Hargreaves attracts £1bn in new funds

Total assets under administration, including the lift from investment performance, increased by £2.6bn to £26bn over the period, the company said in a trading statement yesterday.

The robust sales figures defy warnings made by the firm in late 2011 that net inflows could slow on account of economic conditions.

They were also “a little ahead of expectations”, according to analysts at Numis.

Executive director Peter Hargreaves said that a solid, debt-free balance sheet and the perceived safety of the firm helped attract investors in a trading environment that will remain difficult in the coming months.

“I think it’s going to be difficult. I don’t see anything that’s going to restore investor confidence and I don’t see anything that’s going to make the stock markets of the world fly,” he said.

The trading statement covered the firm’s busiest season at the end of the fiscal year when many investors rush to take advantage of annual allowances for tax-free savings and investment schemes.

Chief executive Ian Gorham said the firm had seen an “encouraging” start to April. Recovering markets and rising asset values, as well as new business flows drove a 17 per cent improvement in operating revenue during the period compared with a year earlier, Hargreaves Lansdown said.