Asset manager Hargreaves Lansdown lowers the cost of regular investing by reducing some of the cost of buying and selling investments
Asset manager Hargreaves Lansdown is lowering the cost of regular investing by reducing some of the costs associated with buying and selling investments, Wealth & Personal Finance reveals.
Customers who invest regularly via direct debit will no longer have to pay £1.50 to buy and sell shares, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds from Tuesday. Regular investing in funds is already free.
The wealth platform is also scrapping fees for reinvesting dividend income in stocks. Reinvesting dividends is currently charged a one per cent fee, with a minimum of £1 and a maximum of £10. Holly Mackay, founder of financial website Boring Money, says: ‘Hargreaves Lansdown has a reputation as one of being the more expensive online brokers, but also offering a good quality service.
Cutting costs: customers who invest regularly via direct debit no longer have to pay £1.50 to buy and sell shares, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds
While it still has a relatively expensive initial management fee of 0.45 percent per annum, the move to reduce regular trading fees is a positive step towards attracting investors to regularly trickle in a small amount of money, which is an attractive proposition. way to build a long-lasting nest egg.’
Competition between investment platforms has intensified in recent months, with various discounts for clients. Last month, Hargreaves Lansdown scrapped the fees for its Junior Isa’s and reduced the fee for its Lifetime Isa from 0.45 to 0.25 percent.
In February, rival Interactive Investor launched its Investor Essentials product, allowing customers to invest with up to £30,000 for a competitively priced flat fee of £4.99 per month.
Keeping costs under control is essential for successful investing. While investors cannot control the stock markets, they themselves have the power to determine how much they hand over to their investment platform and fund managers.
Hargreaves Lansdown has a management fee of 0.45 per cent for fund investors up to £250,000, which falls to 0.25 per cent above this level to £1 million.
Rival AJ Bell has an annual fee of 0.25 per cent, which drops to 0.1 per cent for those with more than £250,000 in their portfolio. Interactive Investor charges a fee of £9.99 per month for investors with more than £30,000, which includes a ‘free’ trade each month.
Wealthify and Nutmeg charge an annual fee of approximately 0.76 and 1.03 percent per annum, respectively, including trading fees.
Ruchir Rodrigues, Commercial Officer at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: ‘Reducing the cost of regular savings is a commitment to supporting those at the start of their investment journey and to pass savings on to loyal customers with better service .’