Bristol-based investment provider and wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown saw pre-tax profits increase by 21% over the past year, according to the firm’s annual results released today.

The investment firm, which has a significant Financial Planning arm, said pre-tax profit increased to £265.8m during the last year ending 30 June 2017, a rise of £46.9m compared to their results in 2016.

Assets under management increased by 28% to £79.2bn, while the firm’s net revenue went up by 18% to £385.6m, compared to £326.5m in June 2016.

The firm’s net new business rate also rose to a record £6.9bn, while some 118,000 new clients are now using the company’s services. That signals an increase of 14% compared to 2016 and means the firm now has 984,000 active clients on its books.

Hargreaves Lansdown also increased its services during the past year, launching its Lifetime ISA in April although chief executive Chris Hill said it became increasingly important to offer new products to clients during 2017, especially due to Brexit.

He said: “The importance of offering a wide range of services to clients was made clear during 2017.

“Brexit proved a drag on investor confidence and net new business in the first part of the year, although we still increased our market share and grew assets faster than the UK D2C platform market. However, we also saw a significant uplift in client share trading and associated revenues which carried on throughout the year.”

Mr Hill added: "We have had a good year for gathering new clients and assets as a result of our relentless focus on the exceptional service we provide.

“Key to this has been understanding the needs of our clients and expanding our range of solutions and services to help them. There are considerable challenges for people in the current saving and investment environment but there are also opportunities, and Hargreaves Lansdown is ideally placed to help people make their investment decisions with confidence."