Does Hargreaves Lansdown offer corporate accounts? Alternatives in 2024

As your business grows and cash flows stabilize, it’s time to consider investing your capital. With cash reserves available, you’re likely exploring options to diversify in the financial markets.

Hargreaves Lansdown is a good option for retail clients, but is it available for businesses?

We’ve been there before!

This article explores whether Hargreaves Lansdown business/corporate accounts are available and other viable options based on reputation, security, fees, and customer support. Let’s dive in!

Does Hargreaves Lansdown offer business accounts?

No. Hargreaves Lansdown only offers accounts for retail investors (personal use) and not for business purposes, as clarified by us in an e-mail exchange:

So, if you run a limited company, or other type of corporation, you’ll have to look elsewhere!

Best Hargreaves Lansdown alternatives for businesses

Comparison table

1# Interactive Brokers (Best overall)

Founded in 1978 and publicly listed in NASDAQ (ticker: IBKR), Interactive Brokers is a global online broker which surpassed significant financial crises, showing resilience and a rigorous risk management process.

Interactive Brokers offers an advanced investment platform that allows you to invest globally in stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds, and funds from a single integrated account. Its advanced trading and account management tools let you control and delegate user permission for a business brokerage account.

With Interactive Brokers, businesses around the world can open a company account. Some institutions that can open an Interactive Account include Small Businesses, Hedge Funds, Prop Traders, Family Offices, and more. It gives you solid trade execution through IB SmartRouting, and a set of technical and fundamental tools to help you make investment decisions.

Interactive Brokers’ fee structure is also quite complex, the registration process is lengthy but fully online, and the broker doesn’t offer commission-free trading outside the US. However, when considering FX fees, narrower spreads, and the stock loan program, Interactive Brokers’ clients still get significant savings compared to most brokers.

Want to know more about Interactive Brokers? Read more details directly on Interactive Brokers’ landing page, or check our step-by-step guide on how to open a business brokerage account with Interactive Brokers.

2# Saxo

Launched in 1992, Saxo Bank is one of the most solid financial entities in the brokerage industry, with a proven track record of success. It lets you trade over 71,000 financial instruments through their trading platforms: SaxoTraderPRO (for PC) and SaxoTraderGO (on mobile).

The Saxo Bank corporate account tiers are the following:

• Classic: A minimum £100,000 deposit is required, giving you access to tight spreads and customer and technical support 24/5;
• Platinum: A minimum £200,000 deposit is required. In addition to Classic features, it also lowers trading prices by up to 30% and prioritizes local-language customer support;
• VIP: A minimum £1,000,000 deposit is required. Here you will find the best prices, access to trading experts, and exclusive event invitations.
  The pricing structure will vary according to your account tier. For instance, a US stock order will be 0.08% (min. $1) of the trade value in Classic. However, within the VIP tier, the same trade would be 0.03% (min. $1) of the trade value.

Saxo Bank states that it usually takes one week to approve a business investment account, assuming they are provided with clear copies of the following documents:

• Memorandum and Article of Association;
• Certificate of Incorporation;
• Proof of the company’s business address if different from its registered address (e.g. a company bank statement or utility bill less than three months old and issued in the company’s name);
• Latest financial statement;
• Group structure diagram (for entities within complex group structures only);

In addition, every beneficial owner with a 25% or greater company holding and each company director should send other documents, namely:

• Passport;
• Proof of residency – a utility bill less than three months old that displays the date, applicant’s name and address that matches the one on the application.

If you want to know more details about Saxo Bank’s corporate account, check their landing page for corporate investment accounts.

3# Lightyear

Lightyear is a European investment app that operates via the entity Lightyear Europe AS, authorized and regulated by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (EFSA – license number 4.1-1/31), with clients’ assets covered up to €20,000.

The business accounts can be opened by freelancers and sole directors in addition to small, medium and large companies. You can invest in Money Market Funds (MMFs) – low-risk, highly liquid and AAA-rated investments, interest on uninvested cash, over 3,500 stocks and ETFs, and direct access to a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) registration for £40 + VAT. Besides, it automatically fulfils a W-8BEN-E form to get a reduced tax rate on dividends from US stocks.

There are no Lightyear execution fees for trading ETFs. For stocks, commissions do not go over €/$/£1 per order, and there is a flat 0.35% fee for currency conversion (this fee can be minimized by their multi-currency account in EUR, GBP & USD). Lightyear offers one of the highest interest in uninvested cash, including 5.08% in GBP (as of October 2024).

However, Lightyear’s investing app has some downsides: the product offering is limited (there are no options, commodities, or Forex).

What is a business brokerage account?

A brokerage account is an investment account that gives you access to various financial products such as stocks, ETFs, bonds, futures, crypto, and more! The word “Business” only indicates that the entity opening the account is some kind of business structure (Corporation, Partnership,…).

In practice, the product offering for corporate investment accounts will be similar to retail accounts; however, some slight twists may apply, such as higher minimum deposits, lower spreads, commissions, and more personalised customer support.

Some reasons people choose to invest through their company include taxes (investing through a corporate legal entity can help reduce or mitigate taxes), diversification, and protection/limited liability.

You will need a “LEI” code – what is that?

“LEI” stands for “Legal Entity Identifier.” It is a 20-character unique identifier that identifies entities such as a limited company, trust, or any organisation involved in making investments in the financial markets. In other words, any legal entity involved in financial transactions is required to have this identifier.

For instance, a company investing in stocks, ETFs or derivatives traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is mandated to possess a LEI. This ensures that every transaction can be attributed to a recognised and verified entity, thereby reducing the risk of fraud and making the entire process more transparent and efficient.

In essence, the LEI acts as a beacon of transparency and trustworthiness in the UK’s dynamic financial terrain. Whether you’re a multi-national corporation, a local UK company, a trust, or a charity, if you’re participating in the financial markets, you will need to get a LEI.

There are several websites where you can get your LEI. One of them is “LEIservice”, the cheapest option we could find.

Documents needed to open a business account

When applying for a business account with any of the providers mentioned above, you will be asked to provide the documents listed below (this is a general overview, your broker may ask for additional information). Unless specified otherwise, all documents must be less than six months old.

Here they are:

• Company name and registration number;
• Principal place of business address;
• Tax residency and tax identification number;
• Description of your business activities, any products and services you offer and the countries in which you conduct business;
• Information on the source of funds and a description of the activity from which you fund your business and the account you are opening;
• If you wish to trade in US-incorporated stocks, you will need to complete the W-8BEN-E form.

Bottom line

With a business investment account, you will have plenty of options to manage your company’s money. You can look into more conservative investments within the monetary market, like interest-bearing instruments (UK Gilts, for instance), or if you are inclined to make riskier investments, use it as a share dealing account for your limited company.

Whatever your investment objectives, we hope these alternatives can help you achieve them!

Please do remember that the above should not be construed as investment advice and is only intended as an information resource. Investors should do their research and due diligence about the services and opportunities to determine which are best suited for their risk, returns, and impact strategy.

We wish you great success in your business!