Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, has switched £50m worth of his holding in the company to a charitable foundation.
A notification of major holdings, published this morning, showed Mr Hargreaves sold the shares earlier this week (January 29), two days before the firm released its results for the six months to December 31.
A spokesperson for the platform said the shares had been transferred to Mr Hargreaves' newly-established Hargreaves Foundation, which aims to "transform young lives through sports and education".
Mr Hargreaves still owns 31.6 per cent of the issued shares, worth about £2.6bn, making him the largest individual shareholder.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s results, published this morning (January 31), showed the investment platform had weathered the storm of the Neil Woodford saga, with 500,000 clients joining the service after June 30 last year.
Its total assets under administration grew 22 per cent in the six months to December 31, reaching £105bn, while its revenue was up 9 per cent to £258m and its profit before tax bumped up 12 per cent to £171m.
However the amount of new business dropped by 9 per cent year-on-year however, receiving £2.3bn in the second half of 2019 compared with £2.5bn for the same period in 2018.
The results caused the company’s share price to drop nearly 7 per cent, from £18.46 this morning to £17.49 as at 11.40am.
Mr Hargreaves has also been a solid supporter of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, branding it a “fantastic stimulus” for the country.
Today (January 31) marks the day the UK is set to leave the EU after three and a half years of political uncertainty.
Meanwhile Hargreaves Lansdown's results showed the firm was planning to shake up the way it processed its Wealth 60 best buylist, which has been under fire recently over its connection with the Woodford Equity Income saga.
The investment platform said it would be making changes to improve the transparency of the process by adding more detail and a new structure to its research notes.
It will add a new functionality on its platform to help those who want to follow a “more independent path”, the firm stated in its results.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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This story has been updated to reflect the fact that shares were moved to Mr Hargreaves' foundation.
