Hargreaves Lansdown Share Discussion Threads

[porsche1945] 10/6/2019 09:42

@ochs Lee Gardhouse the useless muppet hasnt issued an apology becos he doesnt want to draw any more attention to the fact he unloaded 550k of HL shares in run up to sxxt hitting fan, he and Dampier plainly new what was coming down the tracks and sold out, guess next question from FCA will be did they use inside info to make timely exits.

[lomax99] 10/6/2019 09:27

6% on average leaves 94% free, IMO you are overstating the case. The MM’s have plenty liquidity, short of a Northern Rock style run, the chances of that IMO are hovering around zero! It is my understanding that the gated fund will still be paying dividend related commitments during it's suspension.

[mad foetus] 10/6/2019 09:21

14% in any collective scheme is a huge exposure

[lomax99] 10/6/2019 09:16

MF - My understanding is that across all MM funds their average exposure to W funds (and not all are gated) is c. 6% (largest single fund exposure is c 14%) - hardly 'balls deep'!!

[ochs] 10/6/2019 09:03

Lee Gardhouse didn't apologies but Chris Hill (CEO) has... He defends W50 but concedes "nonetheless, we are reviewing this specific situation to ensure we learn from it and address it for the benefit of our clients going forward."

[mad foetus] 10/6/2019 08:58

key issue will be if they start getting redemptions on their multi-manager funds which are balls-deep in Woodford. They will either have to sell the quality and be left holding Woodford in ever increasing amounts or else gate those.
The FCA must be all over this: getting discounts from Woodford in return for pumping him full of client money, including in their own funds. Hard to see them escaping without making massive changes to their business model. Given Stockopedia rank 94 on quality, 6 on value and 83 on Momentum, and the Q and M figures are falling through the floor, it is hard to see where the bottom could be here

[ochs] 09/6/2019 12:09

Salty, I don't see any major issue for HL here. They've been 'recommending' funds for many many years and always state clearly that their opinions are on a 'non-advisory basis' (which the FCA have always been happy with) - unlike SJP who have previously 'advised' fee paying clients to invest in their Woodford managed funds after a full fact find.

I agree that HL have been very foolish not to give up on Woodford a year ago (like most others did) but I don't think the fund being in their Wealth 50 list as a suggested long term investment could be classed as 'mis selling'.

[discodave4] 09/6/2019 12:02

From the HL website supporting their decisions about Woodford.Https://www.hl.co.uk/news/articles/woodford-our-view

[saltaire111] 09/6/2019 08:46

HL getting hammered in the Sunday papers. This could get out of hand. Is this the next mis-selling scandal? The no-win no-fee lawyers will be salivating over this...

Salty

[mad foetus] 08/6/2019 21:04

The problem for HL. is simple: they were given preferential pricing by Woodford and it seems the quid pro quo was that they ramped his funds. The general test for professional negligence is whether others professionals shared your opinion. For the last 12 months the answer is no. So right away there is a big potential claim. Given the size of the funds the FSA must surely look at how platforms provide advertorial comment. I think the practice of fund managers giving HL discounts which allow them to charge extortionate fees for vanilla custody must end.

[effortless cool] 08/6/2019 20:51

In contrast to HL .....



I’ve heard other platforms have some big exposure to Woodford’s funds, do AJ Bell Youinvest?

As part of our mission to help people invest, we provide our customers with investment ideas, which include our Favourite funds list, Ready-made portfolios and range of AJ Bell funds. None of these include the Woodford Equity Income Fund, or any other Woodford-managed funds:

Favourite funds list

The Woodford Equity Income Fund was removed from our Favourite funds list in September 2018. It was our opinion that the manager had strayed from the process that had brought previous success, and better funds were available to invest in. At the time, we contacted any holders of the fund to inform them of this change in our selection.

Ready-made portfolios

Our Ready-made portfolios are made up only from holdings chosen for our Favourite funds list. As we launched the Ready-made portfolios in December 2018, the Woodford Equity Income Fund or any other Woodford-managed fund have not been included.

AJ Bell funds

Our AJ Bell funds are managed by our team of experts using passive-based funds known as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). As ETFs trade on stock exchanges and work in a similar way to investment trusts, they’re not required to return money to investors when redemptions are made. This removes the risk of experiencing a ‘Woodford-type’ situation within our funds.

[lomax99] 08/6/2019 14:46

HL was on a 'racier' rating before Mr Lansdown offloaded c. £170m at c £22.80.From there HL has lost c. £1.6bn, 15% of it's market cap down to the current share price of £19.36.HL's clients money in all Woodford funds at the end of March was c £2.2bn, just 2.2% of the c £99bn HL holds on behalf of all clients on it's platform. HL is waving it's fee whilst that particular Woodford fund is suspended, foregoing a fee of c £16m PA (pro-rata).IMO the fall is overdone, the dip has provided an opportunity to top-up, I added at c. £19.00, and will add further if it drops much lower.

[ochs] 08/6/2019 12:02

Indeed, that last para was strange based on the rest of the article! I suspect the story is true though and has been leaked so as to provide a fall guy. HL may RNS it on Monday morning, although as he's not a PLC director they may not need to.

I did think when he sold all those shares recently that he was likely to be planning a retirement soonish. Additionally succession planning has been going on for a few months - this lady was appointed from Morning Star as "Head of Investment Analysis" in April 2019

[lomax99] 08/6/2019 10:43

I am not aware that HL have made a formal announcement? It looks like headline grabbing by the FT. Right at the end of their piece they even state that he says he has no immediate plans to retire.

[ochs] 08/6/2019 10:21

Dampier sold a lot of shares a few weeks ago, so retirement was always likely fairly soon, seeing as he's 62 (and already very well off!) Having said that they've probably brought the announcement forward due to the Woodford thing and allowed him to take the fall rather than Gardhouse (who probably should have done).

HL's year end is 30 June, so I'm sure Mr D will still want to pick up his healthy bonus before moving on!

[growthpotential] 07/6/2019 23:24

Any thoughts on Dampier?

[montyhedge] 07/6/2019 15:53

soulsauce
The Share Centre in my personally experience takes some beating and cheaper, lol.

[soulsauce] 07/6/2019 13:28

Agreed gettingrich.

[gettingrichslow] 07/6/2019 13:05

soulsauce, yes and the other thing they are really good at is targeting people to switch to them with various incentives to do so. They are pretty relentless at this and have some very persuasive and slick messaging which hasn't changed at all in the last 7 years or so because it works!