Hargreaves Lansdown Advisory Services has received chartered status from the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Some 60 per cent of the platform’s 75 advisers currently hold chartered status, alongside 20,000 other planners in the UK.
The requirements from the CII include that one board member must be a chartered financial planner, and the entire board and 90 per cent of the company’s customer-facing staff must be CII members.
It also means Hargreaves Landsdown’s advice arm must provide a full financial planning service and a chartered financial planner must be available to customers.
Richard Caldicott, financial advice director at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The criteria set is challenging for any firm and achieving corporate chartered status is testament to the strength of our client-first culture, our principle that clients only pay for the advice they need and the exceptional calibre of our advisers.”
Hargreaves Lansdown’s aim is to provide one-off advice which helps clients for as long as possible, with 70 per cent of its advice given on a one-off basis.
A spokesperson from the Personal Finance Society said it was proud to welcome the company.
“Corporate chartered status is a key instrument in building public trust through our increasingly united profession," the spokesperson said.
The platform announced last year that it will pilot a financial coaching programme for its clients across savings, investments and retirement planning.
In February 2022, Hargreaves Lansdown said although a full-advice model is not right or accessible for everyone, many clients would benefit from “additional guidance” and support, including when choosing their first investments or moving towards retirement.
“This can be done by combining the expertise of human-led advice/guidance augmented by technology and data for those clients that decide they need the next level of support,” the company said.
Hargreaves Lansdown announced last year that it will move into the advice sector, building a new “omni-channel” advice proposition that aims to bridge the gap between direct-to-consumer services and advice.
sally.hickey@ft.com
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