Home Shares Hargreaves Lansdown benefits from coronavirus crisis volatility

Hargreaves Lansdown benefits from coronavirus crisis volatility

Hargreaves Lansdown benefits from coronavirus crisis volatility

Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HL) shares jump on Thursday as the wealth management platform said they had experienced recorded dealing figures through the coronavirus crisis.

Hargreaves Lansdown announced clients numbers grew by 94,000 to 1,386,000 active clients.

The increase in new clients brought in £4 billion in net new business which was up from £2.9 billion in the same period a year ago.

The increase in clients activity at Hargreaves Lansdown echoed performance from other online trading and investment platforms such as IG Group, who also recorded record activity through the spread of the pandemic.

Hargreaves Lansdown share were up over 8% in early trade on Thursday before falling back and are still down over 11% in 2020.

“During this exceptionally volatile and challenging period, Hargreaves Lansdown has performed strongly, adding 94,000 net new clients and £4.0 billion of net new business,” said Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Hargreaves Lansdown.

He continued to highlight the investment Hargreaves had made into the business and the impact it was now having.

“The investment that we have deliberately undertaken over the past three years into our service, its scalability, our marketing and our technology has enabled us to support and protect the interests of our clients throughout the COVID-19 crisis.”

“In these challenging times, it is critical we can support people in managing their investments and savings according to their desired outcomes.”

However, Mr Hill cautioned on the outlook for markets as the prospect much touted V-shaped recovery in economies and stock markets fades.

“There remains much uncertainty in the coming months and hence, like many businesses, we cannot predict levels of new business or client activity. However, we are confident that the strategy we have invested in, with our focus on the needs of UK investors and savers and delivering the highest level of client service, means that we are well positioned to deliver continued attractive long-term growth.”