Despite the dip in profits, St James’s Place benefits from some strong fundamentals. It continues to attract steady inflows — net fund inflows over the past year amounted to £6.8bn — 17% higher than last year’s figure of £5.8bn. This combined with last year’s robust investment gains helped funds under management to grow by 28% last year to £75.3bn.

Additionally, its European embedded value (EEV) new business contribution, which is a measure of the long-term value of new business generated by the company over the past year, increased 18% to £520.2m, while EEV net asset value per share rose 22% to 900.7p. And with shares now trading at less than 1.2x EEV, St James’s Place has rarely been so attractively valued.

CEO steps down

But what seemed more important to investors was the announcement that David Bellamy would be stepping down as chief executive of the company. At one point, the news sent shares down more than 6%, but they have since recovered to 1,068p, just 2% below yesterday’s close.

Bellamy has been chief executive for 11 years, and under his tenure, shares in the company have more than doubled. In his place, chief financial officer Andrew Croft will take over by the end of the year.

Looking ahead, I expect Croft will continue to deliver attractive returns to shareholders. St James’s Place still has strong growth opportunities with its growing distribution network, and the company benefits from very strong customer loyalty — with retention rates of around 95%.

Dividend growth continues to impress, with the company today announcing a 20% increase in its final dividend to 20.67p a share. This brings total dividends to 33p a share, which gives its shares a reasonable 3.1% yield.

Provident Financial

Provident Financial (LSE: PFG) also announced its full year results today. Pre-tax profit for the sub-prime lender soared 25.7% to £343.9m.

Investor response today was muted though, with the shares broadly unchanged at 2,923p by midday, as concerns grow about slowing growth at the company — customer and average receivables growth at Vanquis Bank, its main business, slowed to 8.7% and 13.8% last year, from 9.9% and 19.6%, respectively.

Still, I’m still very excited with the stock as the company continues to deliver double-digit earnings growth and asset quality remains robust, despite macroeconomic headwinds. Today’s trading statement suggests that the group’s underlying fundamentals remain strong and continues to be in line with market expectation.

While I acknowledge that slowing UK growth could lead to rising loan losses, I believe Provident is well cushioned by its robust margins and low operational gearing. Moreover, forward-looking valuations metrics remain attractive, with shares trading at a forward P/E of 15.1, falling to 13.9 next year.

Also, dividend growth continues to benefit from robust growth in capital generation, with Provident Financial declaring a 13.0% increase in its final dividend this year. This brings total dividends this year to 134.6p a share, which gives Provident Financial a tempting yield of 4.6%.

The post Should you buy St. James’s Place plc & Provident Financial plc on full-year results? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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It’s clear that the weaker pound has been behind recent gains in the FTSE 100. That’s because around 75% of the revenues earned by FTSE 100 companies come from overseas, and big ‘dollar earners’, such as BP and Glencore, have massively outperformed more domestically-focused shares.

However, not all companies with significant dollar exposures have seen their share prices soar in the last few months. Such shares include those in the financial sector, where concerns surrounding the sector’s underlying fundamentals have kept valuations depressed.

Dollar link

Prudential (LSE: PRU), which earns around 40% of its IFRS earnings from the US, is actually a much bigger dollar earner than it initially seems. That’s because almost a further 30% of its IFRS earnings come from Asia, where local currencies are either directly linked to the dollar or — at least — generally follow in the dollar’s direction of movement against the pound.

In terms of its European embedded value (EEV) profits, which is a better measure of long-term profits, the share of earnings from the US and Asia is even higher, at 83% of the group’s total long-term business.

Prudential’s sizeable presence in the US and Asia is expected to underpin continued growth in the company. With a strong balance sheet and high levels of cash generation, the insurer appears to be well placed to capitalise on long-term structural trends in Asia — although macroeconomic headwinds are likely to linger in the short term.

City analysts expect the company to report earnings per share of around 120p for 2016, but if current exchange rate levels persist, investors could benefit from a further positive translational effect of around 5-7p a share. But even without taking into account of this additional currency benefit, shares in the Pru trade at a forward P/E of 11.4 and have a prospected dividend yield of 3%.

Lagging behind

Shares in Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) have risen by 21% since the Brexit vote of 23 June, but that gain lags well behind its larger rival HSBC, whose shares have increased by 41% over the same period.

The lack of dividends may explain why Standard Chartered seems to be less attractive to investors, but there are also many reasons why the stock should do better. Firstly, the emerging markets-focused lender has considerably more of its assets overseas, and secondly, management appears to be pulling out all the stops to cut costs and improve its return on equity.

In addition, Standard Chartered seems deeply undervalued, with a price-to-tangible book value of just 0.69. However, as earnings are expected to come under pressure from the slowdown in emerging markets and rising restructuring costs, investors are concerned about whether the bank can earn its cost of capital in the medium term.

City analysts expect the bank to report full-year adjusted earnings per share before restructuring costs of around 27.5p this year, which puts its shares on an unappealing forward P/E of 24.6. But for 2017, analysts expect adjusted earnings to bounce back by 86%, which means its forward P/E could fall back to a more reasonable 13.2 times.

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This abnormal profitability is facilitated by the cost structure of the business. The company’s primary expenses are its staff and IT systems. Once these are in place, new business can be taken on with little extra cost, meaning profits should increase at a greater rate than revenue.

This is even more impressive considering the company’s competitive fees, with funds available for only 0.45% annual management charge, dropping to as little as 0.25% if you’re rolling in it

Combine that with an impressive track record of increasing assets under management (AUM) and it’s easy to see why Hargreaves Lansdown inspires savers.

The company’s shares have sky rocketed 170% in the last five years, but savvy investors will have realised the majority of this gain was made a few years ago. Indeed, the share price hasn’t made any headway since the start of 2014. This is largely due to a slowdown in revenue growth in recent years and fears surrounding the sustainability of those margins in an ever-more-competitive world.

Crimped growth?

The shares currently trade at 27 times 2016’s profit before tax, a valuation that clearly prices-in continued expansion. However, I’m not so sure that Hargreaves can return to the growth levels of the past, given its established market share and the increasingly varied and inexpensive options now available for investors. 

Furthermore, I have concerns about its short-term performance. Yes, the Motley Fool is all about investing for years, rather than months or days, but it makes no sense to overpay now for a business regardless of your envisioned holding period.

Brexit currently casts doubts over stock markets, which could potentially be bad news for Hargreaves Lansdown. If stock markets were to fall, AUM would fall too, thus reducing the fees it earns.

Those seductive margins could be under threat too, given that online investment platforms have increased competition and brought rates across the industry down to all-time lows. In short, I believe there will likely be a more attractive price point to enter Hargreaves Lansdown. 

Loyal customers

On the plus side, this risk is offset a little by an impressive 93.5% customer retention rate. These loyal customers, myself among them, are a recurring source of revenue to Hargreaves and represent defensible revenues. Even if AUM falls temporarily due to falling markets, chances are these customers will keep their accounts open and be a source of profitability again when markets recover.

In my opinion, Hargreaves Lansdown is more than strong enough to survive a recession and none of the above threats are likely to destroy a long-term investment thesis, but the current share price doesn’t adequately discount the risks facing the business and seems to price-in an uptick in growth, which I believe to be far from guaranteed in the short term. So, even though it’s a great business, I wouldn’t buy Hargreaves Lansdown at these prices.

The post Is Hargreaves Lansdown plc still a buy after a 170% rise in five years? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Troubled estate agent

Shares in Countrywide (LSE: CWD), the UK’s largest estate agency group, gained 13% on the release of first-half figures, to 289p. The shares are, admittedly, still down 48% over the past 12 months, having received a bit of a kicking following the EU referendum result. But could today’s response suggest they’re oversold?

The company reported a 25% fall in adjusted pre-tax profit from a year ago, to £21.8m, and a 22% fall in adjusted earnings per share to 8p as the London market has stalled. We heard of a “market slowdown evident in May/June 2016 in the run up to the EU referendum,” with chief executive Alison Platt telling us that “since the referendum result this has become more marked in London, the South East and expensive prime markets.“

The company warned it won’t be able to match last year’s earnings levels, so the analysts’ consensus of an 8% rise in earnings per share now has to be scrapped. But even a 10% fall in EPS would still leave the shares on a low forward P/E of 10. With dividends likely to be healthy, Countrywide looks like a decent long-term candidate.

Computer security

Meanwhile, Sophos (LSE: SOPH) shares are up 5.8% to 242p after the computer security specialist reported a “strong first-quarter performance,” with “significant cash generation.“

With billings up 25.2% to $141.9m, revenue grew by 12.2% to $127.4m and by 11.9% at constant currency rates (CCR). Cash EBITDA was up 55.2% (48.6% CCR). Free cash flow of $28.8m was far more impressive than the $3.7m outflow recorded at the same stage last year.

Chief executive Kris Hagerman spoke of “our confidence in the outlook for the full financial year,” as the company “expects to deliver mid-teens percentage billings growth on a like-for-like basis” for the full year.

The shares are on a lofty forward P/E of 38 for the full year, but it’s still early days for a company that only floated in July 2015 and it’s surely a strong growth prospect — but difficult to value right now.

Brexit bargain?

Investment manager Henderson Group (LSE: HGG) suffered a sharp fall as a result of the EU referendum, but its shares have started to come back a little, and first half results today have pushed them up another 2% as I write, to 227p.

Henderson told us “retail outflows accelerated considerably in the immediate aftermath of the UK’s referendum on EU membership,” but that was mitigated to some extent by the diversity of the firm’s product range. The result was a net outflow of £2bn, though assets under management of £95bn were up 3% since the end of December.

Underlying pre-tax profit dropped 14% to £100.5m, with underlying earnings per share falling 20% to 7.1p. But the company’s capital easily exceeded its regulatory needs, and the first-half dividend was lifted by 3.2% to 3.2p per share.

Henderson shares are valued at 15 times forecast earnings, and there’s a dividend yield of 4.6% on the cards. That’s probably a fair valuation, but with the uncertainty ahead I think there are better financial services options out there.

The post Three risers to buy on today’s results? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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On that score, today I’m looking at two big yielders that present an intriguing contrast.

Safer

The first is Centrica (LSE: CNA), the owner of the British Gas and Scottish Gas brands. Along with the other power utilities, Centrica is known for paying out a substantial portion of its annual earnings as dividends — usually around two thirds.

Earnings dipped in 2014 by 28%, and there’s a further smaller drop on the cards for the 2015 year just ended, and that’s led to a fall in the dividend from 17p per share in 2013 to a predicted 12p for 2015 — results are due on 18 February. But on today’s 191p share price, that would still bring you a yield of 6.3%, with the forecast 2016 yield up to 6.5%.

That big yield is due to the share price having fallen, but even if you’d bought your shares at their April 2014 peak of 345p, you’d still be looking at likely yields of 3.5% and 3.6% for 2015 and 2016 respectively — and if that’s as low as your yield gets during hard times, it’s really not too bad.

And the best way to invest in shares like Centrica, in my opinion, is regularly over a long period — that way you’ll benefit from pound-cost averaging, and once dividends start rising again you’ll enjoy higher effective yields based on the price you pay in the dips.

More exciting

My second for today is Aberdeen Asset Management (LSE: ADN), which is a very different company indeed. As an investment manager specializing in emerging markets, the Chinese slowdown has contributed to 11 quarters in a row of net cash outflows, and that’s triggered a share price collapse — at 225p today, Aberdeen’s shares are down 55% from their peak in April 2015.

But one thing that has done is pushed up the prospective dividend yield for this year to a massive 8.8%. As it stands, that would only be covered 1.2 times by forecast earnings, so it’s clearly at risk. But January’s first quarter update provided reasonable confidence for the firm’s long-term future. Although the three months saw a net outflow of £9.1bn, total assets under management had actually risen to £290.6bn between September and December.

Aberdeen has a progressive dividend policy, and has been raising its annual payment far in excess of inflation in recent years. A cut in the cash may well be inevitable over the next couple of years, but there’s plenty of room for that while still keeping a yield that’s way ahead of the market average.

Volatility? Pah!

And if emerging markets are going through a downturn, well, a bit of volatility is only to be expected. And Aberdeen has plenty of experience of dealing with it while maintaining a very prudent approach to financial management. On a forward P/E of only 9.7 for 2016, Aberdeen Asset Management shares look like a long-term ‘buy’ to me.

The post Will Dividends At Centrica PLC And Aberdeen Asset Management plc Really Hold Out? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Tumbling price

Aberdeen Asset Management (LSE: ADN) has seen its share price tumble by 46% over the past 12 months, to 235p, although it has recovered 11% in the past week or so. With earnings of 19.8p per share forecast for the year to September 2016, we’re looking at a potential dividend yield of 8.4% — although EPS would be falling and the dividend would be only around 1.2 times covered.

Aberdeen’s problem is its heavy investment in developing economies, with the Chinese slowdown causing it considerable grief. A quarterly trading update on Wednesday told us of net outflows of £9.1bn, although that was an improvement on the £12.7bn outflow the previous quarter — and to put it into perspective, assets under management actually rose a little to £291bn.

Chief executive Martin Gilbert, while speaking of “structural imbalances of the global economy and the cyclical slowdown in emerging markets, as well as the impact of falling oil and commodity prices“, did at least say that “we are well placed to navigate the current difficult market conditions offering a wide range of investment capabilities for investors“.

I feel Aberdeen’s dividend might well not match current forecasts, but it should still provide decent long-term yields.

Cash from energy

The big question for electricity and gas supplier SSE (LSE: SSE) is whether its dividends will provide the 6.2% and 6.4% yields currently forecast for the years to March 2016 and 2017 respectively. A third-quarter update released Thursday suggests it will, with the company telling us it “still expects to report an increase in the full-year dividend for 2015/16 that will at least be equal to RPI inflation” and that it plans to do the same again the following year.

The shares picked up a fraction in response, up 11p to 1,443p as I write, and that puts them on forward P/E multiples of around 12.5 for the two years, with adjusted earnings per share of “at least 115 pence” indicated for this year — slightly ahead of the market consensus. And that comes despite SSE’s plan to cut household gas prices by 5.6% in March — there are some benefits to a falling oil price.

All in all, times are “challenging“, but SSE still seems like a solid long-term income investment to me.

Emerging markets

The emerging markets problem also lies behind the woes at investment manager Ashmore Group (LSE: ASHM), which has seen 26% knocked off its share price in the past 12 months, to 214p — although, again, we’ve seen a modest 9% recovery in the last week. That’s pushed the potential dividend yield for the year to June 2016 up to a heady 7.9%.

But before you go rushing to buy, a forecast 23% fall in EPS would mean that won’t be covered by earnings, which would come in a little short.

In its second-quarter update, the firm reported a $1.17bn fall in assets under management due to outflows. In the short term, China is going to hurt, but chief executive Mark Coombs did speak of the possibility of “…very good performance in emerging markets assets as their attractive fundamentals begin to show through“.

Will the forecast dividend be met? I don’t know, but I still see a decent longer-term possibility here.

The post Can Dividends At Aberdeen Asset Management plc (8.4%), SSE PLC (6.4%) And Ashmore Group plc (7.9%) Get Any Better? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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If you’d bought Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL) 12 months ago, for example, you’d be sitting on a 47% gain today at 1,361p. And if you’d managed to buy-in at the low of October 2014, you’d be up 61%. Dividends would have yielded less than 2%, but overall a cracking performance. So why would you sell?

Well, Hargreaves Lansdown is a very well managed investment company and its fundamental performance has been impressive, but I just don’t see how the shares deserve such a very high P/E rating of more than 35. After three great years of EPS growth to 2013, it then slowed to 9% in 2014, reversed to a 4% fall in 2015, and there’s a return to growth of 18% on the cards for the current year.

But a P/E of 35 is around two-and-a-half times the long-term FTSE average, and a share with a total EPS growth of 23% over three years does not, in my mind, deserve such a rating. Better than average, sure, but not that high. The price has actually dipped since the end of December, and I can see a leaner year ahead for Hargreaves Lansdown shareholders.

Overpriced telecoms?

Vodafone (LSE: VOD) is a big mystery to me. With its shares priced at 222.5p, we’re looking at a P/E based on March 2016 forecasts of 46! And I just don’t see what Vodafone is doing that commands such a lofty valuation. Vodafone has a number of telephone operations in various parts of the world, and it’s investing in the next generation of networks along with the rest of the world’s telecoms companies. But when I look at Vodafone I just see lots of assets and no joined-up company or joined-up strategy.

But maybe that’s what people find attractive. Are they expecting future merger or takeover attempts to get control of those assets?

It must be that, because I can’t see it being the mooted 11.5p dividend, yielding 5.3%. Not with earnings expected to come in at only 4.9p per share.

What price cheap clothes?

Associated British Foods (LSE: ABF) is perhaps not the kind of name you’d associated with a doubling in share price in three years and a P/E of 30, but that’s the forward valuation its 3,047p shares command right now. The company offers nice safe business and geographic diversity, but its star is its Primark subsidiary that has been providing some very good growth in recent years.

Yet since early December we’ve actually seen the share price lose 16%. So is the over-enthusiasm waning? I think it needs to, because I just don’t see the justification for such a high rating.

EPS fell by 2% in the year to September 2015 after a 6% rise the previous year, and there’s a further 2% drop on the cards for this year. That’s overall earnings growth of only 2.3% in three years. And with the dividend set to yield only 1%, a P/E of 30 boggles my mind.

The post Time To Sell Vodafone Group plc, Hargreaves Lansdown PLC And Associated British Foods plc? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Alan Oscroft has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Hargreaves Lansdown. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Look at Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) for example. Like the rest of the mining sector its shares have been battered by the commodities slump and have lost 41% in the past 12 months, to 1,761p. Profits are plunging too, with the firm expected to report a fall in earnings per share (EPS) for 2015 of close to 50% — and analysts are forecasting a further 15% drop in 2016.

But despite a need for financial discipline in such tough times, Rio upped its first-half dividend by 12%, and is expected to pay a 7.1% yield for the year just ended — and on top of that, forecasts suggest 7.3% for 2016!

And at the same time as handing over these levels of cash, Rio is also engaged in a $2bn share buyback programme, while competitor Glencore is slashing its dividend and is raising cash. Is this a demonstration of supreme confidence in Rio’s future, or is it madness? The world’s turned upside down, I tell you.

Invest in Asia?

Shares in Aberdeen Asset Management (LSE: ADN) have shed 51% since April’s peak, to 250p, as fears over its focus on Asian markets have led to net ouflows from funds under management of £34bn in the year to September 2015. But the firm upped its dividend by 8.3% to 19.5p per share, from 18p a year previously, as part of its progressive dividend policy.

Whether that progressive policy can continue into 2016 is open to question, and while analysts are forecasting a rise to 19.8p to yield 6.5%, that would be less than 1.2 times covered by earnings if EPS falls by the predicted 24% this year. I like progressive dividends, but in the face of falling earnings some caution is called for, and I reckon investors should definitely not consider rises in Aberdeen’s dividend over the next few years as a given.

Electric dividends

Utilities companies are pretty much a byword for steady dividends these days, and SSE (LSE: SSE) is no exception. The energy supplier has been serving up yields of close to 6% for years, and at interim report time in November, chairman Richard Gillingwater told us that “this business is well-placed to continue to deliver annual dividend growth of at least RPI inflation“.

The SSE share price has actually dipped 7% over 12 months to 1,483p, and that’s helped push the prospective dividend yield as high as 6.3% for the year to March 2016, followed by 6.4% a year later. Remember not that long ago when Ed Miliband was threatening to clamp down on energy suppliers? Ed who?

The energy companies continue to be great long-term dividend providers, and they will surely form the cornerstones of many an income portfolio for years to come.

The post How Real Are Big Dividends At Rio Tinto plc (7.3%), Aberdeen Asset Management plc (6.5%) And SSE PLC (6.3%)? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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However, companies such as Barclays (LSE: BARC) could have a significantly better 2016 due to an improving economic outlook and highly appealing valuations. For example, the UK and global economies continue to show signs of long-term growth potential, with the recent US interest rate hike providing evidence that the world’s largest economy is returning to full health. And, while doubts surrounding the Chinese growth story are likely to provide continued shocks to the FTSE 100 and its constituents in 2016, the valuation of the financial services sector indicates upward rerating potential.

For example, Barclays trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 8.2, which highlights the huge scope for an upward rerating. And with Barclays forecast to increase its bottom line by 21% in the current year, its financial performance is not only expected to be healthy but could also act as a positive catalyst on investor sentiment and push its shares upwards. Clearly, a period of uncertainty is likely as a result of Barclays’ new management team and the almost inevitable strategy shift. But with an improving asset base and rising profitability, Barclays seems to be a strong buy at the present time.

Long-term prospect

Similarly, Investec (LSE: INVP) also offers excellent value for money with the South Africa-focused bank trading on a P/E ratio of just 10.6. As with Barclays, Investec is expected to post strong earnings growth in the current financial year with its bottom line forecast to rise by 13%. This is likely to enable a significant rise in the company’s dividend, with shareholder payouts due to increase by as much as 12% next year. This puts Investec on a forward yield of 5.6%.

Of course, the South African economy is undergoing a challenging period at the present time. This was a major reason for the high level of volatility in Investec’s share price that has been witnessed in recent months. While this could continue in the short-to-medium term, for long-term investors now appears to be an excellent time to buy a slice of the bank due to its compelling mix of growth, income and value prospects.

Meanwhile, financial services peer Rathbone Brothers (LSE: RAT) also has impressive earnings growth potential. Its bottom line is expected to have risen by 14% in 2015 and is then due to increase by a further 9% in 2016. While both of these figures are highly impressive, Rathbone’s valuation appears to price them in since the company trades on a P/E ratio of 17.3. This equates to a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of around 1.9, which indicates that while the company’s financial performance may be on the up, Barclays and Investec appear to be more appealing investments.

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As I write, there are only three FTSE 100 stocks with a 50% gain this year, but that big winner is housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW). Its share price has more than six-bagged to 204p over the past five years. That’s pretty much in line with the whole sector, with Persimmon up nearly fivefold and Barratt Developments managing a seven-bagger in the same period. Taylor Wimpey’s third-quarter trading update told us the firm saw “an excellent summer selling season strengthen further in the autumn period,” and spoke of “a healthy outlook for both homebuyers and homebuilders“.

That’s borne out by the last few years of earnings growth that have seen EPS grow from 2.1p in 2011 (after a 1.5p loss recorded in 2010) to a whopping 11.2p per share in 2014. And we have further rises, to 14.8p and 17p, forecast for 2015 and 2016. On top of that, the dividend has come storming back and there’s a 4.9% yield on the cards this year followed by 5.5% next.

And with a P/E of 14, dropping to 12 on 2016 forecasts, I’d say Taylor Wimpey shares are still cheap!

Investment rebound

We turn to the investment world next with Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL), the investment manager whose shares have climbed 51.2% in 2015 to reach 1,508p. Over five years we’re looking at a 160% gain – not up to housebuilder standards, but still very impressive.

The firm’s recent rapid earnings growth fell off a bit in the year to June 2015 with a 3% fall in diluted earnings per share. But there’s growth of 18% forecast for the current year. October’s first-quarter update supported that, with a 47% increase in net new business inflows over Q1 last year to reach £1.43bn. And net revenue was up 11% to £78.5m.

But the trouble now is that the soaring share price has pumped up the P/E multiple to a very testing 39 based on current forecasts, and that’s with only a 2.5% dividend yield on the cards. It’s a great company, but the shares are surely too high now.

Back to houses

In third place we’re back to housing with property developer Berkeley Group Holdings (LSE: BKG) and a 2015 price gain of 50.6% to 3,706p. At the interim stage reported in early December, the firm told us it’s “on track to deliver pre-tax profits of £2.0 billion in aggregate over three years to 30 April 2018,” with net cash on the books of £263m and adjusted pre-tax profit for the period up 10% to £242m.

EPS is forecast to drop a little, by 5%, for the year ending April 2016, but a 51% rise predicted for the following year would drop the P/E as low as 10. With dividends expected to yield 4.3%, Berkeley might even be better value than Taylor Wimpey!

The post 2015’s FTSE 100 Winners: Taylor Wimpey plc, Hargreaves Lansdown PLC And Berkeley Group Holdings PLC appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

More reading

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Alan Oscroft has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Berkeley Group Holdings and Hargreaves Lansdown. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.