Hargreaves Lansdown plc is a financial service company based in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 that sells funds and shares and related products via its website and through the post to retail investors in the United Kingdom. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange

London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index

FTSE 100 Index

The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....

.

History

The company was founded in 1981 by Peter Hargreaves

Peter Hargreaves

Peter Kendal Hargreaves is co-founder with Stephen Lansdown of Hargreaves Lansdown, one of the United Kingdom's largest financial services businesses.-Career:...

 and Stephen Lansdown

Stephen Lansdown

Stephen Philip Lansdown is co-founder with Peter Hargreaves of UK financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown and majority shareholder of Bristol City Football Club.-Career:...

 who initially traded from a bedroom.

The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange

London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

 in May 2007, with the company's two founders then holding combined stakes equivalent to 80% in the business. In April 2009, Lansdown sold a stake of 4.7% for a sum of £47.2million to put towards the cost of building Bristol City FC's new football stadium

Bristol City Stadium

The Bristol City Stadium is a proposed football stadium, announced in November 2007, which would be built on land at Ashton Vale, Bristol, England, and would replace Ashton Gate stadium as the home stadium of Bristol City F.C...

, reducing his stake to 22.9%.

Operations

The company mainly operates under the Vantage brand. Available products under this brand include ISA

Individual Savings Account

An Individual Savings Account is a financial product available to residents in the United Kingdom. It is designed for the purpose of investment and savings with a favourable tax status. Money is contributed from after tax income and not subjected to income tax or capital gains tax within a holding...

, SIPP

Self-invested personal pension

A Self-Invested Personal Pension is the name given to the type of UK-government-approved personal pension scheme, which allows individuals to make their own investment decisions from the full range of investments approved by HM Revenue & Customs ....

, PEP

Personal Equity Plan

In the United Kingdom a Personal Equity Plan was a form of tax-privileged investment account. They were introduced by Nigel Lawson in the 1986 budget for Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government to encourage equity ownership among the wider population. PEPs were allowed to contain collective...

, and funds and share accounts.

The company also operates four multi-manager unit trust

Unit trust

A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed.Found in Australia, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and the UK, unit trusts offer access to a wide range of securities....

s each of which in turn own a share in a number of underlying funds.