There is another link with Hargreaves Lansdown, as the platform’s co-founder Peter Hargreaves previously revealed to FTAdviser that he personally has been invested in a Lindsell Train fund for many years.
And the affection was mutual; Lindsell Train funds are actually the second largest shareholder in Hargreaves Lansdown, owning 13 per cent of the business behind only Peter Hargreaves himself.
Not that it has been one of his shrewder investments; Hargreaves Lansdown shares are down 59 per cent in the past five years, while the Lindsell Train UK Equity fund has returned 26 per cent.
In fact, Hargreaves Lansdown removed both Lindsell Train funds from its favoured fund list in order to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest, but that was years after the funds first went on the list, and presumably after Hargreaves clients had invested in the fund at the discounted price.
Which all makes the events of this week somewhat baffling.
Hargreaves is not commenting further on the statement, so perhaps this is the end of the story, but it could make the next investor relations call between Hargreaves Lansdown’s representative and its second largest shareholder rather awkward.
Whether it will prompt any sort of outflows from Lindsell Train, given where the performance is improving, is another matter.
David Thorpe is investment editor at FTAdviser
