If you are looking for the best platform to invest your money with, Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity are two of the biggest players in the UK market. In this article we compare what they offer to investors, including their products and services, as well as the cost.
Hargreaves Lansdown vs Fidelity - which is better?
| Hargreaves Lansdown | Fidelity | |
| Minimum investment | £1 for a fund and share account
£100 for an ISA or SIPP (or a regular £25 per month) |
£1,000 or £25 per month for regular savings plan |
| Services | Invest in funds and shares
Wealth Shortlist Ready-made portfolios Foreign currency exchange Spread betting and CFDs |
Invest in funds and shares
Select 50 Select 50 Balanced fund Investment finder and Navigator Pension and retirement planning Wealth management for those with over £250,000 Fidelity Fundsnetwork for advisers |
| Products | Active Savings
Cash ISA Fund and share account ISA, General Investment Account, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, SIPP, Junior SIPP Ready-made personal pension (Coming soon) |
ISA, General Investment Account, SIPP, Junior ISA, Junior SIPP
|
| Fees (Platform charges) | Dealing charges (based on deals completed in previous month):
No charge for funds Charges below are for UK and overseas shares, investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, gilts and bonds. 0-9 deals - £11.95 10-19 deals - £8.95 20+ deals - £5.95 There's no charge for placing online deals within a Junior ISA. On the value of your portfolio between £0-£250,000 there is a 0.45% annual charge. Between £250,000-£1m - 0.25% per annum charge Between £1m-£2m - 0.10% per annum charge Over £2m - 0% per annum charge Additional underlying fund charges Reduced fee of 0.25% for Lifetime ISA (capped at £45 per year) No charge for Junior ISAs No charges for holding shares |
Dealing charges:
No charge for funds £7.50 per online deal on shares, exchange-traded funds and investment trusts £0-£24,999 - 0.35% if you have a regular savings plan or £7.50 per month if you don't £25,000-£250,000 - 0.35% £250,000-£1m - 0.20% £1m+ - 0.20% for first £1m, fee-free after that Additional underlying fund charges No charge for Junior ISAs No charge for Junior SIPPs |
| Customer reviews (Trustpilot) | 4.2/5.0 | 4.3/5.0 |
| Independent Platform reviews | Hargreaves Lansdown | Fidelity |
Hargreaves Lansdown vs Fidelity - services
At their core, Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity are quite different propositions. Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK largest's investment platform, but at its foundation is a financial advisory service. While it offers a great deal of choice, with a range of savings and investment options, including the capacity to invest in 4,000 funds, as well as shares, bonds, ETFs and investment trusts, it doesn't have the same scope as Fidelity.
While Hargreaves Lansdown has a handful of its own funds, as well as ready-made portfolios, Fidelity has a broader and more established range of funds and also has a separate platform, Fidelity Fundsnetwork, which is used by financial advisers. And while both companies offer retirement planning and pension options, Fidelity also administers company pensions.
The area where Hargreaves Lansdown has an advantage is with the tools and functionality on its site, particularly in terms of researching funds and shares. It also has four ready-made portfolios, which are particularly useful to those who are new to investing and require more guidance.
Hargreaves Lansdown vs Fidelity - products
Both Fidelity and Hargreaves Lansdown have a good variety of products available, with the ISAs, GIAs and SIPPs you would expect from such major players, but also JISAs and Junior SIPPs. The differentiators between the two are the active savings and cash ISA offered by Hargreaves Lansdown and, crucially, a Lifetime ISA (LISA), which Fidelity doesn't have.
If you are specifically interested in a LISA, there is lots more information in our article "Lifetime ISAs explained - are they the best way to save?"
Hargreaves Lansdown vs Fidelity - minimum investment
The minimum investment will depend on what type of account you wish to open. With Fidelity it is fairly simple, it requires a minimum lump sum investment of £1,000 or a regular monthly commitment of £25.
Hargreaves Lansdown has a minimum investment of £100 for an ISA or SIPP, although this too reduces to £25 per month for regular savers. Those wishing to open a fund and share account can do so with just £1.
Hargreaves Lansdown vs Fidelity - fees
Overall, Fidelity works out cheaper than Hargreaves Lansdown, with a platform fee of just 0.35% for investments up to £250,000 (capped at £90 for those with pots smaller than £25,000 who are on the regular savings plan), compared with 0.45% for Hargreaves Lansdown. Indeed, for those with investments between £250,000 to £1m, Fidelity is still marginally cheaper, charging 0.20% compared with 0.25% for its rival. It also beats its rival for investment amounts between £1m-£2m, charging 0% for everything over the £1m mark.
Hargreaves Lansdown's dealing fees start at £11.95 per deal, compared to £7.50 from Fidelity; however, those placing 20+ deals with Hargreaves Lansdown qualify for a fee reduction and will only pay £5.95 per deal.
It is worth noting, however, that while the cost is a major factor for many investors, you need to look at the whole proposition for both platforms to help you decide if you are willing to pay extra in order to access some of the features offered by Hargreaves Lansdown.
Hargreaves Lansdown vs Fidelity - customer reviews
According to independent review site Trustpilot, both Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity score highly with their customers, scoring over 4.2 and 4.3 out of 5 stars respectively. Just over half of respondents for each company rated them as "Excellent", with only around 15% claiming they were "bad". Hargreaves Lansdown is praised for its efficiency and good service, while Fidelity is rated for the tools and features it offers alongside its service proposition.
Summary - Hargreaves Lansdown vs Fidelity
Both Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity represent good options if you are looking for well-established companies with a wide range of products. The decision largely comes down to whether you are looking for the best value for money, in which case Fidelity is a strong contender, or if you want access to some additional products and the research capabilities and extra support offered by Hargreaves Lansdown.
