For investors in Hargreaves Lansdown, the question might not be whether the investment platform has passed its peak, but whether they need to reset their growth expectations far more dramatically.
Market chaos isn’t having the same effect it did during the pandemic, enticing investors to capitalise on volatility amid lockdown boredom. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rapidly rising inflation, oscillating markets and weakening economic outlook that has resulted, has dented investor confidence. The number of new clients gained by Hargreaves during the first four months of the year totalled just 42,000, a fall from 126,000 the same time last year.
Both the number of new clients joining the investment platform and the £2.6 billion in flows, were worse than analysts had been expecting.
