Hargreaves Lansdown sees client surge as private equity takeover nears, despite investment hesitancy

Hargreaves Lansdown has experienced a sharp increase in client growth, with 18,000 new clients in the last quarter as it edges closer to a private equity takeover.

In contrast to this positive trend, however, the flow of new assets into the platform has declined, registering fairly modest levels, as reported by City AM.

The investment platform which is based in Bristol, reported £500m in net new business, compared to £600m in the same quarter last year, pushing assets under administration for the firm to £157.3bn.

Ahead of the results, analysts had braced for a "relatively weak" quarter, highlighted by Peel Hunt's Stuart Duncan who cited ongoing "challenging" investor sentiment across the industry.

The release of third-quarter financial services reports in recent weeks has shown that concerns around