Peter Hargreaves, one of the co-founders of fund platform Hargreaves Lansdown, has sold off a £300m stake in the firm he launched with business partner Stephen Lansdown in 1981.

Hargreaves Lansdown has seen the average age of clients drop from 45 to 37 in what it believes is a significant shift in its client demographics, it revealed today in its half yearly results.

In 1981 two bored but ambitious accountants started a British investment business from a spare room. Today they are billionaires.

Stephen Lansdown, one of the two founders of online investment platform and wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown, has sold £103m of shares in the business.