stake, hailing it a “bittersweet moment”.
Earlier this month, the firm confirmed Flint would be stepping down as chief executive to become deputy chair, after poaching Matt Benchener from rival Vanguard.
Benchener runs Vanguard’s personal investment business in the US, which has several million clients, and will join the firm in March for a handover period before taking on the top role in July.