Hargreaves’ record inflows after shake-up

The Bristol-based company, which offers financial advice and serves retail investors through its Vantage fund supermarket, said it had seen more clients switching to the group since the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) took effect on January 1.

There had been fears over the impact of the RDR changes, which include banning independent financial advisers (IFAs) from being able to take commission as payment.

But Ian Gorham, chief executive of Hargreaves, said increased client growth and a surge in new business transfers since January 1 “support our view that self-directed investing through Hargreaves Lansdown is increasingly recognised as a sensible and good value imperative”.

Its highest level of quarterly net inflows in the three months to March 31 helped assets under management jump £4.7bn to £35.1bn.

Shares in the FTSE 100 firm leapt 4 per cent higher as Canaccord Genuity analyst Robin Savage praised “impressive” levels of new business.

Hargreaves said it saw £1.4bn in new Individual Savings Account (ISA) contributions in its third quarter, which is historically busy ahead of the April 5 tax year-end.

It also saw the number of active Vantage clients increase by a record 30,000 over the third quarter to 476,000, with the platform’s assets under management rising to £33bn.

Revenues across the group rose 23 per cent to £76.3m as it also benefited from the recent rally in world stock markets, but the firm warned that eurozone debt worries and economic woes remained a threat to equities.

Analysts said the forthcoming second instalment of the RDR continued to hang over Hargreaves, which has three advisers in Yorkshire.