Investments
We offer a huge range of investment solutions to satisfy all risk profiles, complemented by a high degree of flexibility:
- Members may invest in the default strategy and self-select funds simultaneously
- All self-select funds come with a pre-packaged lifestyle profile
- Members may design their own personalised lifestyle profile
- Members have access to a range of income funds, and can take natural yield rather than selling units to generate income
For a deeper dive:
Our investment architecture
Default arrangement
Growth stage HL Growth Fund (ISIN: GB00BL6L0369)
The HL Growth Fund aims to grow your investment over any 10-year period. The fund also aims to maintain a level of risk ranging between 80% and 90% of the global stock market’s volatility, as represented by the MSCI All Countries World Index (GBP Total Return, Net). The Fund’s volatility is assessed at least monthly on a forward-looking basis but may not remain within the risk range. It could be higher or lower, for example during extreme market conditions. We believe the risk level for this fund strikes the right balance between providing investors with an attractive level of long-term growth, whilst also remaining appropriate for members of different ages and of risk profiles within the growth phase. To see more details about the fund, including a detailed up to date asset allocation and performance, download the latest HL Growth Fund factsheet. Management of the fund on a day-to-day basis is delegated to Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). LGIM constructs the portfolio to our specification, using their Future World building blocks where possible. We aim to integrate ESG as consistently and meaningfully as possible, and as a result 98% of the HL Growth Fund is invested in ESG integrated underlying funds. The fund managers use a combination of exclusions, tilts and net zero optimisation to implement ESG into the investment process. Assets are also subject to a robust stewardship and engagement programme. We have a dedicated ESG Guide which explains in detail how we integrate ESG into the default fund, as well as providing detail on engagement activity, carbon intensity and net zero alignment. For more information, please see our HL Growth Fund ESG Guide. The Default fund management charge is fixed at 0.10%. The HL Growth Fund is managed by our sister company Hargreaves Lansdown Fund Managers Ltd.
De-risking into retirement BlackRock MyMap 4 (ISIN: GB00BFK3N043)
Lifestyling starts 10 years before a member’s retirement age and members have the option to turn this on or off at any point. We use the BlackRock MyMap 4 fund as the de-risking fund. The switching process is proportional and ensures 100% of a member’s assets are in the de-risking fund by the time they reach their retirement age.
BlackRock use a strategic asset allocation as the starting point for the MyMap 4 Fund, which is built according to BlackRock's in-house capital market assumptions. The BlackRock MyMap 4 fund uses a relatively adventurous approach compared to a traditional lifestyle strategy. This approach maintains the prospect of above-inflation growth for members after they reach retirement age. Flexible retirement choices are now the most common amongst our membership, so preserving the real value of a member’s drawdown fund is of the highest importance. HL has also selected the BlackRock MyMap 4 fund as an investment solution for our Investment Pathways suite, for those who do not intend to access their money within 5 years. Members can choose an alternative lifestyling fund if they prefer. Lifestyling applies to all mutual funds in a member’s account but doesn’t impact any cash or equities. For more information about the fund, please download the BlackRock MyMap 4 factsheet. For further about lifestyling, download our Lifestyling guide.
HL Starter Funds
The HL Starter Funds are here to help members on their investing journey. They’re three simple investment ideas based on a cautious, balanced or adventurous attitude to risk. The HL Starter Funds can be used alongside - or instead of – the default fund.
HL Multi-Index
Cautious
(ISIN: GB00BQVVWH47)
The fund mainly invests in a range of bonds, and usually holds around a third of its assets in global company shares.
HL Multi-Index
Balanced
(ISIN: GB00BQ2MH935)
The fund typically invests a little over half of its overall allocation into global company shares, including some in higher risk emerging market shares. The remainder is invested into a mix of different types of bonds.
HL Multi-Index
Adventurous
(ISIN: GB00BQ3Q5C30)
The fund targets a 100% allocation to the stock market. But it’s different to tracking the global stock market because our experts select the weightings between the UK, other developed countries and higher-risk emerging markets based on our strategic outlook for each asset class.
Wealth Shortlist
The Wealth Shortlist features funds selected by our analysts for their long-term performance potential. The Shortlist condenses our large fund range into a more digestible group of our favourite funds. The Wealth Shortlist is for people who like to choose their own funds and can help provide the building blocks for a well-diversified portfolio.
Wider investment options
Members can choose shares from major stock exchanges, investment trusts, exchange-traded funds and more. We offer free fund dealing, low-cost income reinvestment and online share dealing. Explore the full range of funds, shares, investment trusts, exchange traded funds (ETFs), bonds and gilts.
Investing responsibly
We understand responsible investment is very important to our members and our Responsible Investment Hub provides a list of funds on our platform that we feel will result in a positive, measurable impact on the environment and society.
Our website also contains a list of all our Sharia-Compliant Funds. All our investment solutions adhere to our ESG and Stewardship Policies, which can be viewed via the links below:
In addition, we’ve published a number of ESG-related reports and disclosures, which can be viewed here:
Investment governance
Investment analysis and oversight within Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management (HLAM) consists of several layers. Before any fund is added to a HLAM solution – such as the Wealth Shortlist or the Starter Funds – the fund and fund management group are subject to rigorous research by a team of expert analysts, and subject to due diligence checks from the Product Governance team. Funds under our analyst’s coverage are referred to as being in the “Fund Bank”. Our analyst research process takes account of qualitative and quantitative factors:
Quantitative analysis:
- A manager or team’s investing track record versus a relevant index
- How have they achieved any outperformance – is it stock-picking skill or asset allocation?
- Performance through market cycles – has the fund performed as expected given the manager’s philosophy, style and process?
- The liquidity of a fund and its underlying holdings, its size and unitholder base
Qualitative analysis:
- How is the portfolio constructed and is the manager consistently following their process?
- How heavy is the manager’s workload and what are their secondary responsibilities?
- How good is the team around the manager?
- Strength and quality of the parent company
- Remuneration/incentivisation – does it align with investor interests?
- Approach to ESG integration