Hargreaves Lansdown Share Discussion Threads

[jason29] 28/2/2024 08:47

Robinhood launching in the UK and offering 5% on uninvested Funds is not going to help these. Wish I had sold at 1100+ when I had the chance (I'm sure with hindsight we all do lol) but looks like I'm staying in at these levels for the Dividend and Dividend alone, I just can't see where the growth is going to come from............

[bend1pa] 27/2/2024 22:23

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with HL. They're not in danger of going bust, (when was the last time in the UK a major stockbroker was hammered?), and the generous div looks reasonably safe for the time being.

The only concern I have is the big drop in new clients, which suggests that HG may be acquiring a tarnished reputation, but I fail to see really why. Certainly if you have a fair chunk of cash lying in an ISA or non-ISA account. you earn about 3.73%, which is a lot more than the likes of III (they pay < 3%), or many big brokers who pay nothing on cash balances, eg Charles Stanley.

Who would have thought a few years ago that HG would become an income stock? Thank you shorters.

[eigthwonder] 27/2/2024 12:51

Whilst i can picture the company being taken out, in the meantime the management churn and struggle to find strategic direction are serving the shorters well.

[lomax99] 27/2/2024 11:09

Surpressing the price could aid a bid at a lower level.

[stoopid] 27/2/2024 10:57

I'm still holding but 12% short, is a big bet by the shorters. Still, they will have to close eventually and buying that much back will not go unnoticed.

[netcurtains] 27/2/2024 08:53

I have been shaken out...
I was only here for divi... And share price too wild for me.
Doubled up on DGE instead....
Sorry...

[smidge21] 27/2/2024 08:10

Today's Times:

Hargreaves Lansdown is at a crossroads. Shares in Britain’s largest wealth manager plunged from £23.63 in May 2019, eight months before Covid, to £7 last October, two months after installing Dan Olley as its new chief executive. Much rests on his shoulders to reverse the slide.

A clue to where Hargreaves Lansdown is heading lies in Olley’s background: digital technology. After spells at Relx, the technical publisher, IBM, the American technology group, and WPP, the advertising conglomerate, in January last year he became chief executive of Dunnhumby, a data analytics firm. His willingness to change jobs so quickly raises a yellow flag.

To make his mark, Olley has written off £17.3 million on ditching two computer systems and bringing in a new digital technology team, the third since last March. Although he has no previous experience in managing money, he says he intends to use Hargreaves Lansdown’s digital capabilities to help to understand which products best suit each client, rather than to replace the human element of the advice process. And he emphasises the importance of “delighting221; clients and “enhancing the client experience”. We shall see which triumphs, data or the personal touch.

In the last six months of 2023, there was £1 billion of net new business, £600 million less than a year ago, while total assets under administration rose to £142.2 billion, up from £127.1 billion. Revenues rose by £18.2 million to £368.2 million, but that was not enough to prevent pre-tax profits falling by £15.1 million to £182.5 million. The firm recruited 20,000 net new clients, making a total of 1.82 million. This was down on the 31,000 attracted in the corresponding period of 2022, possibly because the higher cost of living has left less cash to invest. All of which gives Olley a formidable to-do list.

Deutsche Numis has trimmed its year-end earnings-per-share forecast from 68.5p to 66.9p, and by 4 per cent next year to 70.3p. However, the shares are on only 11.2 times 2023-24 earnings and yield a reliable 6.8 per cent.

Advice Buy
Why A bet on Olley and economic recovery

[netcurtains] 27/2/2024 08:04

Does it still go ex-dividend on Thursday?

Thanks

[giltedge1] 26/2/2024 12:13

Results were fine, Cash flow great retained AUM better than most. Obviously a big ask to increase AUM greatly every year. HL master of its own destiny can control costs, mainly Payroll & IT. Can easily cut staff if necessary. Costs such as energy, Rents, Cap Ex minimal. Operates from one building in Bristol. Should be a big beneficiary of AI. Minimal other costs & can gain from trend of Aging population & saving for retirement. Seems a good entry point £7.50.

[dickbush] 23/2/2024 09:28

All new CEO’s spend their early days finding out what’s wrong and taking write-offs that should reduce or eliminate problems in the future. I am very happy that the area he has concentrated on is the IT area. It didn’t take the fiasco at the Post Office for any of us to know that IT departments consistently fail to produce on time and within budget, or, often, that the final product is so far from meeting its design targets that it requires even more people in the IT Department for it to limp along. Hopefully, taking an axe to the number of vendors was pour encourager les autres.

Thankfully, the current CEO has a digital background:

October 04, 2021 – dunnhumby announces the appointment of Dan Olley as their new Chief Executive Officer. Dan will join the business at the end of January 2022, from RELX, the global information analytics company, where he is Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Elsevier. He brings with him nearly three decades of experience leading global digital teams and a proven track record of building transformative digital products and platforms.

[dickbush] 22/2/2024 17:57

Company said that - I think I heard this right - that new asset flow in was up 17% y/y but that was all but totally offset by outflow. The CEO put this down, primarily, to not having a cash ISA, something I didn't know was absent from their product line-up. That hole has been covered now with 3 alternative Cash ISAs.

Momentum from the 2nd qtr is poor and 3rd qtr eps likely to be down y/y taking into account the forecast lower NIM.

FYI, a similar type company in the US, Charles Schwab, which saw eps decline by 28% in 2023 against a strong equity market background and whose 4th qtr NIM was almost 54%, is on a historic p/e of 25 and a dividend yield of 1.5%.

[ochs] 22/2/2024 11:56

@PUGUGLY - can you or anyone else copy & paste the FT article from behind the paywall by any chance? Thanks!

[jonny_wright] 22/2/2024 11:18

Agreed, my investment performance dramatically improved when I decided enough is enough and I took my entire portfolio to the USA

[riverman77] 22/2/2024 10:16

They are still seeing net inflows which in the current environment isn't bad. Most fund managers seeing heavy outflows over the year. I would expect flows to improve as sentiment picks up.

[porsche1945] 22/2/2024 09:35

Did warn you this was a dog. U.K. shares are now referred to as a “ bug zapper “, you go near them once and learn your lesson. Terminal junk the whole mess. Bonds still kicking out a great return and US big tech a lovely trade, why bother with brexit basket case U.K. dogshxt?

[thebutler] 22/2/2024 09:29

HL is no longer a growth stock, in fact it seems to be shrinking! And competitors are doing far better. So should now really be classed as an income stock, and as such the p/e is still way too high. Might become interested at 400p-ish.

[montyhedge] 22/2/2024 08:37

I prefer Interactive Investor.

[rimau1] 22/2/2024 08:31

and clobbered on results Pug

[pugugly] 22/2/2024 08:25

Clobbered by FT article on Investment Platforms yesterday - Being reflected in share price fall this morning.

[lomax99] 22/2/2024 08:17

Ho hum, happy to start add further under £7.

[rimau1] 22/2/2024 07:50

Record AUM is almost all market move related i am trying to understand if net new business is in line or a miss