Hargreaves Lansdown client numbers lifted by Royal Mail float

LONDON (Reuters) - Investment manager Hargreaves Lansdown plc saw a sharp jump in new clients in the second half of 2013, more than a third of them joining to buy shares in Royal Mail which listed on the stock market in October. In a trading statement on Wednesday, the company said 77,000 new clients signed up to its investment services, of whom 27,000 joined to invest in the postal service. "We have recruited more new clients in these six months than we did in the first six months of the financial years 2011, 2012 and 2013 combined," said Chief executive Ian Gorham. The amount of assets administered on behalf of the companies clients rose nearly a fifth in the six months, reaching 43.4 billion pounds ($70.72 billion), with net business inflows of 2.8 billion. (Reporting by Chris Vellacott, editing by Clare Hutchison)