Hargreaves Lansdown reports net new business of £8.7 million
More younger people are investing, according to Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer at Bristol-based Hargreaves Lansdown.
In its latest results, the financial services company reports net new business of £8.7 million, and a strong growth in assets under administration, up 30 per cent to £135.5 billion.
The company has 1,645,000 active clients, and increase of 233,000 in the year and underlying profits before tax increase of eight per cent to £366 million.
Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer, said: "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 £8.7 billion of net new business in the period, taking total clients to 1.645 million and assets to £135.5 bn.
"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% of trades being done online. In FY21, 83% 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.
"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."
