It is a general rule that in CRM data fields are not supposed to hold HTML which can then be passed directly back to the interface. This is by design.

So if you store a string in a text field like

<a href=https://community.sagecrm.com>https://community.sagecrm.com</a>

then when this is rendered into the browser screen it is encoded so that the actual HTML produced will be

<a href=https://community.sagecrm.com>https://community.sagecrm.com</a>

The same thing will occur in views and as a result of queries.

select '<a href='+comp_customurl+'>'+comp_customurl+'</a>' as comp_link, * from company where comp_companyid=28

The text sent to the interface will have been encoded.

<a href=http://www.gatecom.com>http://www.gatecom.com</a>

Note: Translations held in the custom_captions table are not encoded. These may store HTML in them but this usage is generally discouraged as other better mechanisms are available for adding HTML tags and behavior into screens.