With its Woodford woes behind it, now could be the time to buy Hargreaves Lansdown shares

Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s leading investment platform, has had a tough three years, but the shares look cheap

Neil Woodford
Backing Neil Woodford has tarnished HL’s reputation
(Image credit: © Jeff Gilbert / Alamy)

In a Royal Albert Hall speech to the Institute of Directors just over 30 years ago, Gerald Ratner – then head of the world’s biggest jewellery group, with more than 2,500 stores – made a few ill-advised jokes about some of his firm’s products. He even called one “total crap”. The net result was a dramatic plunge in the group’s share price, a slump in sales and the departure of Ratner the next year.

The consistent backing for one-time superstar fund manager Neil Woodford by Bristol-based investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL.) didn’t appear likely to rival Ratner’s faux pas. Quite the contrary: Woodford had forged a reputation as a top UK stockpicker during his 25 years at Invesco Perpetual. When he left in April 2014 to set up his own operation, Woodford Investment Management, it was hard to see what could go wrong.

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Contributor

David J. Stevenson has a long history of investment analysis, becoming a UK fund manager for Oppenheimer UK back in 1983.

Switching his focus across the English Channel in 1986, he managed European funds over many years for Hill Samuel, Cigna UK and Lloyds Bank subsidiary IAI International.

Sandwiched within those roles was a three-year spell as Head of Research at stockbroker BNP Securities.

David became Associate Editor of MoneyWeek in 2008. In 2012, he took over the reins at The Fleet Street Letter, the UK’s longest-running investment bulletin. And in 2015 he became Investment Director of the Strategic Intelligence UK newsletter.

Eschewing retirement prospects, he once again contributes regularly to MoneyWeek.

Having lived through several stock market booms and busts, David is always alert for financial markets’ capacity to spring ‘surprises’.

Investment style-wise, he prefers value stocks to growth companies and is a confirmed contrarian thinker.