By Charlie Conchie
Hargreaves Lansdown notched a jump in revenues and trading activity in the first three months of the year as retail investors began to edge back into the market after a slowdown last year.
In a trading update this morning, the retail investment platform said it had won net new business of £1.6bn for the period, up 14 per cent on the the same period last year, which pushed up revenues 28 per cent to £188.1m.
Assets under administration at the firm ticked up four per cent in the quarter to £132bn, reflecting £3.3bn positive market movement, combined with the jump in new business.
Hargreaves’ chief Chris Hill, who has been caught up in spats with the firm’s founder, said the firm was “well positioned to grow” as “confidence returns”.
“We delivered net new business of £1.6 billion in the period, up 14 per cent on last year as the combination of changes to the tax landscape, our marketing activity, and ongoing developments in our core propositions generated a call to action for clients in the run up to tax year end,” he said in a statement.
“Macroeconomic uncertainty continues but the improved activity demonstrates that as confidence returns, HL is well positioned to grow and support new and existing clients on their investment and savings journeys.”
Hargreaves is among a host of retail investment firms grappling with volatile customer activity as a cost of living crunch and market swings temper consumers’ appetite for the markets.
Share dealing volumes rose nearly a quarter on the previous quarter but were still 20 per cent lower than last year.
The first three months of 2022 saw a particularly bumper quarter for trading before investor confidence was “hit hard by concerns over the conflict in Ukraine and cost of living issues”, Hargreaves Lansdown said.
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