Fidelity and Hargreaves Lansdown are two of the largest investment platforms in the UK. Both providers let you invest in shares and have ready made portfolios. This means that both providers can be suitable for both beginner investors and those with more experience.
Many more people are getting into investing, according to Finder research, so we’ve gone deep on analysing which platforms could suit different types of investors. If these two platforms are on your shortlist, we’ve compared both providers head-to-head to find out how they compare, from the products they offer to their costs.
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| Finder score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Customer satisfaction survey | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Stocks and shares ISA available? | ||
| FSCS protected? | ||
| Fees score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Both Fidelity and Hargreaves Lansdown let you invest in individual savings accounts (ISAs), which let you invest up to £20,000 in the 2024/2025 tax year.
Both providers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which mean that you’re covered by up to £85,000 if either provider were to go bust. This doesn’t protect your investments if they go down in value.
We carried out a customer satisfaction survey in December 2020. Hargreaves Lansdown’s customers praised its excellent customer service and thought that there was good guidance and research to help you find the right investments.
Some customers felt that the fees were too high.
Fidelity’s customers liked its great service and found it easy to use. Some customers thought the charges were reasonable, while others felt that they could trade cheaper with other providers.
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| General investment account | ||
| Stocks and shares ISA | ||
| Lifetime ISA (LISA) | ||
| Pension (SIPP) | ||
| Junior ISA (JISA)/Junior SIPP (JSIPP) | ||
| Interest on cash balances | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Both of these providers have ISAs and pension products available. Fidelity doesn’t have a lifetime ISA (LISA) available, but Hargreaves Lansdown does. This lets you invest up to £4,000 per year for your first home or for retirement. The government contributes £1,000 for every £4,000 invested.
Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
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| Exchanges covered score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| UK - London Stock Exchange | ||
| US - NASDAQ | ||
| US - New York Stock Exchange | ||
| Canada - Toronto Stock Exchange | ||
| Japan - Japan Exchange Group | ||
| Euronext | ||
| Germany - Deutsche Börse | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
The main difference between these providers is that Fidelity only lets you invest in shares on the London Stock Exchange – you can’t buy any international shares. In contrast, Hargreaves Lansdown lets you invest in shares all around the world, including US shares, Canadian shares and European shares.
Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
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| Financial instruments score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Shares | ||
| ETFs | ||
| Bonds | ||
| Funds | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
In terms of the instruments you can invest in, both providers let you invest in shares, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and funds. Fidelity doesn’t let you buy bonds, but Hargreaves Lansdown does.
Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
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| Portfolios rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Risk assessment quiz | ||
| Number of portfolios on offer | 5 | 6 |
| Ethical portfolios on offer | ||
| Managed portfolios on offer | ||
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Beginner investors may prefer to choose a ready made portfolio. These are collections of investments that have been put together by experts. Ready made portfolios are designed to fit different risk profiles, which means you can choose one that suits you the most.
Fidelity has a risk assessment quiz, which means that it asks you a set of questions about your investment goals, your expected timescales and how you feel about risk to help you choose a portfolio that matches you. Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t have this option available.
These providers have a similar number of portfolios on offer – with Fidelity having 5 and Hargreaves Lansdown having 6 available. The portfolios are managed, which means that experts keep track of what they invest in. Neither provider has ethical portfolios on offer.
Winner: Fidelity
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| Fees score | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Minimum deposit | £0 (at least one share) | £1 |
| Standard trading fee | £10 | £11.95 |
| Best trading fee | £10 | £5.95 |
| Foreign exchange fee | 0.75% | 1% |
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Both Fidelity and Hargreaves Lansdown charge based on how much you invest with them, in the case of Fidelity, you can get a cheaper charge if you have a regular payment plan set up.
With Fidelity, you’ll pay a flat fee of £45 per year if you have less than £7,500 invested, or 0.35% if you have a regular savings plan of £50 or over. If you have investments between £7,500 and £250,000 then you pay 0.35%. For investments over £250,000 then the charge is 0.2%. Investments over £1 million have no service charge.
Hargreaves Lansdown charges 0.45% on investments up to £250,000, 0.25% on investments between £250,000 and £1 million, 0.1% on investments between £1 million and £2 million and investments over £2 million are free.
Many investment platforms have calculators that help you work out the costs of your investments based on a figure you enter. Neither Fidelity nor Hargreaves Lansdown have this, so we did it with a calculator, pen and paper using the costs outlined above.
Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
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| Features rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Desktop or web access | ||
| iPhone app | ||
| Android app | ||
| In-app news and research | ||
| In-app top-up | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
In terms of the features on offer, both providers let you access your investments in your desktop browser and on Android and iPhone mobile apps. With both providers you’re able to access news and research in the app, as well as in-app top up.
Winner: Tie
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| Resources rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Guides | ||
| Videos and walkthroughs | ||
| Demo account | ||
| In-depth learning tools | ||
| Keep in mind | Capital at risk | Capital at risk |
| More Info | Go to site More Info |
Learning resources are useful for beginner investors that want to learn how it’s done. Both Fidelity and Hargreaves Lansdown have some good resources for learning about investments. You can access guides, videos and walkthroughs with both providers. Hargreaves Lansdown has a demo account which lets you invest virtual money risk free, which Fidelity does not offer. Fidelity does have some great in-depth learning resources.
Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
These platforms both offer plenty of options for your investments. They can work out more expensive than some of their competitors, but they tend to have additional features and excellent customer service to make up for it. You can access both platforms in your web browser, which is great if you prefer the bigger picture, and don’t fancy doing everything in a fiddly app.
Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
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