Hargreaves Lansdown has added 13 index tracker funds to its list of recommended funds for the first time, as it looks to respond to the flurry of demand for passive investments.
Today (1 September) the wealth manager has moved the tracker funds across from its core list of favourite passive funds to the Wealth 150 Plus, as it looks to make it easier for investors to compare both active and passive funds across each sector.
Mark Dampier, head of research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “While the industry ties itself in knots arguing the toss for active or passive, our clients are using both as part of a common sense approach to portfolio construction.
The Wealth 150 Plus funds are a subset of Hargreaves Lansdown’s broader Wealth 150 list of recommended funds. Launched in 2003, the Wealth 150 list is a selection of actively managed funds and index tracker funds available to UK investors.
According to Hargreaves, the proportion of passive DIY investors has almost doubled in five years, and Mr Dampier said investors simply want the most appropriate fund for the market they are investing in, whether that is active or passive.
“Private investors are pragmatic, not dogmatic,” he said, adding he expects a continued polarisation of the UK funds market, with money flowing into high quality active funds at one end of the spectrum, and low cost passives at the other.
“The middle ground, inhabited by closet trackers, will become increasingly squeezed out of the picture, as investors continue to vote with their feet, and seek out real value in both active and passive funds.”
The 13 tracker funds now on the list include:
ANNUAL FUND CHARGES | |||
Standard ongoing charge | HL saving | Net ongoing charge (for HL clients) | |
BlackRock Corporate Bond Tracker | 0.17% | 29% | 0.12% |
BlackRock Emerging Markets EquityTracker | 0.25% | 8% | 0.23% |
BlackRock Japan Equity Tracker | 0.16% | 31% | 0.11% |
BlackRock Pacific ex Japan Equity Tracker | 0.19% | 26% | 0.14% |
HSBC FTSE 250 Index | 0.18% | 56% | 0.08% |
Legal & General All Stocks Gilt Index Trust | 0.15% | 33% | 0.10% |
Legal & General All Stocks Index Linked Gilt | 0.15% | 33% | 0.10% |
Legal & General European Index | 0.12% | 25% | 0.09% |
Legal & General Global Inflation Lnk Bond Indx | 0.27% | 37% | 0.17% |
Legal & General International Index Trust | 0.13% | 38% | 0.08% |
Legal & General UK 100 Index | 0.10% | 40% | 0.06% |
Legal & General UK Index | 0.10% | 40% | 0.06% |
Legal & General US Index | 0.10% | 40% | 0.06% |
Average HL saving | 32% | ||
katherine.denham@ft.com
