A secret truth about your credit card,

A secret truth about your credit card
By N.Faulkner

If you're not careful, this secret could cost you dear...

Your credit card may be hiding a dirty secret. Its parents.

For example, did you know that M&S Money - the provider of insurance, loans and credit cards - is wholly owned by HSBC and not Marks & Spencer?

Didn't think so.

* How good is your credit rating?

It just goes to show that favourite brands aren't necessarily controlled by your favourite organisations.

With credit cards , this matters more than you think.

There are well over 100 companies and charities that offer credit cards , but there are less than a score of card issuers. Understandably, HSBC is the card issuer for HSBC cards and for M&S Money cards. It's not surprisingly the issuer of First Direct cards, as it wholly owns that online bank too.

Yet it is also the issuer of Marbles and John Lewis cards.

Why does this matter?

Most card issuers will not let you have another of its cards, even if you buy a different brand.

You need to stop using your existing card for at least six months and in many cases longer before you will be considered for another card by the same issuer.

• The problem is that the more times you apply for credit the worse your credit record
• looks. Therefore, you don't want to apply for another card from the same issuer.

This is a major problem if you wish to transfer you existing card balance to a cheaper deal. It may be that a new 0% credit card deal will save you hundreds in a year, but you endanger your chances of getting a new card, or any other form of credit, be it loans or mortgages , if you apply for a second card from the same issuer , and get rejected.

But how do you find out which cards have the same issuer?

Buried in the small print

It can be extremely difficult to find out who the card issuer is for any given card. I went to the Tesco Financial Services website and could not find anywhere who the issuer was. It's not in the summary box, which card providers are obliged to present to us at the earliest opportunity. To find out who issues Tesco's card, you must read the terms and conditions.

* Compare credit cards

However, it's not just that it's buried in the terms and conditions, it's also that the terms and conditions are buried! It's not until you've given Tesco all your personal data by going through its online application form that you are given the opportunity to read the terms of the deal you've just applied for!

What's more, the terms and conditions don't always say who the issuer is, which is why I had even greater difficulty with Sainsbury's Finance. It was only by calling each of these companies' press offices that I was able to discover that Tesco still uses Royal Bank of Scotland and Sainsbury's now issues its own cards. (It used to be Lloyds.)

These difficulties finding the issuer are not limited to supermarket credit cards so, to help you out, here's a list of card issuers, which I've worked hard to ensure is as accurate and up-to-date as possible:

Card issuer


Card provider (i.e. the brand/the company you applied to)

Allied Irish Banks

• SAGA

American Express

• American Express
  

Bank of Ireland

• Post Office

Barclays

• Argos
• Barclaycard
  

Capital One

• Capital One

CitiGroup

• BMIBaby
• Citicard
• Egg card
  

Co-op

• Amnesty International
• Barnardo's
• Childrens Aid Societyf
• Co-op
• Greenpeace
• Help the Aged
• Labour party
• Liberal Democrat
• Medical Foundation
• Oxfam
• Ramblers Association
• Save the Children
• Smile
• Stroud & Swindon
  

Yorkshire BS

• GE Capital

ASDA

• Debenhams

Santander

• Paypal

HSBC

• First Direct
• GM Card
• HSBC
• John Lewis
• Marbles
• M&S Money
• Waitrose
  

Lloyds Banking Group

• all "lifestyle"
• Amazon
  

Bank of Scotland

• Cancer Research
• Carphone Warehouse
  

Halifax

• IF
• ipoints
• Lloyds
• More Than
• NSPCC
• Smart
  

MBNA

• BikeCard
• BMF
• BMI
• breakthough breast cancer
• british heart foundation
  

Cheshire Building Society

• Childline
• Football clubs
• homebase
• ICICI
• MBNA
  

Melton Mobray Building Society

• Norwich & Peterborough
• PADI
• Play.com
• Rugby League clubs
• Ryanair
• Ski Club GB
• Star trek
• Sonycard
• Toys R US
• Unicef
  

Virgin Money

• Virgin Atlantic
• World superbikes
  

WWF

• National Australia Group
• Yorkshire Bank
• Clydesdale Bank
  

Nationwide

• Nationwide
• RBS Group
• Mint
  

Natwest

• Lombard Direct
• First Direct
  

Royal Bank of Scotland

• Tesco

Ulster Bank

Sainsbury

• Sainsbury's card

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Is this the most generous man in Britain?

By Mike Jones

An Oxford University researcher has pledged to donate £1million to African charities - despite earning only £33,000 a year.

Toby Ord, 30, has cut his annual salary to £20,000 – and given away the rest.

Taking into account inflation and pay rises, he believes he will be able to hit his £1million target.

"Many people agree that global poverty is one of the biggest moral problems of our time, but very few people are prepared to donate a large part of their income to help eliminate it.

"I decided to put my money where my mouth was and to set up a society for people who want to join me in this. Ideally it will become a well-recognised way of living one's life, something akin to being a vegetarian."

Is this the most generous man in Britain? Tell us what you think using the comment section below

What monetary value would you put on your marriage

By Mike Jones

A top economist has calculated a formula to determine what happiness in a marriage is worth when converted into money.

Paul Frijters reckons it equates to £18,000 to a man, while for woman it is just £9000.

The figures are a lump sum people would need to receive out of the blue to make them as happy as their marriage would over a lifetime.

Divorce makes a man feel like he had lost £61,500.

But a divorced woman feels as though she had only lost £5000.

How much value do you put on your marital happiness? Tell us using the comment section below

Housing fraud informants to receive rewards of up to £500

The government is to offer cash rewards of up to £500 to people who report neighbours they suspect are unlawfully subletting their council home.

Ministers have been told that between 50,000 and 200,000 social rented homes in England are occupied by unauthorised tenants, at a time when waiting lists are full and housing projects have stalled.

They are expected to target 8,000 tenancy cheats in a first wave of investigations this week across 145 local authorities after a trawl of council records by the Audit Commission. There is a growing crisis as demand for social housing has soared during the recession. About 1.8m households are on waiting lists in England, while just 60,000 social homes have been built in the past two years.

Unlawful subletting is a serious problem in London, where the shortage of accommodation means unscrupulous social tenants can charge subletters four times the amount they pay in rent to their council or housing association landlord.

One housing association told the Guardian it had reclaimed one of its London properties from a tenant who had made £32,000 over three years from unlawful subletting. During that period he had been living in France in a house he had bought. That association is currently investigating 56 suspected cases of unlawful occupation.

It is estimated that about one in 20 social homes are unlawfully acquired or sublet in London alone. Figures show that one in nine families in London are on a housing waiting list, while almost 13,000 families in the capital are classified as homeless.

John Healey, the housing minister, said last night: "We can't allow cheats to hang on to the tenancies of council houses they don't need and don't live in."

The crackdown will be difficult for subletters, who have no rights or protection if a social home is reclaimed, and who can be evicted in as few as seven days.

Healey will this week publish new guidance urging housing officers to make regular unannounced visits to high-risk properties, such as homes in multistorey blocks in sought-after city centre locations, homes with two or more bedrooms, and where rent is paid in cash.

Landlords will be told to make regular audits of their tenancies, set up hotlines to enable anonymous reporting, and adopt a range of measures including taking photographs of new tenants to keep on an electronic tenancy agreement database.

The guidance, drawn up for ministers by the Chartered Institute of Housing, calls on officers to use "settling-in visits", traditionally undertaken to ensure the new tenant is comfortable, as an opportunity to "detect any suspicious activity."

It will also urge councils and housing associations to reclaim empty "non-occupied" – council and housing association homes, where tenants no longer live at the property but continue to claim housing benefit there. Experts suspect tens of thousands of properties currently lying unused in this way could be freed up.

See also: Nosy neighbours offered £500 rewards by council to spy on residents. >>>>

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Punitive fees return on personal loans

The rates on personal loans have been rising for a while, but Moneyfacts figures reveal that all personal loan providers in the UK bar two are also charging early redemption charges if borrowers pay loans back early.

According to Moneyfacts, The Post Office and Zopa, the person-to-person online lending marketplace are the only providers to steer clear of ERCs.

Zopa said early repayment fees are bad for borrowers because they discourage borrowers from paying off credit quickly. It also said these fees are often hidden, so surprise borrowers as they attempt to exit the deal.

Early repayment charges are typically an extra cost of one or even two months’ additional interest, adding a significant amount to the overall cost of the loan, said the firm, which isn’t included in the initial rate presented to the customer before they buy.

Giles Andrews, CEO and cofounder of Zopa said: “Zopa has never charged an early repayment fee because we believe it is a nasty, hidden cost designed to protect the provider’s profit margins and discourage people from doing the right thing financially.”

He added: “Even our friends at the Post Office have a clause in their small print that says they can charge such a fee if they want. But the real culprits are the rest of the market that has used the banking crisis as a justification to withdraw a genuinely customer-oriented feature.”

FREE GUIDE TO EQUITY RELEASE

Your home is probably your greatest asset and possibly the most successful investment you have made.

Yet, whilst the value of your home may look good on paper, it is of no practical use to you unless it can be released as cash so that you can enjoy what should be the best years of your life. Equity release allows you to convert some of the value of your home into a tax free lump sum - surely the perfect way to get ready for Christmas!



* Many home owners aged over 55 with little or no mortgage can benefit from equity release
* Receive a tax free lump sum to spend as you wish - repay your outstanding mortgage or debts, make home improvements, help family onto the property ladder, or arrange that once in a lifetime holiday; it's entirely up to you
* Or structure the plan to suit your needs - choose to receive a monthly income for life or set up a draw down facility for future use
* Live in your home for life. Plus most plans also allow you to move house in the future if you wish
* Facilities to guarantee an inheritance for your family

We are the longest established equity release specialist in the UK and pride ourselves on giving you expert, impartial advice and a first class service. As an established broker, we are able to secure special rates just for our customers that you would not always receive going direct. We search all providers for you, including high street names, to find the right deal for you. These are just some of the lenders offering us great deals for customers at the moment:

Equity Release Service

* We offer a friendly professional service and a free no-obligation initial consultation.
* Our expert advisers compare and contrast all of the different equity release plans available to find the best product to suit your needs and circumstances.
* All of our advice will be given on a one-to-one basis and then provided in writing.
* We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
* We will only recommend plans that are members of Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) or those with similar guarantees and safeguards.



We hope to speak to you soon

This card has been designed for clients with a bad or no credit history.

Over 300,000 People have enjoyed the benefits of this card and are building their credit history.

• Low, easy-to-manage credit limit from £100
• A credit limit increase after four months if you manage your account responsibly"
• Register for email alerts to help you stay in control

Before you apply, check you're eligible

We're more likely to accept you if:

• You're over 18
• You have some history of managing your credit even if you have had CCJs or defaults in the past
• You are on the electoral roll

We're not likely to accept you if:

• You've never had credit in the UK before
• You have been declared bankrupt in the last 12 months

Please note that meeting these criteria does not guarantee acceptance

Claim back your unfair bank charges today - no win no fee

Got a Credit Card?. Have you ever been charged for going over your limit or missing payments? If so, you are in line for a payout

The Office of Fair Trading has ruled that you can claim back most of the fees that have been charged in the last 6 years.

Why not let us help you get what you deserve. The average claim is about £400.00.

CLAIM NOW

Unless we win your claim, you do not pay a penny.

Kind regards

www.FININVEST.co.uk

Fininvest is a financial holding company

Fininvest is a financial holding company controlled by Silvio Berlusconi's family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's oldest daughter Marina Berlusconi.

The Fininvest Group is composed by many important companies, e.g. Mediolanum (an insurance and banking company), Medusa (a major Italian film production company), Mondadori (one of Italy's most important publishing companies), A.C. Milan (a football team) and Mediaset, which is, at present, the biggest private entertainment competitor in Italy, owning three channels (Canale 5, Italia 1, Rete 4), a digital TV broadcasting network and many other companies related to TV broadcasting.

Type Private

Founded Finanziaria d'Investimenti, Srl (1978)
Headquarters Milan, Italy
Key people Marina Berlusconi, Chairman
Pasquale Cannatelli, CEO

Industry Financial holding

• Revenue ▲ € 6,196 Billion (2005)
• Operating income ▲ € 2,871 Billion (2005)
• Net income ▲ € 1,297 Billion (2005)
• Employees 19,755
  

Government helpline aims to benefit UK workers and employers

Government helpline aims to benefit UK workers and employers


The government has launched a pay and work rights helpline, to offer advice to workers struggling with issues from redundancy to employee rights.

Commenting on the launch of the Government's new Pay and Work Rights helpline TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “This vital new helpline was a key recommendation of the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment final report last year. It will ensure workers at risk of mistreatment by their employers not only have a phone number that they can call to find out about their rights to the minimum wage, excessive working hours and agency standards, but they can also ask for help in enforcing these rights.”


Barber said the move should also enable better co-ordination between the national enforcement agencies, ensuring more effective enforcement of employee-related law.


“The helpline and enforcement agencies will champion the rights of vulnerable workers, and ensure that rogue employers who flout the law do not get away with it.


'This will not only benefit workers across the UK, but will also help employers by promoting fair competition and preventing good employers from being undercut by bad ones using unlawful practices,” he said.


Visit www.FININVEST.co.uk Today
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UK mortgage holders wasting low interest years

Research by professional advice website Unbiased.co.uk suggests that more than half, or 53 per cent of borrowers who say they are on a tracker mortgage are failing to take advantage of historic low interest rates to pay down their mortgage balances.


Of those surveyed, just one in five, or 20 per cent have kept mortgage repayments at the levels they were before the round of rate cuts earlier this year, allowing them to slice capital off the outstanding balance and cut down the amount of interest they pay or cut down their loan term.


Instead, nearly one in five, or 19 per cent of those tracker borrowers are spending their monthly repayment windfall on day-to-day expenses or treating themselves, while a more sensible 24 per cent say they are diverting these savings to pay off other debts. Just seven per cent say they are allowing the balance to build up month by month in their current account, and 20 per cent are bolstering their savings in deposit accounts.


Worryingly, said Unbiased, over one in ten (12 per cent) are not overpaying on their mortgage afraid that they will be charged for doing so.


David Elms, chief executive of Unbiased.co.uk said: "Tracker and standard variable rate mortgage borrowers have watched interest rates plunge to record lows during this year, presenting an ideal opportunity to pay off their outstanding mortgage more quickly. Such action would enable many thousands of borrowers to take years off their mortgage repayment term, or enjoy a greater level of repayment comfort down the line, should the economy take longer to recover.


"Our research suggests most tracker borrowers are not taking this action, however we're encouraged by the large number who are using their repayment savings to erode their more costly credit card and personal loan debts.”

For more info we recommend the following sites:

• www.FasanoFinance.co.uk
• www.Fininvest.co.uk All the knowledge you need.
  

Isa limit rise is a boost for savers

Isa limit rise is a boost for savers

Sam Dunn guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 22 April 2009 14.19 BST

• Budget speech reveals increase in Isa limit to £10,200
• Over 50s will benefit from the change this tax year

Isa savers got some good news in the budget.

Savers will be able to put up to £10,200 into Isas, with those aged over 50 allowed to make the extra payments in this tax year, the chancellor announced in his budget speech today.

The Isa allowance is currently £7,200 and allows savers and investors over the age of 18 to invest that amount in shares and stockmarket funds, including up to £3,600 in cash.

The changes will mean up to £5,100 in cash can be invested. However, only the over-50s will benefit this tax year – they will be allowed to make use of the extra allowance from 6 October while for younger savers the new allowances kick in next April.

The Treasury said the move would benefit around 5 million savers who currently use their full Isa allowance. Around 18 million people hold the accounts, which allow savers to hold either cash or funds without paying tax on interest or capital gains.

This is only the second time limits have been raised since Labour launched Isas in 1999, and comes amid growing calls for the government to step in and help savers hit by recent interest rate cuts, which have seen interest on savings accounts reach record lows.

Although savings specialists had been calling for an increase in allowances, they were unimpressed with the chancellor's response. "An extra £1,500 allowance from 6 October on a cash Isa paying 3% will give extra income of £22.50 over the rest of the tax year, meaning a tax saving of just £9 for a 40% tax-payer," said Carolyn Steppler, associate partner in personal tax at KPMG in the UK.

Gary Shaughnessy of fund management group Fidelity International said: "Increasing the Isa limit for future years fails to meet the needs of hard-pressed savers today.

"Fidelity, with strong support from Independent Financial Advisers, urged the chancellor to reinstate the dividend tax credit within Isas as a way to immediately boost Isa income, especially for basic rate tax payers. Increasing the maximum limit to £10,200 is jam tomorrow for the minority of people who invest the full annual allowance."

Despite the new allowance levels, there's a wider savings malaise warns Richard Norman, head of savings at the Post Office. "There is [still] low awareness of the current Isa limits; 56% of people have admitted they do not know what the existing cash Isa limit is.

"Furthermore, one in four of existing cash Isa account holders admit they do not already utilise their existing allowance."

The cash Isa's appeal as a safe harbour for savings has seen its popularity soar since the onset of the credit crunch. In December the 17% annual rise in cash Isa savings to £163bn was the biggest since 2003-04.

Extra savings will also be given to families with disabled children – the government says it will put an extra £100 a year into their child trust fund, while the severely disabled will receive £200 a year

July property prices show first real rise since 2007

July property prices show first real rise since 2007Monday 14th September 2009

Remortgaging figures are still weak, but lending for house purchase showed its first material annual growth in July for the first time since early 2007, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. (CML)

Home buyers borrowed GBP 14.5 billion, which is a significant rise on the second month running, but still 42 per cent lower than the figures for July last year.

Within this, house purchase lending accounted for 56,000 loans totalling £7.5 billion - up from 47,000 loans totalling £7.1 billion in July last year.

This lending splits down into 20,400 first-time buyer loans and 35,700 home mover loans in July, up 18 per cent and 28 per cent respectively on June. But compared with a year earlier, the rise in first-time buyer numbers was higher, up 22 per cent compared with a 17 per cent rise in the number of movers.

In terms of product choice, over three quarters of mortgages taken out in July were at fixed rates, with borrowers able to lock in to an average fixed rate of 4.7 per cent, well below the average of 5.57 per cent over the past decade.

Commenting on the latest survey data, CML economist Paul Samter said: “It's tempting to call the turn in the mortgage market at this point, and there is certainly concrete evidencethat lending for house purchase is increasing. But there are still constraints affecting the lending industry's capacity to fund increased lending, as well as less consumer motivation to remortgage for the time being. The overall lending picture is likely to stay relatively subdued for some time, especially as the wider economy is far from robust as yet."

• http://www.fininvest.co.uk/ All the knowledge you need.

Fininvest: Britain climbing out of recession

Fininvest: Britain climbing out of recession

Britain climbing out of recession

The recession is probably over, leading experts declared yesterday, as evidence showed that key parts of the economy were growing again.
By Edmund Conway and Angela Monaghan

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research, one of the foremost independent economic forecasters, estimated that Britain had seen economic growth in the three months to August.

Its announcement coincided with figures showing that the manufacturing sector was enjoying its strongest growth for 18 months, that consumer confidence was recovering and that the jobs market was improving for the first time in almost a year and a half. The stock market has bounced back, with shares in London hitting their highest level of the year yesterday. Estate agents reported that house sales and inquiries were up by more than 50 per cent in August on the same month last year.

The head of the International Monetary Fund also predicted that the world was likely to pull out from its economic slump earlier than expected.

Economists said that the data and forecasts indicated that Britain’s economy was growing for the first time in more than a year and a half – and the recession was most likely over. A recession is officially defined as the economy shrinking for two or more successive quarters.

The figures were a major boost for Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, who earlier this year insisted, to the derision of most observers, that the economy would be growing again before the end of the year.

In a further tonic for Mr Darling and Gordon Brown, Ray Barrell, the chief forecaster at the institute, said that government policies, alongside the Bank of England’s decision to slash interest rates to nearly zero, were largely to thank for the recovery.

Making particular reference to the car scrappage scheme, a £2,000 incentive to buy a new car, and the decision to cut VAT to 15 per cent, Mr Barrell said: “We are expecting growth in both the third and fourth quarters of the year, although only an anaemic rate of 0.3 per cent or 0.4 per cent. It has been partly boosted by the fact that the car industry has been stronger than expected, thanks to the Government’s scrappage scheme. Then there will be a boost from the VAT cut in the final quarter of the year.

“In short, the Government has been able to spend some of the money they were intending to spend.”

However, he gave warning that the coming months would be far from pleasant. “This is not going to be a V-shaped recovery,” he said. “This is going to be very tough. It will take until late 2012 for the economy to return to the size it was at the peak in 2008. This will be a long, painful recession.”

According to the Office for National Statistics, the manufacturing sector grew by 0.9 per cent in July, the biggest leap since early 2008, helped by sales of cars to both British and overseas customers.

“These data support other signs that the overall recession is ending,” said Michael Saunders, an economist at Citigroup. “We do not expect that recovery will be rapid, because of poor credit supply and the need for major fiscal restraint to get the public finances back on a sustainable path. Even so, as these data indicate, upside surprises in activity data continue to outweigh downside surprises.”

Alan Clarke, an economist at BNP Paribas, said: “[It is] a good start to the third quarter and adds to the weight of evidence that suggests the recession is over.” Recruitment agents reported that permanent job appointments rose for the first time in 17 months in August. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation also stated that temporary appointments increased and vacancies declined at a slower pace.

Last month, the Nationwide’s consumer confidence index rose to its highest level since May 2008, up two points to 63. Countrywide Estate Agents, which has more than 1,000 branches, said that it had seen a 69 per cent increase in inquiries from potential buyers and a 53 per cent rise in sales in August, compared with a year earlier.

However, many leading authorities remained sceptical that the figures were anything other than a blip in the midst of a lengthy slump.

David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, pointed out that the institute previously called an end to the recession in the spring, before data subsequently proved it wrong.

“I am worried that in the UK and the rest of Europe people don’t appreciate that unemployment is still rising, and that this, alongside rising negative equity, will be extremely damaging for confidence and for the broader economy,” he said. “Despite these figures, banks are still not lending; these are not green shoots – they are just noise.”

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said: “For the [global] economy, we have been saying for a year that the recovery will come in the first half of 2010. It might even be a quarter ahead. We are seeing the end of the tunnel, but we are still in crisis.”

Tomorrow, the Bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.5 per cent, and to carry on with quantitative easing — pumping cash directly into the economy. However, Prof Blanchflower said that it would be unwise to rule out further action.

In a further boost, Britain’s triple A credit rating is unlikely to be reduced, as had once been feared, even though the country’s budget deficit will soon be the worst among advanced economies.

Moody’s, the rating agency, will announce today that the rise in debt appears affordable, due to the political consensus that there must be spending cuts.

For all your financial needs:

• http://www.fininvest.co.uk/


• http://www.fasanofinance.com/

Fininvest

Fininvest S.p.A è la holding di uno dei maggiori gruppi di comunicazione a livello internazionale, che opera in posizioni di leadership nei settori della televisione commerciale e del cinema con Mediaset e la sua controllata Medusa, dell'editoria con Mondadori oltre che dello sport con il Milan. Il Gruppo ha poi un'importante partecipazione, pariteticamente con il Gruppo Doris, nel Gruppo Mediolanum, una delle principali realtà imprenditoriali italiane specializzata nei servizi bancari e nei prodotti assicurativi e previdenziali.

Nata come impresa familiare, Fininvest ha poi aperto agli investitori le sue principali società (Mediaset, Mondadori e Mediolanum sono quotate alla Borsa Italiana) e oggi può contare sulla fiducia di circa 300.000 azionisti, dai piccoli risparmiatori a importanti operatori finanziari e industriali, italiani ed internazionali.

Il Gruppo Fininvest dalla metà degli anni ’90 ha intrapreso un vasto processo di focalizzazione sul proprio core business investendo negli ultimi 10 anni oltre 15 miliardi di Euro. Tale scelta strategica ha tra l’altro avuto effetti estremamente positivi sulla reddittività operativa del Gruppo (intesa come incidenza del risultato operativo sui ricavi) che è più che quintuplicata rispetto al 4% del 1996.

on un valore complessivo stimato in circa 6 miliardi di euro, un fatturato di oltre 6 miliardi e 20 mila dipendenti, il Gruppo Fininvest è una delle maggiori realtà imprenditoriali italiane e si pone tra i grandi protagonisti internazionali della comunicazione e dell'intrattenimento, settori sui quali dalla metà degli anni Novanta ha progressivamente concentrato il proprio impegno.

Iniziata circa cinquant’anni fa, la storia del Gruppo fondato da Silvio Berlusconi è ricca di successi legati dapprima a realizzazioni d'avanguardia nell'edilizia e più tardi a settori fortemente innovativi.

Alla base delle affermazioni di Fininvest c'è una visione imprenditoriale attenta ai cambiamenti della società e all'evoluzione del mercato, visione sospinta da un forte spirito di iniziativa e capace di guardare con creatività ai settori più avanzati dell'economia.

Proprio queste caratteristiche portarono sul finire degli anni Settanta ad una intuizione decisiva. La possibilità di raggiungere direttamente le famiglie attraverso la tv, unita alla filosofia di servizio maturata da Fininvest nelle precedenti esperienze, indusse ad un duplice utilizzo della televisione: destinata da una parte a soddisfare il bisogno di intrattenimento e informazione del pubblico, dall'altra ad offrire alle imprese nuovi spazi per la comunicazione commerciale. Questa intuizione è stata all'origine della rapida crescita di Fininvest e contemporaneamente ha avuto un sensibile effetto spinta sullo sviluppo del Paese. Oggi il Gruppo è impegnato in importanti sfide lungo le grandi direttrici individuate per la crescita del core business: il processo di internazionalizzazione delle proprie attività, che ormai vede un 30% del fatturato consolidato realizzato all’estero, l’estrema attenzione alle tecnologie e alle opportunità che queste consentono di cogliere e il costante rafforzamento nel settore dei contenuti, reso sempre più decisivo dal moltiplicarsi delle piattaforme distributive.

Nell’ambito del sistema economico italiano, Fininvest rappresenta indubbiamente un esempio di grande valorizzazione dell'imprenditoria e un fattore insostituibile di crescita, culturale e civile. Grazie, ancora una volta, alla chiarezza delle proprie scelte strategiche, all'eccellenza delle proprie aziende, a una solida situazione patrimoniale-finanziaria, e soprattutto alle grandi qualità di quanti nel Gruppo lavorano e che da sempre rappresentano il suo principale punto di forza.

Finivest The Group

With an estimated overall value of around €6 billion, revenues of more than €6 billion and 20,000 employees, the Fininvest Group is one of Italy’s leading companies and a world leader in media and entertainment, sectors in which, since the mid nineties, the company has increasingly concentrated its efforts.

Begun around fifty years ago, the history of the Group founded by Silvio Berlusconi has been marked by success, linked firstly to an avant-garde approach to real estate and subsequently in a number of highly innovative sectors.

Underlying the success of Fininvest is an entrepreneurial vision that is attentive to changes in society and the evolution of markets, a vision that is sustained by a spirit of initiative that is able to look creatively at the most advanced sectors of the economy.

It was precisely these characteristics that led, in the late seventies, to the decisive intuition; the possibility of reaching households directly through television. Combined with the philosophy of service developed by Fininvest in its previous experience, this lead to a dual approach to television: on the one hand as a means of satisfying the public’s demand for entertainment and information, and, on the other, the opportunity for companies to find new space for commercial communication. This intuition formed the basis for Fininvest’s rapid growth and had, at the same time, a marked impact on the economic growth of the country.

Today the Group is engaged in important challenges along the lines identified for the development of its core business: the process of internationalisation, which now sees 30% of revenues generated outside Italy, a close attention to innovation and the opportunities offered by technological development and the continuous reinforcement of content, which has become increasingly important with the multiplication of distribution platforms.

In the context of the Italian economy, Fininvest is undoubtedly a prime example of the value of enterprise and is an irreplaceable element in the country’s cultural and civic growth. Thanks, yet again, to the clarity of its strategic choices, the excellence of its operating companies, a solid financial basis and, above all, the extraordinary qualities of the people who work in the Group, who have, from the beginning, represented its main assets.

Finivest holding

Fininvest is the holding company of one of the world’s leading media groups with a leadership position in commercial television and cinema, through Mediaset and its subsidiary Medusa, in publishing, through Mondadori, as well as in sport, through A.C. Milan. The Group also holds, together with the Doris Group, an important stake in the Mediolanum Group, one of Italy’s leading companies specialised in banking, insurance and financial services.

Created as a family business, Fininvest subsequently opened up its most important companies to investors (Mediaset, Mondadori and Mediolanum are all listed on the Milan stock exchange) and can today count on the confidence of around 300,000 shareholders, from individual private investors of Italian and international financial institutions.

In the middle of the 1990s, the Fininvest Group conducted an extensive reorganisation process to focus on its core business, media and entertainment, investing over the last twelve years some €17 billion. This strategic decision has also had an extremely positive impact on the Group’s operating profitability (in terms of operating profit as a proportion of revenues) which has increased to more than five times the 4% of 1996.