Why do different fund classes have different prices?
Different classes in a fund represent the different units the fund manager has created to suit certain types of buyers, for example, investors with HL or institutional investors such as pension funds and multi-manager funds. Each unit in the fund may have different costs and minimum investment levels. This can affect the performance of a particular class of the fund and is therefore reflected in the price.
A different class may also indicate whether it is an inclusive or unbundled version of the fund, and whether it is an income paying unit or an accumulation unit. Each of these classes may have a different price to reflect the differences in their charging structure and the way they treat income received from the fund’s underlying holdings.
There is no continuity across fund groups, class A for one fund is not necessarily the same as class A for another fund. 'A' is simply used to differentiate the fund from another unit of the same fund, class B or class Z for example.
As the UK's leading investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown is able to achieve significantly reduced charges across some of the funds we offer.