Choosing the right investment platform is essential to grow your wealth.
You must find one that meets your budget, needs, and knowledge.
With plenty of platforms available, it can be confusing to choose one.
In this review, I will compare two popular investment platforms: Moneyfarm vs Hargreaves Lansdown.
There will be a comparison breakdown of their costs, features, products, and customer service review.
Hopefully, by the end of this article, you can decide which platform is best for you.
Table of Contents
About Moneyfarm
Moneyfarm is one of Europe’s largest digital wealth management companies, with over £2.6 billion invested and 100,000 active clients.
The company was founded in 2011 by Giovanni Dapra and Paolo Galvani to help make investing accessible through technology.
The company won many awards, including Best Digital ISA and Customer Service by Boring Money in 2021, Best Direct SIPP by YourMoney.co.uk in 2019, and Innovation of the Year at the British Bank Awards in 2018.
Their investors include Allianz Global Investors, M&G, Cabot Square Capital, United Ventures, and Poste Italiane.
Moneyfarm offers Stocks and Shares ISA, Private Pension, General Investment Accounts, Junior ISA, and Socially Responsible Portfolios.
With Moneyfarm, you can get a customised portfolio according to your risk preference, experience, and capacity for loss by filling in their questionnaire.
The platform also provides a personal investment consultant to help you plan your investment moves, and you can easily book your session online through their website.
About Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown has over 40 years of experience in financial management.
Today, the company is the largest direct-to-investor investment platform.
It holds more than £120 billion in investment with over 1.7 million clients. It’s listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a part of the FTSE 100 index.
The platform allows clients to have different types of investments in one place, with products that include Stocks and Shares ISA, Junior ISA, Lifetime ISA, SIPP, drawdown, cash savings, fund dealing, and share dealing accounts.
Like Moneyfarm, Hargreaves Lansdown provides financial advisory, stockbroking, annuity, broking services, and advice to companies for group pension schemes.
The company has over 3,000 funds to choose from, including responsible investing, which are investments that benefit society and clients.
With their experience and reputation, there’s no doubt that your funds will be in the right hands with Hargreaves and Lansdown.
Read my complete Hargreaves Lansdown review.
Cost Comparison Between Moneyfarm vs Hargreaves Lansdown
Cost is one of the most important factors when choosing a platform to invest with.
The right platform will create wealth and not burden you with fees that can drive your investment values down.
In this section, I will compare the costs of maintaining an account with Moneyfarm and Hargreaves Lansdown.
Here is a breakdown of Moneyfarm’s cost structure:
- Moneyfarm Management Fees: They have a sliding scale for their management fee. The management fee is 0.75% for investments valued at £500 – £10,000, 0.7% for £10,000 – £20,000, 0.65% for £20,000 – £50,000, 0.6% for £50,000 – £100,000, 0.45% from £100,000 – £250,000, 0.4% from £250,000 – £500,000, and 0.35% from £250,000 – £500,000.
- Underlying Fund Fee: The average fund fee is 0.2%.
- Market Spread: Cost of transaction with an annual average of 0.1%
Here is a breakdown of Hargreaves Lansdown’s cost structure:
- ISA Management Fees: Hargreaves Lansdown also has a tiered system for their fees; it’s 0.45% for £0 – £250,000, 0.25% for £250,000 – £1 million, 0.1% for £1 million – £2 million, and free for funds over £2 million.
- ISA Share Dealing Fees: The share dealing fees will depend on the number of deals you completed in the previous month, which are £11.95 per deal for 0-9 deals, £8.95 per deal for 10-19 deals, and £5.95 for 20+ deals.
- SIPP Management Fees: The management fees are 0.45% for £0 – £250,000, 0.25% for £250,000 – £1 million, 0.1% for £1 million – £2 million, and free of charge for funds over £2 million.
- Non-Trading Fees: You may see other charges in your account, such as government tax and levies, foreign exchange charges for overseas deals, phone and post-dealing charges, regular equity savings, reinvestment of income charges, and automatic reinvestment charges for share income.
The fees at Moneyfarm are much simpler and higher because the platform does most of the investing for you, which could be ideal for beginners.
Hargreaves Lansdown has a lower management fee than Moneyfarm. But the platform has a more complicated structure due to its more extensive product range, which could add up if you’re not careful.
Better cost: Hargreaves Lansdown
Product Range of Moneyfarm & Hargreaves Lansdown
The product range of a platform can determine its suitability, so you should find one that can fulfill your financial goals.
Here is the comparison of the product range at Moneyfarm and Hargreaves Lansdown.
Moneyfarm product range:
- Account types: Stocks and Shares ISA, SIPP, and General Investment Account.
- Portfolio choices: The platform provides seven different choices with different risk levels. You can also choose a socially responsible portfolio at Moneyfarm.
- Investment consultant: Moneyfarm provides a dedicated investment consultant for clients you can reach by phone or chat.
Hargreaves Lansdown product range:
- Investment products: Stocks and Shares ISA, Lifetime ISA, Junior ISA, Investment Trusts, Fund and Share Accounts, and Wealth Management.
- Pension Product: SIPP, Junior SIPP, Annuities, Pension Drawdown.
- Savings Product: Active Savings Account includes ten savings accounts from partner banks so you can move funds between providers to get the best rates for your cash savings.
- For advanced traders: Venture Capital Trusts (VCT), Spread Betting, and CFD Trading Accounts.
- Investment advice: The platform provides investment advice at a cost between 1% and 2% of the portfolio.
Overall, Hargreaves Lansdown provides a more extensive product range than Moneyfarm.
Additional products available at Hargreaves Lansdown that are not within the scope of Moneyfarm are the Active Savings Account and advanced traders products.
Better product range: Hargreaves Lansdown
Research Service & Tools
Research tools can help you simplify and speed up the process to get real-time updates on companies and industries that matter to your funds.
With these tools, you can make informed decisions and lessen the risk of losing money.
Because Moneyfarm tends to cater more to passive investors, their research tools are limited.
But they still have an insight section with topics on financial markets, investment products, behavioural economics, financial planning, and investing 101.
There’s also a section with eBooks on retirement, fintech, and investing.
One beneficial tool that Moneyfarm has is the pension calculator, where you can calculate how much you can save to reach a retirement goal.
Hargreaves Lansdown provides tools to help investors at all levels, including investment ideas, stock market reports, company data, fund calculators, and market news.
They also offer a free introductory call for new customers and a free demo account to familiarise you with the platform.
There are also regular webinars to deepen your knowledge of investing and risk management tools that protect investors in case of a market downturn.
Better research feature: Hargreaves Lansdown
Customer Service Comparison
I compared Moneyfarm and Hargreaves Lansdown customer service by contacting them.
The Moneyfarm support team answered my query within 5 minutes on their live chat with appropriate answers.
Because Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t have a live chat option, I contacted their support team via phone. I had to wait a few minutes, but the service was excellent.
I also checked their Trustpilot reviews to find other customers’ experiences with both platforms.
Hargreaves Lansdown has a much higher rate at 4.1 out of 5 compared to Moneyfarm’s 3.7 out of 5.
Most complaints on Moneyfarm are due to underperforming funds, while complaints on Hargreaves Lansdown were due to system errors.
Better customer service: Hargreaves Lansdown
Alternatives to Moneyfarm & Hargreaves Lansdown
If you’re still looking for other options to grow your money, here are alternatives to Moneyfarm and Hargreaves Lansdown:
- Interactive Investor: This platform might suit you if you’re an active trader. Traders with more significant funds will also benefit from the flat fee. Interactive Investor has a wide range of investment options, and it’s available via mobile app or website. Another plus point of Interactive Investor is their helpful customer service. Read my full Interactive Investor review.
- Wealthify: The platform has a lower minimum investment amount at £1 starting fund, making it much more accessible for beginners and people who prefer to invest in smaller amounts. Wealthify also offers the option to let the experts handle your investments for you. You can also access ethical investment if you pay a higher fee.
- AJ Bell: A low-cost option to invest, especially if you have considerable funds. AJ Bell also has plenty of investment products, including green companies for those interested in ethical investing. But one drawback about AJ Bell is they charge £1.50 for fund switching, which is not desirable for active traders. Read my full AJ Bell review.
- Nutmeg: Nutmeg offers an excellent financial management service that lets you take a hands-off approach to investing. The platform suits beginners, but you must prepare a minimum starting fund of £500. The platform offers a wide range of investment products but lacks socially responsible options. So, if that’s something you’re looking for, this may not be your platform. Read my full Nutmeg review.
Pros & Cons of Each
Moneyfarm
Pros:
- Great for beginners
- Free investment advisor
- Socially responsible option
Cons:
- Minimum investment fund £500
- Limited research tools
Hargreaves Lansdown
Pros:
- Wide range of products
- Vast information available in the research feature
- Extensive experience in managing funds
Cons:
- Complicated cost structure, which could lead to hidden fees
Moneyfarm vs Hargreaves Lansdown – Final Thoughts
After looking at their cost structure, product range, research tools, and customer service reviews, Hargreaves Lansdown is the superior platform for investing.
I think that Moneyfarm and Hargreaves Lansdown have different target markets in mind.
The simplified version of investing at Moneyfarm might be more suitable for those not wanting to be overwhelmed with information and costs.
In contrast, Hargreaves Lansdown caters to those who want to make more informed decisions and take an active role in their investments.