Hargreaves Lansdown has reported assets under administration increased by 8% in the 12 months to June 2023 to £134bn, as the new CEO has set his sights on further growing the direct-to-consumer investment platform.

Positive market movements helped boost AUA, as net new business took a tumble during the period, down 13% to £4.8bn. But pre-tax profits increased by 50% to £402.7m.

The firm now has 1.8 million active clients, an increase of 67,000 in the year, with client retention stable at over 92%.

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Dan Olley, who took over as CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown on 7 August from his previous role as a non-executive director of the company, said there "continues to be a challenging broader economic environment".

Olley explained: "It is clear that our service and execution must return to the high standards we and our clients expect and deserve. This is a core focus for me".

Being only a few weeks into his role, the new CEO said he is "very much in listening mode", but based on what he is hearing he is prioritising four "key areas" for the business.

First is to drive client and asset growth. The aim is to "increase focus on tailored client content and a seamless experience, backed by great service and broad product range".

Throughout the year,  the wealth firm continued rolling out its ‘Better Investors' programme, which provides personalised educational content to clients, on topics including holding an appropriate level of cash, portfolio diversification, the importance of regular investing and the power of compounding

Olley added he wants the business to move faster "to continuously deliver additional client value at speed".

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Third on the list is "save to grow", encouraging a "fitter and leaner" business. In the year to June 2023, underlying costs at the firm were £314.6m, up from £284.7m in 2022, though the firm said this was in line with its guidance. Additional strategic spend in the year was £51.4m, up from £32.9m in 2022, of which £36.1m was expensed and £15.3m was capitalised.

Finally, Olley set out its focus on staff and clients, which will include making Hargreaves Lansdown "great for colleagues and clients, the right culture, with the right people in the right roles, focused on the right things".