Tag Archives: Hargreaves Lansdown

Via Nova challenges Origo’s PE backed monopoly.

Posted on August 19, 2022 by henry tapper

Origo – a monopoly in the making I have for five years been writing about the pernicious impact of a potential monopoly created by Origo in the transaction of pension transfers. I still worry. Origo was set up  in 1989 … Continue reading →

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The “personalised nudge” – down the slippery slope or a shove towards better pensions?

Posted on July 26, 2022 by henry tapper

This week we are hearing a lot about what providers think they should be able to do with their customers to help those customers take better decisions. A pension provider’s view of what’s good for a customer may be skewed … Continue reading →

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It’s time to stop sneering at St. James’s Place

Posted on July 29, 2021 by henry tapper

St. James’s Place released their half yearly results yesterday and the market responded by marking up their shares 5%. The results told us that SJP had added nearly £10bn to funds under management and that operating profit had shot up. … Continue reading →

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Putting our money where their mouth is? We’re not there yet!

Posted on February 2, 2021 by henry tapper

Last night I had the chance to listen to the Lord Mayor’s lecture – organised by Gresham College which is a few yards from where I live. If this had happened last year, I would not have been invited or … Continue reading →

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Pension Plowman’s guide to 2020 IGC reports

Posted on April 12, 2020 by henry tapper

This is a big year for IGCs. It is their fifth birthday, it’s the year when the FCA reviews their effectiveness and it’s the year of the pandemic, where providers and savers will be under maximum strain. Most of the … Continue reading →

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From an empty chair; Hargreaves Lansdown’s excellent IGC statement.

Posted on April 12, 2020 by henry tapper

  A cautionary tale It has been a difficult year for Hargreaves Lansdown’s IGC and they have launched their Chair’s statement without a Chair. This unusual state of affair followed the departure of David Grimes with clearly no succession plan … Continue reading →

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The good in gating.

Posted on June 17, 2019 by henry tapper

  The wonder of the gating of the Woodford Equity Income Fund is that it happened in peacetime. There is no financial storm, the crisis is as random of the fall of Icarus in Breughel’s famous painting. There’s no doubt … Continue reading →

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What does SJP “sacking” Woodford mean?

Posted on June 7, 2019 by henry tapper

“HL removed Woodford from its Wealth 50 but did not force sell the funds as SJP has.” But this shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how SJP (costly restricted funds) and HL (costly self-select platform) work! https://t.co/6eQoSKNK0T — Alistair Cunningham (@Cunningham_UK) … Continue reading →

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Herding , Woodford and platforms

Posted on June 6, 2019 by henry tapper

Adam Norris , the genius behind much of Hargreaves Lansdown’s success told me how he switched money in bulk from Equitable Life onto the HL platform. He read the society’s rules and discovered that as an Equitable policyholder, he was … Continue reading →

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From zero to hero – the Hargreaves Lansdown IGC report

Posted on April 12, 2019 by henry tapper

Hargreaves Lansdown’s (HL) 2015 -16 IGC report was embarrassingly bad. I got cross that a successful funds platform didn’t put its back into independent governance. Hargreaves’ Vantage product (now HL Workplace Pension)  was at the time being widely promoted as … Continue reading →

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