Younger people "prioritise financial resilience" as Hargreaves Lansdown revenues soar

A UK wealth management firm has revealed that its revenues have increased by 15 per cent across the past year as its client base expands.

Hargreaves Lansdown, based in Bristol, reported net new business over the past year of £8.7bn from a “record” 233,000 net new clients.

The company’s revenues during the period rose from £550.9m to £631m, with profits before tax also increasing by 8 per cent from £339.5m to £366m.

It added that across the year, it had noted a shift in the makeup of its customer base, with 83 per cent of its new clients being under 55 years old, and 98 per cent of its trades being done online.

Chris Hill, CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: “We have delivered a record performance and exceptional growth during an extraordinary and challenging year.

“Our investment in the scalability, diversity and resilience of HL’s business model has resulted in a record 233,000 net new clients and £8.7bn of net new business in the period, taking total clients to 1.645 million and assets to £135.5bn.

“The pandemic has accelerated two trends that were already evident to us: a permanent shift to digital; and a change in the demographic mix.

“Demand for our digital services has soared with 393 million digital visits and 98 per cent of trades being done online.

“In FY21, 83 per cent of our new clients were under 55, as we saw younger clients showing an interest investing and saving, prioritising financial resilience as they benefit from the transition of wealth from older generations.

“This has been an extraordinary year and I am proud of how our colleagues responded and continued to deliver to clients throughout this challenging period.

“We have not furloughed our people, enacted any Covid related redundancy programmes or sought any government assistance.

“Our focus is, as always, on our clients and their lifelong needs, not just their short-term interests.

“We have been able to capitalise on this extraordinary year - and enlarge our client base substantially - due to our previous investment decisions and confidence in the opportunity ahead.

“As the UK’s market-leading digital wealth management service we have continuously advanced our service and broadened and strengthened our proposition, as client needs evolve, and the wealth market continues to broaden and digitise.”