Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of the massive financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, “hates” the Government’s Funding for Lending Scheme.
“All it has done is give cheap money to the banks so that they pay their depositors even less,” he said. “It is fuelling a property boom, which is the last thing this country needs.
“Money invested in houses is dead money which does nothing for the economy. All it does is make people who own their homes feel good.”
But if the banks aren’t doing much for savers, it appears more of them are turning to his firm to do their own investing. Hargreaves Lansdown’s client base has topped 500,000 for the first time with 76,000 new customers in the last 12 months.
“People want the information and the tools to do it themselves,” Hargreaves said. “You will always make a better decision about your finances than any financial adviser can because you know exactly what risks you can afford to take.”
Assets under management rose 28% to £36.4 billion in the year to end-June while pre-tax profits increased 28% to £195 million.
The full-year dividend is raised by 31% to 29.59p. That means Hargreaves, who still owns just under a third of the company, will collect £45 million in dividends.
Like its rivals, Hargreaves Lansdown will move from a commission-based to a monthly fee-based charging structure over the next year in line with new regulations.
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