Hargreaves Lansdown blinks under pressure

It's fair to say that the imposition of a platform fee by fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown has attracted a lot of criticism from aggrieved investors and pension savers.

As I explained last week on Fool.co.uk, investors in popular low-cost trackers -- such as those offered by HSBC -- will now have to pay a fee of either £1 per month per holding, or £2 per month per holding, in order to hold these funds.