If you'd invested in: Hargreaves Lansdown and Alfa Financial Software
Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s biggest investment platform, has seen profits rise, while Alfa Financial Software has suffered two profit warnings and share-price slump.

If only...
Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL) is the UK's biggest investment platform, with over £90bn under management on behalf of more than a million customers. Over 130,000 new customers brought in net new business of £7.6bn in the year to 30 June, driving pre-tax profits up by 10% to £292m. Some of the increase is due to transfers relating to what Hargreaves termed "operational issues on competitor platforms": the fallout from Barclays Stockbrokers' botched new broker service Smart Investor. Hargreaves Lansdown's share price has risen by almost 60% in a year.
Be glad you didn't...
Alfa Financial Software (LSE: ALFA) provides software for the financial services industry and made its debut on the London stockmarket in May 2017. Shares initially jumped by 32% and by the end of 2017 the company's value had risen to £1.6bn. But 2018 has not been kind to Alfa. The strength of the US dollar and delays in some major contracts led to a fall in sales. And despite what the CEO calls a "healthy pipeline", two profit warnings did further damage to the share price, which is now down by 70% in the last year. Alfa could fall out of the FTSE 250.
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Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.
Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.
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