Stephen Lansdown cuts HL stake to 7% - reports
Offloads £160m stake
Hargreaves Lansdown co-founder Stephen Lansdown has further cut his stake in the investment services company to just 7% after a Guernsey-based company in his name dumped £160m of shares in an accelerated offering through Barclays, according to reports.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Lansdown who has sold more than £438m of HL stock over the past five years, explained the sale was made to support other existing investments and to allow for new ones.
Lansdown said: "Markets are defying a little bit of gravity at the moment, so I thought if I could see the opportunity to take some off it the table I would - to spread the risk.
"We are not out of the woods yet and will not be for a long time, and you need to keep your powder dry to support what you've got and to take advantage of opportunities. It's all about positioning.
"It is good financial planning. You don't want to have all your eggs in one basket."
HL shares are down 14.3% since Wednesday and 28% year-to-date.
HL declined to comment.
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