Hargreaves Lansdown and voting issues

[Cliff Weight]

Dee Patel has written to Danny Cox, Head of Communications at Hargreaves as follows.

Dear Mr Cox,

I thank you for taking the time to respond to Cliff’s emails, and reading mine.

I’m a representative of ‘Think BIG! – Bacanora Investors’ Group’.

We’re a group of almost 500 shareholders (many of whom use HL) who are standing opposed to a takeover attempt by the joint venture partner; Ganfeng. It’s is the world’s largest lithium mine, and many of us feel the board are facilitating an incredibly low takeover attempt.

I believe what Cliff is saying, is this is a publicised campaign, and there is an opportunity for Hargreaves Lansdown to both benefit your users, and showcase yourselves as being ahead of the curve.

Our campaign has received press in National Newspapers and even Bloomberg Terminals. It is simply a grass roots campaign to stop a takeover.

I fully concur with you when you mentioned the lack of participation when it comes to voting at these events. People don’t vote in National Elections under the guise of it ‘not making a difference’. But people vote when they feel they can make a difference, or at the very least – Have a chance of making a difference.

We’re not asking you to take our side. We’re asking you to publicise an issue that is of great concern to all Bacanora Lithium shareholders.

What Cliff is trying to articulate (not that he requires assistance in articulating himself) is that this is an extraordinary situation that deserves both action and attention.

We’re confident that should shareholders hear from us, or be presented two sets of arguments from ourselves and an opposing party – You will see significant engagement from your users.

Many shareholders do not keep an active eye on their investments beyond the shareprice. Providing an opportunity for shareholders to engage will lead to the following:

1. Shareholders engaging in return. Both through the vote, and HL itself.
2. Shareholders making a more informed choice.
3. Shareholders appreciating yet another reason to utilise Hargreaves Lansdown.

This is a chance for HL to set the trend, and separate yourselves from your peers. No other provider has done this before. In particular, no other provider has ever made an announcement of the sort. It provides a clear and marked opportunity for Hargreaves Lansdown to promote how far ahead of your peers you are. Free providers such as Trading 212 and Freetrade are growing, but they don’t have the capacity for something of this nature. Paid competitors such as Interactive Brokers or Interactive Investors are unlikely to have even considered this.

With a little initiative, this places Hargreaves Lansdown immeasurably beyond your peers.

Of course, you can’t do this for everything. I appreciate where you may see this as ‘opening the floodlights’. But we’ve undertaken the effort to contact yourselves, and highlight the veracity of how contentious this issue is. That alone should provide a barometer for where HL can look towards further engaging your stakeholders.

As a holder of a HL SIPP, it’s something that I know I would personally appreciate. As a representative of Think BIG!, It’s something we’re confident will see high levels of engagement and not only see HL stand above its peers, but be seen to be truly on the side of the individuals who use your platform.

Mobilising 500 shareholders and 8% of the float was only possible due to the contentious nature of this takeover.

This is something we need your support with. If shares were not held in nominee accounts, we would be contacting EVERY shareholder ourselves.

Shareholder relationships and engagement has significantly evolved with the advent of free to use apps, the Internet and chat groups.

Here is the perfect opportunity for HL to lead this change.

Regards,

Dawood Patel

07737816573

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