Nominations have been cast, a shortlist decided and the voting panel of YourMoney.com readers has completed the final step of a rigorous judging process.
There are 16 awards up for grabs for firms that have led the way in innovation, value and customer experience.
While the winners have been decided, the names of those who have topped each category will not be announced until 30 January.
The ceremony will take place on 14 March as part of the 27th YourMoney.com Personal Finance Awards, which will be held in the same month as the Oscars.
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YourMoney.com meets Hargreaves Lansdown
So, with awards fever in the air, we spoke to one of the companies that has shone in the previous three instalments of the YourMoney.com Investment Awards: Hargreaves Lansdown.
Last year, the investment platform picked up the award for Best Lifetime Investment ISA, following on from a successful 2023, when it scooped Best Investment ISA in the ‘Large Portfolio’ category.
Ahead of the eagerly anticipated winners’ announcement, YourMoney.com spoke to Malcolm Peacock, head of ISA and funds and share accounts at Hargreaves Lansdown, to discuss what awards mean to the investment firm’s customers.
What did it mean to win the Best Lifetime Investment ISA last year?
Winning the Best Lifetime Investment ISA last year was a proud moment for me and for Hargreaves Lansdown. Our mission is to build our clients’ confidence to save and invest, making it easy to do so and giving them a broad choice so they can do everything on one platform.
So it’s nice to see that we are making a difference in people’s lives and to get recognition from independent bodies. We believe we have developed a market-leading ISA offering, which provides choice and value to our clients.
First introduced in 1999, ISAs have become an essential and tax-efficient vehicle for people to grow their wealth. In the past five years, we’ve seen at Hargreaves Lansdown the number of clients in our Stock & Shares ISA grow by 50%, which is a tremendous success.
What values do you get from award wins and nominations?
Hargreaves Lansdown has been around for over 40 years. Winning awards is a reminder to me and all our teams that it is still as important as ever to continue the work we do, the positive impact we’re having on helping people save and invest for a better future.
It is also a public marker of quality, helping our clients distinguish market-leading providers, and keeping us service providers on our toes and motivated to strive for excellence and deliver the best we can for our clients.
How does it impact your communication with customers?
As the UK’s number one investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown now has over 1.9 million clients who trust us with over £157bn of their hard-earned savings and investments. However, we cannot take this trust for granted. In a competitive market environment, we must keep innovating and providing the best product and services we can by making investing simple, understandable, and accessible for all.
With so many choices around, it can be daunting for people to know which way to go, or which provider offers the best suited solution to their needs. Awards from impartial experts can make the difference as they act as a gauge of quality and reliability for people. They also demonstrate to existing clients that they’ve made the right choice by placing their trust in Hargreaves Lansdown.
What should your customers prepare for in 2025 with their investments?
The return of Trumponomics is likely to bring more volatility to markets. The macroeconomic environment in the UK and in Europe remains fragile.
However, we would encourage people to take a long-term view of investing and make the most of their tax allowance. Regular monthly investing is a great way to grow your wealth and override any bout of volatility through what’s known as pound cost averaging.
Monthly investing at Hargreaves Lansdown is free, and by investing each month, you will take advantage of market downs as well as ups. And don’t forget to read our regular experts’ views and insights.
