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Updated on
Jun 29, 2023
Reading time 10 minutes
Security, trading fees, tradable assets and more
Hargreaves Lansdown is a leading U.K. investment broker that was first formed in 1981. Today, the broker is listed on the London Stock Exchange and provides financial services to more than 1 million people and has over £85 billion worth of assets under management. At Hargreaves Lansdown, investors and traders get access to a wide range of financial products such as shares, ETFs, investment trusts, bonds, and more.
This review will take you through everything you need to know about Hargreaves Lansdown’s brokerage services before using the platform to buy and trade stocks and financial products.
What can I do with Hargreaves Lansdown?
Hargreaves Lansdown is a leading UK broker that provides financial services to over a million customers around the world, and the platform offers a variety of services to its users. The broker allows users to invest in and trade assets such as UK, US, Canadian, and European shares – alongside ETFs, investment trusts, bonds, and gilts.
As a financial service platform, Hargreaves Lansdown offers additional services such as pension accounts, investment guidance, cash savings, advanced investment, financial advice, and international remittance services. You can trade financial assets, save or plan towards retirement, and become a smarter investor all at once on the Hargreaves Lansdown platform.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Able to invest up to £20,000 in a tax-free account
Easy to use trading platform
Lower share dealing fees for regular traders
No deposit or withdrawal fees
High-quality educational tools
Cons:
Offline and time-consuming account opening for clients outside the UK
High fees for stocks and ETFs
Doesn't support forex, crypto, options, or futures trading
No live chat or 24/7 customer support
Can I open an account with Hargreaves Lansdown?
Yes, residents of Belgium can open an account with Hargreaves Lansdown.
No, residents of Belgium cannot open an account with Hargreaves Lansdown.
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You can trade the following assets on Hargreaves Lansdown:
UK Stocks
International stocks (U.S., Canadian, and EU)
ETFs
Mutual funds
Bonds
CFDs
Investment trusts
Payment Methods
Hargreaves Lansdown supports most common forms of payment on its platform. However, one of the disadvantages of this broker is that it doesn’t support electronic wallets such as PayPal and Skrill. In addition to that, the base currency is GBP, which means foreign users will incur currency conversion fees when using the platform. Here are the accepted payment methods when using the broker:
Bank wire
Credit card
Debit card
There are no withdrawal or deposit limits on Hargreaves Lansdown, and there is no minimum deposit either – regardless of your payment method.
What devices can I use Hargreaves Lansdown on?
Hargreaves Lansdown operates a multi-device platform, which means you can run it on various devices with internet access. You can access the web platform through any browser on a phone or computer, and the platform also has a dedicated mobile app you can download. The platform can be used on the following devices:
Web platform: desktops and laptops
Mobile apps: Android and iOS systems
How easy is it to use Hargreaves Lansdown?
Hargreaves Lansdown has one of the easiest trading platforms among UK stockbrokers. Their web-based interface is simple and easy to navigate. And they also have an easy to use mobile app (although this doesn’t contain as many features as the web-based software). Hargreaves Lansdown categorises all the asset classes and financial services under various sections, so you will see the shares, bonds, ETFs, and other services on different sections of their platform and can easily navigate between them.
Furthermore, you can easily access other investment accounts such as pensions, investment guidance, cash savings, and remittance services while using the platform. However, for those that wish to access the Spread Betting and CFD trading will have to visit the Hargreaves Lansdown IG platform, which is different from the regular site.
Hargreaves Lansdown is popular for housing high-quality education materials and technical tools in addition to their brokerage services. They have a newsroom to keep traders up to date with the latest events in the financial markets, along with other trading tools such as calculators, price alerts, and 26 other technical indicators. In general, the broker is easy to use, even for users who are new to investing.
Hargreaves Lansdown is an investment platform that mostly serves UK residents. However, they have a presence on the international stage as they are not currently banned in any part of the world. Hence, you can use this broker to invest and trade a wide range of financial instruments anywhere around the globe.
Regulation
Hargreaves Lansdown is a UK-based financial market service provider and is listed on the London Stock Exchange; the company is therefore regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This gives it access to a wide range of markets, including the EU, Asia, and Africa. Hargreaves Lansdown is yet to be regulated in the US or other popular regulators around the world.
Account Verification
Hargreaves Lansdown is a regulated stockbroker, which means it has to comply with the anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC policies. As such, the platform asks all investors and traders to verify their accounts before carrying out certain crucial operations. This process involves:
ID Verification: for ID verification, Hargreaves Lansdown accepts a scanned copy or driving license or national ID documents.
Proof of residency: to verify residency, the following scanned documents are accepted: a recent utility bill, or other documents like bank statements from the past three months.
Customer support
Hargreaves Lansdown has a very active and responsive customer support team, but it is not available 24/7 and can only be contacted during work hours. The response time is swift, however, and the team is very professional. They can be reached through the following channels:
The platform is easy to use and navigate, even for new traders. The dashboard contains categories on the assets to trade, the newsroom, the learning center, and other services offered on the platform. Hargreaves Lansdown also has an excellent mobile app, which makes it easier for users to trade on the go. The mobile app contains nearly all the features you can find on the web platform.
It is easy to set up an account if you are in the UK, but non-UK residents need to complete their registration offline which takes a little longer.
What currency pairs can be traded?
Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t support forex or cryptocurrency trading at the moment. Hence, no currency pairs are available to traders.
Are there fees for trading?
Trading and investment are not free on Hargreaves Lansdown, and the fee structure varies depending on the type of trade you are making. Here are the fees you can expect to pay:
Stocks: 0-9 trades: £11.95 per trade; 10-19 trades: £8.95 per trade, 20+ trades: £5.95 per trade
Mutual funds: £0-£250k: 0.45% of trade value per year; £250k-£1m 0.25% of trade value per year; £1m-£2m: 0.10% of trade value per year; £2m+: free
ETFs: £11.95
Investment Trusts: £11.95
Inactivity fee: £0
Live broker fee: £20.00
Annual fees: 0.45% per annum on funds held from £0-£250,000; 0.25%, for funds of £250,000-£1 million; 0.10% for £1 million-£2 million; no charge for funds over £2 million
What is the minimum Spread?
Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t offer cryptocurrency and forex trading services yet. Hence, there is no minimum spread of currencies.
Can I trade assets with leverage?
Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t support trading with leverage. The stockbroker only supports trading of shares, ETFs, mutual funds, and other investment vehicles.
If you are going to use a platform that allows leveraged trading, we advise that you should be careful when using the margins for trading and investment purposes. Although you stand to make money when you trade with leverage and things go well, you could also lose lots of money fast if the trade goes bad.
What are the margins required?
Hargreaves Lansdown supports margin trading on its platform. The margins are for the Spread Betting and CFD trading on the Hargreaves Lansdown IG account, not on the regular platform. The details of the margins required are not made public, and each investor can find out the margins available by contacting the company directly.
Can I open long and short positions?
Yes, you can open long or short positions on Hargreaves Lansdown for assets such as stocks and ETFs.
In trading, having a long or short position means betting on an asset to either go up in value or drop value over time. When an investor is bullish on the price of an asset, they purchase it and wait for it to increase. This is what it means to go long. Meanwhile, shorting is when an investor is bearish on the price of an asset and sells it in order to buy it at a cheaper rate later.
Are there withdrawal and deposit limits?
Hargreaves Lansdown has both withdrawal and deposit limits on its platforms. However, the amount differs for the various accounts available on the platform.
Summary of Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown is a leading UK stockbroker which provides access to the financial markets to over a million customers. They have an intuitive platform that makes it easy to access all the trading options and financial services they provide.
Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t support forex and cryptocurrency trading but has a platform dedicated to CFD and Spread Betting. On their main platform, you can trade assets like stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, and a wide variety of others.
The company also offers other financial services such as pensions, cash savings, international remittance, and more. Their learning center is one of the best around, and they have a wide array of trading tools available to users.
Conclusion
Hargreaves Lansdown is one of the best brokerage platforms in the UK, providing easy access to the financial markets and offering other financial services. The platform allows people to trade assets such as stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, and annuities with ease, even if they’re new to investing in the market.
Their customer support team is only available during working hours and can be contacted via emails and phone calls. The company supports bank transfer and credit/debit cards as payment methods, and is regulated by the FCA in the UK alongside being listed on the London Stock Exchange.
For UK residents, the registration is finished after the company have identified you with the documents you’re asked to provide
For non-UK residents, you will have to continue with further offline registration
Fill out the application form that would be sent to you
Attach a copy of your passport/driving license/firearms certificate. It could also be evidence of entitlement to a state or local authority funded benefit, tax credit, pension, educational or other grants
For your proof of residency, attach a copy of your current council tax demand letter. It could also be the latest statement or current bank statement, or a utility bill issued within the previous three months.
Our editors fact-check all content to ensure compliance with our strict editorial policy. The information in this article is supported by the following reliable sources.
Invezz is a place where people can find reliable, unbiased information about finance, trading, and investing – but we do not offer financial advice and users should always carry out their own research. The assets covered on this website, including stocks, cryptocurrencies, and commodities can be highly volatile and new investors often lose money. Success in the financial markets is not guaranteed, and users should never invest more than they can afford to lose. You should consider your own personal circumstances and take the time to explore all your options before making any investment. Read our risk disclaimer >
Pooja Kadia
Financial Writer
Pooja Kadia
Financial Writer
BlockchainCryptocurrencyAnd NFTs
Blockchain
Cryptocurrency
And NFTs
Pooja is a financial writer for Invezz. She has held the positions of Content Head at more than 7 companies. She has written for prominent cryptocurrency platforms, worked across more than 20 blockchain use-cases, prepared content for the launch of 4 crypto IDOs, and has regularly presented on the theme...