Hargreaves to launch Portfolio Plus service; CEO hits out at FSCS 'madness'

Hargreaves Lansdown unveiled plans for a new non-advised service in its latest trading update, but its shares fell as it revealed rising costs including an FSCS levy of £4.6m

The platform's shares fell 3.8% to £12.31 as it reported an elevated FSCS levy and a £3.5m one-off cost of bringing foreign exchange trading income in-house. The new FSCS levy is estimated to be £4.6m, more than double the amount paid by the group last year, and will be absorbed in the next set of results at the end of June. Hargreaves Lansdown's chief executive Ian Gorham (pictured) has hit out at the FSCS for the lack of visibility and control it gives firms over levies, saying the current amount relates to the failures of the complex SIPP market, in which Hargreaves does not partic...