- Official visit by Hon. Minister Tonio Fenech
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech paid an official visit to Rizzo, Farrugia & Co (Stockbrokers) Ltd. The minister was welcomed by Non-Executive Chairman Vincent A Rizzo and other family Board members. The visit coincides with the Company’s 20th year of operation and on the anniversary of the launch of the new brand image following the increased involvement of third generation family members in the management and decision-making process within the Company.
In a short statement to the press, Managing Director Vincent J Rizzo commented: “As founder members of the Malta Stock Exchange and with our 35 years of experience in the provision of financial services, the Company is proud of having been very much involved in attracting thousands of investors to the Maltese Capital Market. This has helped local companies and the economy to grow over the years.
The company has also recently applied for an extension to its Licence in its continued effort to expand its service offerings.
It is the Company’s intention to pursue its strategy of providing impartial independent advice to clients on all investment opportunities available and it will only recommend investments if they are truly in clients best interests. The Company is conscious of the fact that many investors are still unfortunately not taking appropriate advice and have suffered losses as a result. We remain committed to continue giving impartial advice to ensure that investors do not randomly invest their hard-earned lifetime savings into just any investment offered to them but seek appropriate advice in order to ensure they understand the level of risk associated with each opportunity available.
Furthermore, we remain committed to helping local as well as foreign companies to utilize the market as an alternative means of financing. In the past two years, two of the younger generation family members have assisted some of Malta’s leading companies tap the market by way of a number of new issues and this is set to continue”.
The Company has grown steadily over the years and has invested heavily in research, technology and human resources but has not diverted from operating on the basis of the following core values – confidentiality, independence, professionalism and service standards.
Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment Tonio Fenech remarked that Rizzo, Farrugia and Co. provides a fine example of financial service sector companies that have experienced growth in terms of business and job opportunities. Today, more than 7,000 people have found employment in this sector. This Company is a family business now in its third generation that employs an additional 12 employees.
Minister Fenech quoted the study presented by Angelou Economics, which included a number of proposals as part of the strategy for Vision 2015, which concluded that 1,600 new jobs are expected to be created in the financial services sector over the next five years. This sector is offering important prospects for our young people and hence he appealed to students to look more closely at the opportunities that are being offered in services such as investments, insurance and banking.
The Minister remarked that this growth is a result of the availability of top class human resources, trained by our local institutions as well as an efficient regulatory structure. Government is doing its utmost to promote Malta as a financial services centre of excellence, particularly through the efforts of Finance Malta. During the last quarter of the year, Malta will be represented at 20 international events (including in London, Brussels and Luxembourg) aimed at creating more opportunities in this sector.