Hargreaves Lansdown is launching four multi-asset model portfolios using passive funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed by BlackRock.
The new passive range follows last year’s launch of HL Managed – a suite of model portfolios using active funds as building blocks.
The investment platform is offering a range of cheaper passively-managed solutions in response to the popularity of trackers amongst its clients, said chief investment officer Toby Vaughan. In the past two years alone, the number of Hargreaves Lansdown clients using passive funds as their main investment has increased by 80%.
“Our new ready-made multi-index investment portfolios are an easy cost-efficient solution for those looking to get started with investing,” he added.
The HL Multi-Index portfolios come in four flavours. The adventurous portfolio will have 100% in equities, while the moderately adventurous offering will have an 80/20 split between stocks and bonds, with 70-90% of equity market volatility.
Balanced investors will have 60% in equities and the rest in bonds, with 50-70% of stock market risk. Finally, HL Multi-Index Cautious will have just 30% in equities and 70% in bonds with 30-50% of the volatility of global equity markets.
Within that framework, Hargreaves Lansdown fund managers David White and Ziad Gergi will make country and sector allocation decisions, which they will implement using BlackRock’s passive funds and ETFs.
White is the lead manager for the new multi-index fund range as well as for HL Growth, the platform’s workplace default fund. He joined Hargreaves Lansdown in 2022 from Nationwide and before that ran institutional multi-manager portfolios at BMO Global Asset Management.
Gergi joined Hargreaves Lansdown last year from Barclays Wealth, where he was head of multi-asset portfolio managers. He is a co-manager of HL Multi-Manager Balanced Managed Trust, the HL Multi-Manager Equity & Bond Trust and the HL Multi-Manager Special Situations Trust.
The new multi-index model portfolios will start trading on 6 June 2024 and Hargreaves Lansdown is offering a £1 per unit fixed offer launch price until 11.59pm on 5 June 2024. The minimum investment is a £100 lump sum or £25 monthly commitment. The ongoing charges figure is capped at 0.3% but Hargreaves Lansdown charges its platform fees on top, which go up to 0.45%.